Beijing's economy demonstrated a positive beginning in the first two months of 2026, according to data released by the municipal statistics bureau. During January and February, the city saw rapid growth in industrial production, steady expansion in fixed-asset investment, continued improvement in consumption, and overall stable price levels.
Industrial value-added for enterprises above the designated size increased by 6.7% year-on-year, calculated at comparable prices. Key sectors showed varied performance: the manufacturing of computers, communication equipment, and other electronic devices surged by 27.4%, driven by strong demand in the integrated circuit sector. Pharmaceutical manufacturing improved further, with value-added up 11.6%, partly due to a low base from the same period last year. The five major equipment manufacturing industries grew by 7%, with general-purpose and special-purpose equipment manufacturing rising by 17.2% and 9.9%, respectively. Production and supply of electric power and heat increased by 4.3%, while automobile manufacturing declined by 8.4%, following a 33.7% increase in the previous year.
Value-added in high-tech manufacturing and industrial strategic emerging industries grew by 17.6% and 16.5%, respectively. Output of wind turbine generators, service robots, new energy vehicles, and integrated circuits rose significantly by 130%, 90.8%, 23.2%, and 13.1%.
Fixed-asset investment, excluding rural households, rose by 4.1% year-on-year. Investment in construction and installation projects, which reflects physical工作量, increased by 16.8%, supported by projects such as rail transit and urban operation guarantees. By sector, infrastructure investment fell by 3.8%, manufacturing investment jumped by 19.8%, and real estate development investment grew by 6.2%. By industry, primary sector investment dropped by 7.7%, secondary sector investment surged by 31.6%—with high-tech manufacturing investment up 36% due to projects in electronics, automobiles, and commercial aerospace—and tertiary sector investment increased by 0.5%. Within the tertiary sector, leasing and business services, scientific research and technical services, and transport, storage, and postal services grew by 220%, 23.4%, and 13%, respectively.
The total area under construction for buildings in the city reached 87.58 million square meters, with residential buildings accounting for 43.636 million square meters. Sales area for commercial housing stood at 934,000 square meters.
The consumer price index rose mildly by 0.8% year-on-year. Prices for consumer goods increased by 1.1%, while services prices edged up by 0.6%. Among the eight major categories, prices for other goods and services, household items and services, clothing, health care, and food, tobacco, liquor, and dining out rose by 14.5%, 3.3%, 1.4%, 0.6%, and 0.6%, respectively. Education, culture, and entertainment prices remained flat, while housing and transport/communication prices fell by 0.3% and 0.1%. In February alone, consumer prices increased by 1.4% year-on-year and 0.9% month-on-month.
Producer prices for industrial goods fell by 2.1% year-on-year, while purchasing prices dropped by 1.6%. In February, producer prices declined by 2.3% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month; purchasing prices decreased by 1.4% year-on-year but rose by 0.3% month-on-month.
Beijing's consumer market continued its recovery, with total retail sales of consumer goods reaching 240.27 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.3% year-on-year, but the decline narrowed by 2.6 percentage points compared to the full previous year. Driven by sustained promotional campaigns and vibrant Spring Festival spending, physical retail grew rapidly, with revenue from brick-and-mortar stores above the designated size rising by 14.6%. Specialized stores and department stores/shopping centers increased by 21.8% and 4.4%, respectively.
Emerging consumption has become a new engine for growth, as demand upgrades and supply diversification take hold. New formats like instant retail expanded, with combined online sales from convenience stores, supermarkets, and membership warehouses above the designated size growing by 4.4%. Emotional consumption emerged as a trend, with consumers increasingly willing to pay for experiences, boosting sales of related goods. For instance, sales of trendy toys and cultural creative products nearly doubled among key monitored enterprises.
Green and smart consumption also showed strong growth. Retail sales of new energy vehicles rose by 3%, while high-efficiency home appliances, audio-visual equipment, and wearable smart devices registered varying increases.
Catering revenue reached 20.92 billion yuan, up 1%. The sector continued to recover, with formats offering efficiency, value, and emotional appeal performing well. Revenue from coffee shops, other beverage and cold drink services, and fast-food services above the designated size grew by 11.2%, 4%, and 3.1%, respectively. Full-service dining improved, with Beijing's characteristic catering brands showing positive results.
Overall, Beijing's consumer market maintained its recovery, with upgrading trends intact. Moving forward, efforts will focus on implementing initiatives to boost consumption, stabilizing employment and income, enhancing the quality and scale of goods consumption, accelerating new growth points in service consumption, and invigorating new consumption models to foster sustained market development.
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