SCIO press conference on China's economic performance in H1 2021
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 21, 2021
Speaker:
Liu Aihua, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), director general of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the NBS
Chairperson:
Xing Huina, deputy head of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson for the SCIO
Date:
July 15, 2021
Xing Huina:
Friends from the media, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). We are joined by Ms. Liu Aihua, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and director general of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the NBS. Ms. Liu will first introduce the details concerning China's economic performance in the first half of 2021 and then answer your questions.
Now, let's give the floor to Ms. Liu.
Liu Aihua:
Good morning, I'll start by briefing you all on China's economic performance in the first half of this year and then take your questions.
In the first half of the year, the steady and sound growth momentum of the national economy was further consolidated. In the first half of this year, faced with a complicated and changing environment both at home and abroad, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments strictly implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, continued to consolidate the achievements made in the epidemic prevention and control and the economic and social development, and implemented accurate macro policies. China's economy sustained a steady recovery with both production and demand picking up, employment and prices remaining stable, new driving forces beginning to quickly thrive, quality and efficiency enhancing, market expectations improving and major macro indicators staying within a reasonable range. The steady and sound growth momentum of the national economy was further consolidated.
According to the preliminary estimates, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in the first half of the year was 53.22 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.7% at comparable prices, 5.6 percentage points lower than that of the first quarter. Meanwhile, the average two-year growth was 5.3%, a 0.3 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter. By quarter, the year-on-year GDP growth for the first quarter was 18.3%, with an average two-year growth of 5%; and it was 7.9% for the second quarter, with an average two-year growth of 5.5%. By industry, in the first half of the year, the value added of primary industry was 2.84 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 7.8%, with an average two-year growth of 4.3%; secondary industry was 20.72 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 14.8%, with an average two-year growth of 6.1%; and the tertiary industry was 29.66 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 11.8%, with an average two-year growth of 4.9%. The quarter-on-quarter GDP growth of the second quarter was 1.3%.
First, summer grain witnessed another bumper harvest, while production of animal husbandry grew steadily.
In the first half of the year, the value added of agriculture (crop farming) went up by 3.6% year-on-year, a 0.3 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter, with an average two-year growth of 3.7%. Specifically, in the second quarter it grew by 3.7%, a 0.4 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter. The overall output of summer grain was 145.82 million tons (291.6 billion jin), 2.97 million tons (5.93 billion jin) higher than that of last year, an increase of 2.1%. The structure of crop farming continued to be optimized, as sown areas for cash crops like rapeseeds increased. In the first half of the year, the output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry was 42.91 million tons, up by 23% over the same period last year. Specifically, the output of pork increased by 35.9%; milk rose up by 7.6%; and eggs were down by 4.1%. By the end of the second quarter, 439.11 million pigs were registered in stock, a year-on-year growth of 29.2%. Specifically, 45.64 million were breeding sows, up by 25.7%.
Second, industrial production grew steadily and high-tech manufacturing grew fast.
In the first half of the year, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 15.9% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth of 7%, a 0.2 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter. Specifically, that of the second quarter went up by 8.9% year-on-year. In June, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 8.3% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth of 6.5%; and a month-on-month growth of 0.56%. In terms of sectors, in the first half of the year, the value added of mining went up by 6.2% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth of 2.5%; manufacturing was up by 17.1%, with an average two-year growth of 7.5%; and production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water went up by 13.4%, with an average two-year growth of 6%. The value added of high-tech manufacturing went up by 22.6% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth of 13.2%. In terms of products, the production of new-energy automobiles, industrial robots and integrated circuits increased by 205%, 69.8%, and 48.1% year-on-year respectively, with average two-year growth all exceeding 30%. An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of the state holding enterprises went up by 11.9% year-on-year; share-holding enterprises went up by 15.8% year-on-year; enterprises funded by foreign investors and investors from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR, and Taiwan were up by 17% year-on-year; and private enterprises were up by 18.3% year-on-year. In June, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index of China was 50.9%, staying above the threshold for 16 months in a row. The Production and Operation Expectation Index was 57.9%.
In the first five months, the total profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size were 3.42 trillion yuan, up by 83.4% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth of 21.7%. The profit rate of the business revenue of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 7.11%, 2.05 percentage points higher than that of the first five months of 2020.
The service sector recovered steadily with market expectation picking up.
The first half of the year witnessed a steady recovery of the tertiary industry. Specifically, the value added of the tertiary industry for the second quarter increased by 8.3% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth of 5.1%; that for the first quarter increased by 15.6% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth of 4.7%. Specifically, in the first half of the year, the value added of transportation, storage and postal services and information transmission, software and information technology services increased by 21% and 20.3% year-on-year respectively, with average two-year growth increasing by 6.9% and 17.3% respectively. In June, the Index of Services Production increased by 10.9% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth rate of 6.5%. In the first five months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 31.9% year-on-year, with an average two-year growth of 11.1%, a 0.2 percentage points higher than that of the first four months.
