China's Economy Maintains Steady Progress in 2025, Achieving High-Quality Development as the 14th Five-Year Plan Concludes Successfully

Deep News01-19

In 2025, all regions and departments thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, steadfastly implemented the new development philosophy, promoted high-quality development, balanced domestic and international situations, coordinated development and security, implemented more proactive and effective macro policies, and advanced the construction of a unified national market in greater depth. The national economy operated under pressure, progressing toward innovation and excellence, achieving new results in high-quality development, successfully fulfilling the main objectives and tasks of economic and social development, and marking the victorious conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

The overall operation of the national economy remained stable, with the total economic scale reaching a new level. Preliminary calculations indicate the annual gross domestic product (GDP) reached 140.1879 trillion yuan, representing a year-on-year growth of 5% calculated at constant prices. By industry, the value added of the primary industry was 9.3347 trillion yuan, up 3.9%; the secondary industry reached 49.9653 trillion yuan, up 4.5%; and the tertiary industry amounted to 80.8879 trillion yuan, up 5.4%. Quarter-by-quarter, year-on-year growth was 5.4% in Q1, 5.2% in Q2, 4.8% in Q3, and 4.5% in Q4; on a quarter-on-quarter basis, Q4 grew by 1.2%, demonstrating the resilience and vitality of economic development.

Agricultural production remained stable and improved, with a solid foundation for food security. The total national grain output for the year reached 714.88 million tons, an increase of 8.38 million tons or 1.2% over the previous year. This included an early rice output of 28.51 million tons, up 1.2%; autumn grain output of 536.62 million tons, up 1.5%; wheat output of 140.07 million tons, remaining largely flat; corn output of 301.24 million tons, up 2.1%; rice output of 209.04 million tons, up 0.7%; and soybean output of 20.91 million tons, up 1.3%. Livestock production showed stable growth, with the annual output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry meat reaching 100.72 million tons, exceeding 100 million tons for the first time and increasing by 4.2% year-on-year. This included pork output of 59.38 million tons, up 4.1%, and poultry meat output of 28.37 million tons, up 6.7%. The number of live pigs slaughtered during the year reached 719.73 million head, up 2.4%, while the inventory of live pigs at year-end was 429.67 million head, up 0.5%.

Industrial and manufacturing sectors exhibited strong growth momentum, with new drivers accelerating their development. The value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size nationwide increased by 5.9% compared to the previous year. Categorized by sector, mining grew by 5.6%, manufacturing by 6.4%, and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas, and water by 2.3%. The value added of equipment manufacturing grew by 9.2%, and high-tech manufacturing grew by 9.4%, outpacing the overall industrial growth rate by 3.3 and 3.5 percentage points, respectively. By ownership type, share-holding enterprises grew by 6.3%, private enterprises by 5.3%, state-holding enterprises by 4.6%, and enterprises with foreign, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan investment by 3.9%. Output of new products grew rapidly, with production of 3D printing equipment, industrial robots, and new energy vehicles increasing by 52.5%, 28.0%, and 25.1%, respectively. In December, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 50.1%, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous month, while the production and business activity expectation index was 55.5%, up 2.4 percentage points. From January to November, the total profits of industrial enterprises above the designated size nationwide reached 6.6269 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%.

The service industry developed steadily, with modern services playing a leading role. The value added of the service sector increased by 5.4% year-on-year. Specifically, information transmission, software, and information technology services grew by 11.1%; leasing and business services by 10.3%; transport, storage, and postal services by 5.2%; wholesale and retail trade by 5.0%; and accommodation and catering services by 4.9%. In December, the service industry production index increased by 5% year-on-year, with indices for information transmission, software, IT services, and leasing and business services growing by 14.8% and 11.3%, respectively. From January to November, the operating revenue of service enterprises above the designated size increased by 7.8% year-on-year. In December, the business activity expectation index for the service sector was 56.4%, up 0.5 percentage points, with the business activity indices for sectors like telecommunication, radio and television, satellite transmission services, and monetary and financial services remaining in the high景气区间 above 60.0%.

Market consumption continued to recover, with a clear trend of structural upgrading. The total retail sales of consumer goods for the year reached 50.1202 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. By location, retail sales in urban areas amounted to 43.2972 trillion yuan, up 3.6%, while retail sales in rural areas reached 6.823 trillion yuan, up 4.1%. By type, retail sales of goods were 44.322 trillion yuan, up 3.8%, and catering revenue was 5.7982 trillion yuan, up 3.2%. Sales of basic living necessities and upgraded goods were particularly strong, with retail sales of communication equipment, cultural and office supplies, and sports and entertainment goods by units above the designated size increasing by 20.9%, 17.3%, and 15.7%, respectively. Online consumption remained active, with national online retail sales reaching 15.9722 trillion yuan, up 8.6%, of which online retail sales of physical goods were 13.0923 trillion yuan, up 5.2%, accounting for 26.1% of total retail sales of consumer goods. Service consumption grew relatively fast, with service retail sales for the year increasing by 5.5% year-on-year, led by growth in cultural, sports, leisure, and communication information services.

