Xinhua Viewpoint丨What signals did China's economic data release in May? Transformation | Drones | Xinhua Viewpoint丨
Beijing, June 20 (Xinhua) -- What signals did China's economic data in May release?
Xinhua Viewpoint reporters Wei Yukun, Pan Jie and Zhou Yuan
The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in May, as the effects of macroeconomic policies continued to be released, China's economy continued to recover and improve, operating generally smoothly, and remained an important engine and stabilizing force for global economic growth.
"Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters sorted out the main economic indicators that have been released, went deep into many places to feel the pulse of economic development, and interpreted the signals released by China's economy in May.
Since May, multinational companies have accelerated their investment layout in China: Sam's Club settled in Zhongshan, Guangdong, Costco's first membership store with a gas station in mainland China appeared in Nanjing, Jiangsu, and GE Healthcare invested an additional 380 million yuan in the construction of a base in Shanghai...
"We will increase our efforts in smart manufacturing, green upgrading and digital transformation at our Shanghai base, deepen our cooperation with Shanghai Pudong, and promote more cooperation and transformation of innovative results in diagnostic drugs," said Kevin O'Kelly, global president and CEO of GE Healthcare Diagnostics.
Investment takes into account medium- and long-term factors and focuses on the fundamentals of economic development. The main economic indicators that have been released show that China's economy remains stable and the upward trend is more obvious, which fully confirms the confidence of foreign capital in China's economic development.
The three pillars supporting economic growth are running steadily. In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods and the total import and export of goods increased by 3.7% and 8.6% year-on-year, respectively, 1.4 and 0.6 percentage points faster than the previous month. In the first five months, the national fixed asset investment increased by 4% year-on-year.
The international container terminal at Zhujiaqiao Port Area of Wuhu Port in Anhui Province was photographed on May 26.
It is worth noting that under the complex and severe external environment, my country's foreign trade continued the positive trend in April and the growth rate accelerated further in May. Reuters quoted relevant experts as saying that so far, exports have always been the bright spot of China's economy and China's foreign trade competitiveness is very strong.
Maintaining employment and price stability is an important sign of economic stabilization. In May, the national consumer price index rose by 0.3% year-on-year, and the core CPI excluding food and energy prices rose by 0.6% year-on-year, maintaining a moderate increase. The national urban survey unemployment rate was 5%, down 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, and the employment base continued to consolidate.
Judging from the performance of industries and enterprises, the trend of steady improvement is also consolidating:
In May, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide increased by 5.6% year-on-year, with 90% of regions, 80% of industries and nearly 60% of products achieving year-on-year growth; the service industry production index increased by 4.8% year-on-year, 1.3 percentage points faster than the previous month.
The SME development index was 89.2, higher than the same period in 2023; the business vitality index of technological innovation enterprises increased by 22.7% year-on-year...
Behind the improvement of some indicators is the accumulation of growth momentum and the demonstration of development confidence.
However, while we have firm confidence in development, we must also keep a clear head. We must see that the current external environment has become more complex and severe, and domestic effective demand is still insufficient. "But the fundamentals of economic recovery and long-term improvement have not changed," said Liu Aihua, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics.
Since May, as the endogenous momentum of the economy has accelerated its recovery, the flow of people and logistics factors has become more active, China's economic cycle has gradually improved, and the economic structure has continued to be optimized.
Looking at production supply, transformation and upgrading continue to advance——
On the road, self-driving sightseeing cars and unmanned sweepers pass by quietly; on the water, unmanned boats gently paddle to designated locations to clean the water surface; in the air, drones are conducting security patrols... In the Intelligent Connected Vehicle Demonstration Park of Binhu National Forest Park in Hefei, Anhui, the intelligent connected industry is showing new vitality.
Looking across the country, as policy measures to support industrial transformation and upgrading are implemented and take effect, China's manufacturing industry continues to move towards high-end, intelligent and green development, and new quality productivity is being cultivated and expanded at a faster pace.
High-tech manufacturing maintained rapid growth. In May, the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 10% year-on-year; the added value of equipment manufacturing above designated size increased by 7.5% year-on-year, and the growth rate has been higher than the average level of all industrial enterprises above designated size for 10 consecutive months.
