SCIO press conference on China's economic performance in H1 2021
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 21, 2021
Liu Aihua:
Seventh, consumer prices rose mildly and producer prices for industrial products remained at a high level.
The consumer price index (CPI) went up by 0.5% year-on-year in the first half of this year, while remaining flat year-on-year in the first quarter. In June, consumer prices went up by 1.1% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point slower than May, and down by 0.4% month-on-month. In the first half of this year, consumer prices went up by 0.6% in urban areas and 0.4% in rural areas. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol were up by 0.4% year-on-year; clothing remained the same year-on-year; housing was up by 0.2%; articles and services for daily use were up by 0.1%; transportation and communication were up by 1.9%; education, culture and recreation were up by 0.9%; medical services and health care were up by 0.3%; and other articles and services went down by 1.1%. In terms of food, tobacco and alcohol prices, prices for pork went down by 19.3%, grain was up by 1.2%, fresh fruits were up by 2.6% and fresh vegetables were up by 3.2%. Core CPI, excluding the prices of food and energy, went up by 0.4%, after remaining the same year-on-year in the first quarter.
In the first half of this year, producer prices for industrial products went up by 5.1% year-on-year, 3 percentage points faster than the first quarter. In June, it grew by 8.8% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point slower than in May. In the first half of this year, the purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 7.1% year-on-year, 4.3 percentage points faster than the first quarter. It went up by 13.1% year-on-year and 0.8% month-on-month in June.
Eighth, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was the same as last month and employment was generally stable.
In the first half of this year, 6.98 million new jobs were created in urban areas, which meant that 63.5% of the whole year target was achieved. In June, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5%, the same as in May and 0.7 percentage point lower than the same period of last year. The surveyed unemployment rate of the population with local household registration was 5% and that of the population with non-local household registration was 5.1%. Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rates of the population aged from 16 to 24 and from 25 to 59 were 15.4% and 4.2%, respectively. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.2%, the same as that of May. The employees of enterprises worked 47.6 hours per week on average, 0.3 hours more than in May. By the end of the second quarter, the number of rural migrant workers totaled 182.33 million.
Liu Aihua:
Ninth, resident income continued to grow and the ratio of per capita disposable income between urban and rural residents narrowed.
In the first half of this year, China's per capita disposable income of residents was 17,642 yuan, a nominal increase of 12.6% over that of last year, which was mainly due to a low base in the first half of last year. The two-year average growth rate reached 7.4%, 0.4 percentage point faster than that of the first quarter. The real growth was 12% year-on-year after deducting price factors, registering a two-year average growth of 5.2%, which was slightly slower than overall economic growth but generally growing at the same pace. In terms of permanent residence, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 24,125 yuan, a nominal growth of 11.4% and a real growth of 10.7% year-on-year. The per capita disposable income of rural residents was 9,248 yuan, a nominal growth of 14.6% and a real growth of 14.1% year-on-year. In terms of sources of income, the income from wages and salaries, net operative income, net property income and net transfer income grew by 12.1%, 17.5%, 15%, and 9% year-on-year nominally. The per capita income of urban residents was 2.61 times that of rural residents, 0.07 less than the same period last year. The median of the nationwide per capita disposable income was 14,897 yuan, an increase of 11.6%.
In general, the national economy has sustained a steady recovery in the first half of the year, delivering a stable performance with a consolidated foundation and good momentum of growth. However, we are also aware that the global epidemic development brings many external instabilities and uncertainties, and the unbalanced recovery of the domestic economy demands more efforts to enhance the foundation for steady recovery and growth. Next, we will uphold Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our guide, and stay committed to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability in accordance with policy decisions and plans of the Central Economic Work Conference and the Report on the Work of Government to better coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development. We will continue to deepen supply-side structural reforms and unlock the potential of domestic demand. We will step up efforts to bail out enterprises. We will accelerate reform and opening-up, and coordinate all work to ensure that the economy operates within an appropriate range. We must make solid progress in high-quality development, and redouble our efforts to fulfill the targets and tasks for economic and social development this year.
That's all for my introduction. I will now answer your questions.
Xing Huina:
Thank you, Ms. Liu. Now the floor is open to questions. Please state the name of the news outlet you work for before asking questions.
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