The investment structure was continuously optimized, with active investment in high-tech sectors. The national fixed asset investment (excluding rural households) for the year reached 48.5186 trillion yuan, a decrease of 3.8% compared to the previous year; excluding real estate development investment, it decreased by 0.5%. By sector, manufacturing investment grew by 0.6%, infrastructure investment fell by 2.2%, and real estate development investment fell by 17.2%. By industry, investment in the primary industry grew by 2.3%, the secondary industry by 2.5%, and the tertiary industry decreased by 7.4%. Private investment, excluding real estate development, decreased by 1.9%. High-tech industry investment performed notably well, with investment in information services and the manufacture of aircraft, spacecraft, and related equipment growing by 28.4% and 16.9%, respectively.

The scale of foreign trade expanded steadily, with the trade structure continuously optimizing. The total value of goods imports and exports for the year reached 45.4687 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. Exports were valued at 26.9892 trillion yuan, up 6.1%, while imports were 18.4795 trillion yuan, up 0.5%. Imports and exports by private enterprises grew by 7.1%, accounting for 57.3% of the total import and export value, an increase of 1.8 percentage points over the previous year. Imports and exports with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative grew by 6.3%, accounting for 51.9% of the total. Exports of high-tech products grew by 13.2%, highlighting the enhanced export competitiveness. In December, the total value of goods imports and exports was 4.263 trillion yuan, up 4.9% year-on-year, with exports of 2.5359 trillion yuan, up 5.2%, and imports of 1.7271 trillion yuan, up 4.4%.

Prices and employment remained generally stable, with solid and effective safeguards for people's livelihoods. The annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained flat compared to the previous year, while the core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, rose by 0.7%, with the increase widening by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year. By category, clothing prices rose by 1.5%, prices of household articles and services rose by 0.9%, prices for education, culture, entertainment, and health care both rose by 0.8%, and prices for other supplies and services rose by 9.3%. In December, the CPI increased by 0.8% year-on-year and 0.2% month-on-month. The annual Producer Price Index (PPI) fell by 2.6% compared to the previous year, while it rose by 0.2% month-on-month in December. The employment situation remained stable, with the national average surveyed urban unemployment rate for the year at 5.2%, and 5.1% in December. The surveyed unemployment rate for migrant agricultural workers was 4.4%, and the rate for 31 major cities was 5.1%. The total number of migrant workers for the year reached 301.15 million, an increase of 1.42 million or 0.5% over the previous year, including 180.06 million migrant workers working outside their hometowns, up 0.8%.

Resident incomes grew steadily, with the urban-rural income gap continuing to narrow. The national per capita disposable income of residents for the year was 43,377 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.0% and a real increase of 5.0% after adjusting for inflation. By place of residence, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 56,502 yuan, a nominal increase of 4.3% and a real increase of 4.2%; the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 24,456 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.8% and a real increase of 6.0%, indicating that rural income growth outpaced urban growth. The national median per capita disposable income was 36,231 yuan, a nominal increase of 4.4%. Consumer spending by residents grew in tandem, with the national per capita consumption expenditure for the year reaching 29,476 yuan, a nominal and real increase of 4.4%. The Engel coefficient was 29.3%, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous year, indicating continuous improvement in the consumption structure.

The population structure adjusted, with the urbanization level rising. The national population at year-end was 1.40489 billion, a decrease of 3.39 million from the end of the previous year. The number of births during the year was 7.92 million, with a birth rate of 5.63‰; the number of deaths was 11.31 million, with a death rate of 8.04‰; the natural population growth rate was -2.41‰. By age composition, the working-age population (16-59 years) accounted for 60.6% of the total, while the population aged 65 and above accounted for 15.9%. By urban-rural composition, the permanent urban population was 953.8 million, with an urbanization rate of 67.89%, up 0.89 percentage points from the end of the previous year. The average years of education for the population aged 16-59 reached 11.3 years, indicating continuous improvement in population quality.

Overall, in 2025, the national economy withstood multiple pressures and maintained a trend of steady progress, achieving new results in high-quality development. However, it must also be recognized that the impact of changes in the external environment is deepening, the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand domestically is prominent, and numerous old problems and new challenges persist in economic development.

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