Smart manufacturing performed well. In May, the output of 3D printing equipment and integrated circuits increased by 36.3% and 17.3% year-on-year respectively, and the added value of industries such as smart unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing and smart vehicle equipment manufacturing increased by 75% and 19.7% respectively.
Looking at market demand, the vitality of new consumption formats continues to be released——
Data from the State Post Bureau showed that in May, the express delivery volume reached 14.78 billion pieces, setting a new record, which is a vivid portrayal of the continued recovery of consumption.
China's consumer market is operating steadily and improving. In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 3.7% year-on-year, of which the retail sales of goods and catering revenue increased by 3.6% and 5% respectively, which were 1.6 and 0.6 percentage points faster than the previous month.
In May, the retail sales of sports and entertainment goods, communication equipment, household appliances and audio-visual equipment in units above the designated size increased by 20.2%, 16.6% and 12.9% year-on-year respectively; in the first five months, the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 11.5% year-on-year... The consumption structure of the Chinese market continues to improve.
Agence France-Presse recently reported that China's total retail sales of consumer goods in May grew year-on-year, higher than the 3.0% predicted by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. "After a period of uncertainty, China's consumer army is regrouping."
On June 19, when the Science and Technology Innovation Board celebrated its fifth anniversary, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced the launch of the "Eight Measures for the Science and Technology Innovation Board". This reform will improve the institutional mechanisms for issuance and underwriting, mergers and acquisitions, equity incentives, and transactions, and better serve technological innovation and the development of new productivity.
Previously, on June 14, the 50-year ultra-long-term special treasury bonds were issued for the first time at the Beijing Stock Exchange, with an issuance scale of 35 billion yuan. Since the "gateway" was opened on May 17, the issuance of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds has been carried out in an orderly manner.
The reporter found that since the second quarter, policies in various fields have been working in the same direction and forming a synergy. Local governments have accelerated the implementation of policy measures, focused on expanding domestic effective demand and stimulating the vitality of business entities.
Large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods replacement, which are the focus of expanding domestic demand, have made new progress. Li Chao, spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, introduced that as of now, the policy system for large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods replacement has been established, and action plans for equipment renewal, consumer goods replacement, recycling, and standard improvement have been issued. All 31 provinces have issued their own implementation plans.
Policies to stabilize foreign trade continue to be implemented. The Ministry of Commerce and nine other departments recently issued the "Opinions on Expanding Cross-border E-commerce Exports and Promoting the Construction of Overseas Warehouses", proposing a number of measures to promote the high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouses.
As policies are gradually implemented and their positive effects are further released, there are clear signs that China's economy is recovering:
On June 15, at a summer grain purchase site at a grain reserve warehouse in Pingyi County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, transport vehicles lined up to sell grain.
Summer grain is expected to have another bumper harvest. As of June 18, the national summer grain wheat harvest progress has reached 96%, and the "three summer" wheat mechanized harvesting task has been basically completed.
Consumption vitality continues to be released. During the Dragon Boat Festival holiday just passed, 110 million domestic tourists traveled and the total expenditure of tourists was 40.35 billion yuan, an increase of 6.3% and 8.1% year-on-year respectively.
On June 10, in Sanjiao Village, Liangwan Town, Shuifu City, Yunnan Province, locals offered Miao rice wine to tourists.
Real estate is related to the vital interests of the people and the overall economic and social development. Since mid-May, relevant departments and regions have further adjusted and optimized real estate policies. Reporters recently interviewed in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Sichuan and other places and found that with the gradual implementation of the new policies, transactions in first- and second-tier hot cities have become increasingly active, and the market has responded positively.
Optimistic about China's economic development prospects, international organizations have raised their expectations for China's economic growth. After the International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for China's economic growth this year to 5%, the World Bank released a China Economic Brief on June 14, raising its forecast for China's economic growth this year by 0.3 percentage points.
International market participants have also captured the positive changes in the Chinese economy. According to reports from Deutsche Presse-Agentur and Bloomberg, the German Chamber of Commerce in China released a report saying that German companies in China are more optimistic about China's prospects than last year.
Li Chao expressed that the implementation of various policies such as "double-double" and "double-new" will be accelerated to effectively consolidate and enhance the upward trend of the economy.