In June, the Business Activity Index for services was 52.3%, staying above the threshold for 16 months in a row. Specifically, the Business Activity Index for sectors closely related with online consumption such as express mail services, telecommunication, broadcast, television and satellite transmission services, internet, software and information services stayed within the expansion range of 57% and above. Monetary and financial services and insurance stood within the expansion range of 60% and above. In terms of market expectation, the Business Activities Expectation Index was 60.4%, continuing to stay within the expansion range.
Fourth, market sales improved gradually and sales of upgraded consumer goods witnessed accelerated growth.
In the first half of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 21.19 trillion yuan, up by 23% compared with the previous year, registering a two-year average growth of 4.4%, 0.2 percentage point faster than that of the first quarter; and the total retail sales of the second quarter went up by 13.9% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 4.6%. In June, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.76 trillion yuan, up by 12.1% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 4.9%, and up by 0.70% month-on-month. In the first half of this year, in terms of regions, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 18.41 trillion yuan, up by 23.3% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 4.4%, and the retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas stood at 2.78 trillion yuan, up by 21.4%, with a two-year average growth of 4%. Grouped by consumption patterns, the retail sales of goods reached 19.02 trillion yuan, up by 20.6% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 4.9%; catering revenue was 2.17 trillion yuan, up by 48.6% year-on-year and basically the same as that of the first half of 2019. Grouped by categories, the year-on-year growth rates for 18 categories of goods by enterprises above the designated size all exceeded 10%, among which, over 70% of categories of goods witnessed year-on-year growth rates exceeding 20%. In terms of the two-year average growth, excluding petroleum products, retail sales of other categories of goods all witnessed positive growth, among which, the two-year average growth rates of nine categories, including sports and recreational articles, communication equipment, cosmetics, and cultural and office supplies, exceeded 10%. Online retail sales reached 6.11 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 23.2% and a two-year average growth of 15%, 1.5 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter. Specifically, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 5.03 trillion yuan, up by 18.7%, with a two-year average growth of 16.5%, 1.1 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter. This accounted for 23.7% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, 1.8 percentage points higher than that of the first quarter.
Liu Aihua:
Fifth, investment in fixed assets continued to recover and the two-year average growth of investment in manufacturing sector accelerated.
In the first half of this year, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 25.59 trillion yuan, up by 12.6% year-on-year, and it grew by 0.35% month-on-month in June. The two-year average growth rate reached 4.4%, 1.5 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter. In terms of sectors, in the first half of this year, investment in infrastructure was up by 7.8% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 2.4%, a slight decrease compared with the first five months. Investment in manufacturing was up by 19.2% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 2.0%, 1.4 percentage points faster than that of the first five months. Real estate development was up by 15% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 8.2%, a slight decrease compared with the first five months. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 886.35 million square meters, up by 27.7% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 8.1%. The total sales of commercial buildings reached 9.29 trillion yuan, up by 38.9% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 14.7%. In terms of industries, investment in the primary industry went up by 21.3% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 13.2%. Investment in the secondary industry was up by 16.3% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 2.9%. Investment in the tertiary industry was up by 10.7% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth rate of 4.8%. Private investment was up by 15.4% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth rate of 3.8%. Investment in high-tech industries grew by 23.5% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 14.6%, of which the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services increased by 29.7% and 12% year-on-year respectively and their average two-year growth rates reached 17.1% and 9.5% respectively. In terms of high-tech manufacturing, investment in the manufacturing of computers and office equipment and in the manufacturing of medical equipment, measuring instruments and meters grew by 47.5% and 34.2% year-on-year respectively and their two-year average growth rates reached 26.3% and 18.7% respectively. In terms of high-tech services, the investment in e-commerce services and in research, development and design services went up by 32.9% and 28.4% year-on-year and their two-year average growth rates reached 32.5% and 15.9%. The investment in social sectors went up by 16.4% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth rate of 10.7%, among which the investment in health and education went up by 35.5% and 14.2% year-on-year, with a two-year average growth of 24.9% and 12.5% respectively.
Sixth, imports and exports of goods grew fast and the trade structure continued to optimize.
In the first half of this year, the total imports and exports of goods expanded by 27.1% year-on-year to reach 18.07 trillion yuan. The total value of exports was 9.85 trillion yuan, up by 28.1% year-on-year. The total value of imports was 8.22 trillion yuan, up by 25.9% year-on-year. The trade balance was 1.63 trillion yuan in surplus. The trade structure continued to improve. In the first half of this year, the exports of mechanical and electrical products accounted for 59.2% of the total value of exports, up by 0.6 percentage point over the same period last year. The imports and exports of general trade accounted for 61.9% of the total value of imports and exports, up by 1.7 percentage points over the same period last year. The imports and exports by private enterprises accounted for 47.8% of the total value of imports and exports, up by 2.8 percentage points over the same period last year. In June, the total value of imports and exports was 3.29 trillion yuan, an increase of 22% year-on-year. The total value of exports was 1.81 trillion yuan, up by 20.2% year-on-year. The total value of imports was 1.48 trillion yuan, up by 24.2% year-on-year.
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