China's economy maintained steady momentum boosted by innovation-led and high-quality development in August, with production and supply growing steadily, employment and prices generally stable, and foreign trade registering rapid growth, official data showed on Tuesday.
Fu Linghui, a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said the economy in August showed fast growth in emerging industries.
In August, the value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew 5.2 percent year on year, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous month, NBS data showed. Value added in equipment manufacturing rose 12.1 percent, and that in high-tech manufacturing jumped 16.7 percent, 6.9 percentage points and 11.5 percentage points faster than the industrial sector as a whole.
In August, lithium-ion battery and industrial robot output expanded 57.2 percent and 34.6 percent year on year, respectively. The output of 3D printing equipment rose 29.9 percent year-on-year.
New growth drivers contributed over 60 percent to growth in industrial output above the designated size in August, while information transmission, software and information technology services contributed more than 20 percent to growth in the services production index, according to Fu.
The services sector grew steadily, with the services production index up 4.1 percent year on year in August. Information transmission, software and information technology services rose 9.6 percent, leasing and business services 9 percent, and transport, storage and postal services 4.8 percent.
Market sales rose, with retail services growing fast. In the first eight months, the total retail sales of goods and services rose 2.5 percent year on year, with services up 4.9 percent and goods up 1.0 percent.
Fixed-asset investment declined in the first eight months, down 7.2 percent year on year to around 29.3 trillion yuan, yet its structure kept improving. Wang Guanhua, another NBS spokesperson, attributed the decline to several factors, including frequent extreme weather such as high temperatures, typhoons, and floods; a complex and volatile external environment; and cautious corporate investment decisions amid the ongoing transition from old growth drivers to new ones.
"What matters more is whether the investment is effective, whether it is directed to transformation and upgrading, and whether it can build momentum for long-term development," Wang said. Investment in high-tech industries grew 5.2 percent and spending on equipment 9.3 percent in the first eight months, NBS data showed, while investment in internet-related and other services under the "six networks" initiative surged 42 percent.
Imports and exports of goods grew fast and the trade structure continued to optimize. In August, total goods trade reached 4.65 trillion yuan, up 19.8 percent year on year, with exports up 18.6 percent to 2.73 trillion yuan and imports up 21.7 percent to 1.92 trillion yuan.
In the first eight months, total foreign trade rose 17.6 percent to 34.78 trillion yuan, with exports of mechanical and electrical products up 21.9 percent.
Employment remained generally stable. The urban surveyed unemployment rate averaged 5.2 percent in the first eight months. In August, the rate stood at 5.3 percent, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, mainly due to the seasonal impact of new graduates entering the labor market, Fu said.
Consumer prices rose mildly while producer prices grew faster year on year. In August, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.8 percent year on year, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, and the producer price index (PPI) for industrial products rose 3.8 percent, also up 0.3 percentage points.
China's property market showed signs of stabilization. Total property transaction volume improved. The floor space of newly built commercial housing sold from January to August fell 12.1 percent year on year, while second-hand housing transactions rose 10.6 percent. "Despite fewer new-home transactions, the overall transaction volume of the property market has stabilized with more second-hand housing deals," Fu said.
The year-on-year decline in housing prices narrowed, with new-home prices in 38 of the 70 major cities falling less than the previous month, and second-hand home prices in 48 cities falling less than the previous month. New commercial housing inventory continued to fall, with unsold floor space down 1.1 percent year on year by the end of August, the sixth consecutive monthly decline.
Looking ahead, Fu said that amid a complex international environment and pressures from domestic transformation, China will step up counter-cyclical adjustment, expand domestic demand, optimize supply, deepen reform and opening up, and boost momentum and vitality to promote sustained innovation-driven, high-quality, and sound economic development.
