The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, released on June 16th, indicates that in May, China's production and supply saw steady growth, employment and prices remained generally stable, the resilience of foreign trade continued to be evident, and new growth drivers expanded. The national economy sustained its overall stable and improving development trend, moving towards higher quality.
Rapid Growth in High-Tech Manufacturing
In May, the value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size nationwide increased by 4.5% year-on-year, accelerating by 0.4 percentage points from the previous month. On a month-on-month basis, it grew by 0.40%. By the three main sectors, mining grew by 2.3% year-on-year, manufacturing by 4.4%, and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas, and water by 7.6%. The value added of equipment manufacturing increased by 9.5% year-on-year, while that of high-tech manufacturing rose by 15.1%, accelerating by 1.2 and 2.3 percentage points respectively from April.
From January to May, the value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size nationwide increased by 5.4% year-on-year. From January to April, the total profits of these industrial enterprises reached 2,435.8 billion yuan, marking an 18.2% year-on-year increase.
Accelerated Growth in the Service Industry Production Index
In May, the national service industry production index rose by 4.4% year-on-year, accelerating by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. By sector, the production indices for information transmission, software and information technology services; leasing and business services; finance; and transport, storage and postal services increased by 11.3%, 10.9%, 7.0%, and 4.8% year-on-year, respectively.
From January to May, the national service industry production index increased by 4.8% year-on-year. In the first four months, the operating revenue of service enterprises above the designated size grew by 6.4% year-on-year.
Robust Growth in Service Retail
From January to May, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased by 2.8% year-on-year. Within this total, service retail sales grew by 5.4%, while retail sales of goods increased by 1.2%. Notably, this marks the first time the National Bureau of Statistics has released the indicator for total retail sales of consumer goods and services.
"At the current stage, we see that observing consumption requires looking not only at goods consumption but also at service consumption," stated a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics. From January to May, total retail sales of consumer goods reached 20,603.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.4%. Online retail sales of goods and services nationwide amounted to 8,317.7 billion yuan, up 5.9% year-on-year. Of this, online retail sales of goods were 5,271.8 billion yuan, growing by 5.0%, while online retail sales of services were 3,045.9 billion yuan, rising by 7.6%.
Continued Growth in Infrastructure Investment
From January to May, national fixed-asset investment (excluding rural households) reached 17,851.2 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year decrease of 4.1%. Excluding real estate development, fixed-asset investment fell by 1.2%. Within the total, infrastructure investment increased by 0.6% year-on-year, manufacturing investment decreased by 0.4%, and real estate development investment declined by 16.2%. Investment in intellectual property products rose by 9.3% year-on-year, accelerating by 0.4 percentage points from the January-April period. Investment in high-tech industries increased by 4.5% year-on-year.
Sustained Rapid Growth in Goods Imports and Exports
In May, the total value of goods imports and exports was 4,451.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%, accelerating by 2.7 percentage points from the previous month. Exports amounted to 2,587.8 billion yuan, up 13.8%, while imports reached 1,863.8 billion yuan, rising by 21.5%.
From January to May, the total value of goods imports and exports was 20,682.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%. Exports totaled 11,913.7 billion yuan, growing by 11.8%, and imports were 8,769.1 billion yuan, up 20.5%. General trade imports and exports increased by 8.3% year-on-year. Imports and exports by private enterprises grew by 15.5%.
Decline in Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate
From January to May, the national average urban surveyed unemployment rate stood at 5.2%. In May, the national urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.1%, down 0.1 percentage points from April. The average weekly working hours for employed persons in enterprises nationwide were 48.2 hours.
Moderate Rebound in Consumer Prices
In May, the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 1.2% year-on-year, with the rate of increase unchanged from April. On a month-on-month basis, it decreased by 0.1%. Within food prices, pork prices fell by 16.1%. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased by 1.1% year-on-year. From January to May, the CPI rose by 1.0% year-on-year.
Expansion in Producer Price Increases
In May, the national Producer Price Index (PPI) for industrial products rose by 3.9% year-on-year, with the rate of increase expanding by 1.1 percentage points from April. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 0.5%. The purchasing prices for industrial producers rose by 5.8% year-on-year and 1.3% month-on-month. From January to May, the PPI and the purchasing prices for industrial producers increased by 1.0% and 1.6% year-on-year, respectively.
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