The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology commented on the performance of China's industrial economy in the first quarter, stating that it has generally shown a trend of innovation-driven improvement and steady advancement since the beginning of the year. This has effectively played a stabilizing role as a "ballast stone" for the broader macroeconomic landscape. Industrial output has grown at a relatively fast pace. Among 41 major industrial sectors, 34 recorded increases in value-added output. Key sectors such as electronics, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petrochemicals, general equipment, and special-purpose equipment collectively contributed 51.4% to the overall industrial growth. Regionally, the value-added output of large-scale industrial enterprises in ten major industrial provinces grew by approximately 7.2%. Provinces including Zhejiang, Henan, Jiangsu, and Hubei maintained rapid growth despite high base figures from the same period last year. The industrial structure continued to optimize. Value-added output in the equipment manufacturing sector rose by 8.9% year-on-year, contributing nearly 50% to the growth of large-scale industries. High-tech manufacturing output increased by 12.5% year-on-year, accelerating by 3.1 percentage points compared to last year. Emerging industries such as integrated circuit manufacturing and biopharmaceutical manufacturing demonstrated rapid expansion. Production of technologically advanced and high-value-added products, including robot reducers and memory chips, achieved growth rates exceeding 40%. Positive momentum continued to accumulate. In the first two months, profits of large-scale industrial enterprises increased by 15.2% year-on-year, with growth accelerating by 14.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. Investment in the manufacturing sector grew by 4.1% year-on-year in the first quarter, an acceleration of 3.5 percentage points from last year. Industries such as computer and office equipment manufacturing, as well as aerospace equipment manufacturing, recorded double-digit investment growth. In March, the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 0.5% year-on-year, ending a 41-month consecutive decline. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased by 1.4 percentage points from the previous month, entering the expansion zone. However, it was also noted that domestic demand remains insufficient, cash flow for small and medium-sized enterprises and certain sectors is tightening, and operations in industries such as petrochemicals have faced disruptions. Further efforts are required to consolidate the positive momentum in the industrial economy.
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