Yunnan Province's economic performance for the first two months of the year indicates a generally stable start, though it is accompanied by significant pressures. Overall, the provincial economy maintained steady operations during January and February, with continued progress in structural adjustment and industrial transformation. However, support from traditional key industries has weakened, while the growth of new growth drivers and advantages has fallen short of expectations. Major economic indicators have faced downward pressure, indicating that stronger efforts are required to sustain and improve the momentum of economic recovery.
Industrial production showed a trend of stabilization with a moderating pace. For the January-February period, the value-added of industrial enterprises above the designated size in the province decreased by 0.5% year-on-year. By sector, mining saw a decline of 9.5%, manufacturing fell by 0.9%, while the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas, and water increased by 4.3%. The equipment manufacturing sector grew by 5.2%, and high-tech manufacturing increased by 3.0%, outpacing the overall industrial value-added growth by 5.7 and 3.5 percentage points, respectively. The value-added of non-tobacco and non-energy industries rose by 5.0%, exceeding the growth rate of industries above the designated size by 5.5 percentage points. Among key industries, the non-ferrous metals and electronics sectors grew by 8.7% and 3.8%, respectively. The chemical, building materials, and steel industries increased by 8.2%, 8.2%, and 7.9%, accelerating by 4.8, 11.3, and 9.0 percentage points compared to the full previous year. The production and supply of electricity and heat grew by 4.0%, a slight acceleration of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. In terms of product output, the production of ten non-ferrous metals increased by 17.7% year-on-year, with silver, refined copper, and electrolytic aluminum output rising by 61.0%, 59.0%, and 20.4%, respectively. Output of refined tea, cement, prepared Chinese medicines, and finished steel products grew by 188.3%, 17.0%, 7.5%, and 5.9%, respectively.
Electricity production and consumption maintained growth. In the first two months, the power generation of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 62.015 billion kilowatt-hours, a 3.1% increase year-on-year. By source, thermal power generation was 7.747 billion kilowatt-hours, down 23.0%; hydropower generation was 37.081 billion kilowatt-hours, up 5.8%; wind power generation was 8.559 billion kilowatt-hours, increasing by 2.3%; and solar power generation was 8.628 billion kilowatt-hours, surging by 29.1%. Clean energy accounted for 87.5% of total power generation, up 4.5 percentage points from the same period last year. The output of raw coal from industries above the designated size was 8.76 million tons, while crude oil processing volume reached 1.28 million tons. On the consumption side, comprehensive energy consumption and electricity usage by industries above the designated size increased by 11.3% and 8.0%, respectively, rising by 12.2 and 6.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Total electricity consumption for the whole society grew by 7.5%, though this was a slight decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the previous year.
Market sales remained generally stable. During January and February, total retail sales of consumer goods in the province amounted to 196.642 billion yuan, a decrease of 1.2% year-on-year. By location, urban retail sales were 163.375 billion yuan, down 1.2%, while rural retail sales were 33.267 billion yuan, falling by 0.8%. By type, retail sales of goods were 169.073 billion yuan, declining by 1.2%, and catering revenue was 27.569 billion yuan, down 0.6%. Sales of certain upgraded consumer goods showed rapid growth. Retail sales of sports and entertainment goods, books and magazines, communication equipment, and gold, silver, and jewelry by units above the designated size increased by 40.2%, 31.4%, 20.3%, and 4.4%, respectively. Online retail sales continued their strong growth trend, with online retail sales by units above the designated size reaching 5.183 billion yuan, an increase of 20.6%.
Investment structure continued to optimize. In the first two months, fixed asset investment excluding rural households fell by 7.7% year-on-year. By industry, investment in the primary industry grew by 7.6%, while investment in the secondary and tertiary industries declined by 10.2% and 7.8%, respectively. Industrial investment decreased by 4.2%, though the rate of decline narrowed by 0.9 percentage points compared to the full previous year. Real estate development investment fell by 1.8%, with the decline narrowing by 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. Investment in certain sectors grew rapidly. Investment in ecological protection, the digital economy, and agriculture increased by 28.7%, 17.4%, and 9.0%, respectively, accelerating by 37.1, 25.3, and 17.0 percentage points compared to the full previous year. Investment in social sectors grew by 5.8%, a significant acceleration of 17.4 percentage points, with investment in sports, elderly care, education, and health increasing by 310.3%, 38.9%, 29.1%, and 1.4%, respectively. Progress in equipment renewal projects accelerated, with investment in equipment and tool purchases growing by 9.3%, an acceleration of 14.4 percentage points from the previous year.
Year-on-year increases in both consumer and industrial producer prices widened. For the January-February period, Yunnan's Consumer Price Index rose by 0.6% year-on-year, with a 0.2% increase in January and a 0.9% increase in February. By category, prices for food, tobacco, alcohol, and dining out decreased by 0.3%, while clothing prices rose by 1.1%, housing prices fell by 0.1%, prices for household goods and services increased by 2.4%, transportation and communication prices dropped by 1.3%, education, culture, and entertainment prices rose by 3.5%, healthcare prices increased by 0.2%, and prices for other goods and services surged by 10.8%. Within the food, tobacco, and alcohol category, pork prices fell by 13.1%, grain prices decreased by 0.2%, while fresh fruit and fresh vegetable prices rose by 1.8% and 3.7%, respectively. The core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, increased by 1.3% year-on-year. On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell by 0.1% in January but rose by 0.8% in February.
The province's Producer Price Index for industrial products increased by 3.6% year-on-year for the two-month period. On a monthly basis, January saw a 2.2% year-on-year increase and a 1.2% month-on-month rise, while February experienced a 4.9% year-on-year increase and a 2.1% month-on-month increase. The Industrial Purchase Price Index for the province rose by 3.1% year-on-year for January and February combined.
Looking ahead, Yunnan will adhere to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, focusing on improving quality and efficiency. Efforts will be intensified to promote projects, stabilize growth, and foster development, aiming to achieve effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth in the economy.
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