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Press briefing on China's Q1 economic performance

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Speaker:
Sheng Laiyun, spokesperson and director-general of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)

Chairperson:
Hu Kaihong, vice director-general of the Press Bureau, State Council Information Office

Date:
April 16, 2014

On a fourth note, sales volume grew steadily.

In the first quarter, retail sales of consumer goods totaled at 6.2081 trillion yuan (997.64 billion U.S. dollars), a nominal increase of 12.0 percent year-on-year (and a real growth of 10.9 percent after deducting price factors), among which retail sales of units above designated size rose by 9.7 percent to 3.0275 trillion yuan (486.52 billion US dollars) and online retail sales of units above designated size by 51.7 percent to 81.5 billion yuan (13.0971 billion US dollars). Grouped by business locations, urban retail sales reached 5.3553 trillion yuan (860.66 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 11.8 percent year-on-year; rural retail sales rose by 12.8 percent to 852.8 billion yuan (137.04 billion US dollars). Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of the catering industry reached 646.5 billion yuan (103.89 billion US dollars), up by 9.8 percent year-on-year; that of retail sales of commodities reached 5.5616 trillion yuan (893.75 billion US dollars), up by 12.2 percent, among which retail sales of units above designated size rose by 10.3 percent to 2.8409 trillion yuan (456.33 billion US dollars). In March, nominal retail sales of consumer goods rose by 12.2 percent year-on-year (a real growth of 10.8 percent after deducting price factors), and 1.23 percent up quarter-on-quarter.

Fifth, then, export declined year-on-year

In the first quarter, the volume of import and export dropped 1.0 percent year-on-year, to 5.9022 trillion yuan (965.9 billion US dollars), among which export slipped down 3.4 percent to 3.0025 trillion yuan (491.3 billion US dollars); and import rose by 1.6 percent to 2.8997 trillion yuan (474.6 billion US dollars). Trade surplus came to 102.8 billion yuan (16.74 billion US dollars). In March, the volume of imports and exports dropped 9.0 percent year-on-year to 2.0314 trillion yuan (332.5 billion US dollars), among which exports fell 6.6 percent to 1.0392 trillion yuan (170.1 billion US dollars) and imports fell by 11.3 percent to 992.3 billion yuan (162.4 billion US dollars).

Sixth, consumer prices remain stable.

In the first quarter, consumer prices rose by 2.3 percent year–on-year, among which urban consumer prices rose by 2.4 percent and rural by 2.0 percent. Breaking down the numbers, food prices rose by 3.5 percent year-on-year, liquor and grocery fell 0.7 percent, clothing rose by 2.2 percent, household equipment and maintenance services rose by 1.3 percent, medical care and personal products rose by 1.1 percent, transport and communications fell 0.2 percent, entertainment and educational products and services rose by 2.5 percent and housing rose by 2.7 percent. In terms of food prices, grain prices rose by 2.9 percent, fats fell 5.1 percent, pork prices fell 6.6 percent and fresh vegetable prices rose by 5.8 percent. In March, consumer prices rose by 2.4 percent year-on-year, fell 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter. Industrial producer prices fell 2.0 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, 2.3 percent in March year-on-year, and 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in March. The purchasing prices for industrial products fell 2.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, 2.5 percent year-on-year in March, and 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in March.