The resilience of the national economic development continued to show in August

In August, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, all regions and departments conscientiously implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, scientifically coordinated epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and the national economy continued to recover, and the transformation and upgrading continued Advancement, the continuous release of innovation vitality, the overall stability of employment prices, the steady improvement of quality and efficiency, and the main macro indicators within a reasonable range.

1. Industrial production has grown steadily, and the growth of high-tech manufacturing has accelerated

In August, the value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide increased by 5.3% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 5.4%, which was 0.2 percentage points lower than that in July; it increased by 0.31% month-on-month. Divided into three categories, the value added of the mining industry increased by 2.5% year-on-year, the manufacturing industry increased by 5.5% year-on-year, and the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply industries increased by 6.3% year-on-year. The added value of high-tech manufacturing increased by 18.3% year-on-year, 2.7 percentage points faster than in July; the two-year average growth was 12.8%, an acceleration of 0.1 percentage point. In terms of products, the output of new energy vehicles, industrial robots, integrated circuits, and microcomputer equipment increased by 151.9%, 57.4%, 39.4%, and 12.4% year-on-year, respectively, and the two-year average growth rate exceeded 12%. In terms of economic types, the value added of state-owned holding companies increased by 4.6% year-on-year; joint-stock companies increased by 6.1% year-on-year; foreign, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan-invested enterprises increased by 3.4% year-on-year; private enterprises increased by 5.2% year-on-year. From January to August, the value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide increased by 13.1% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 6.6%. Among them, the added value of the pharmaceutical manufacturing, electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industries increased by 30.0% and 23.8% year-on-year respectively. In August, the purchasing managers index of China's manufacturing industry was 50.1%, which was higher than the threshold for 18 consecutive months; the expected index of enterprise production and operation activities was 57.5%.

From January to July, the national industrial enterprises above designated size achieved a total profit of 4,924 billion yuan, an increase of 57.3% year-on-year, and an average increase of 20.2% in two years; the profit rate of operating income of industrial enterprises above designated size was 7.09%, an increase of 1.43 from January to July 2020 Percentage points.

2. The service industry continues to recover, and modern service industries such as information transmission, software and information technology are growing rapidly

In August, the national service industry production index increased by 4.8% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 4.4%, down 1.2 percentage points from July. Among them, the production index of information transmission, software and information technology services increased by 16.2% year-on-year, and the production index of leasing and business services increased by 11.4%. From January to August, the service industry production index increased by 17.7% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 6.2%. In terms of major industries, the production indices of the eight sub-sectors all maintained growth year-on-year, of which the production indices of the information transmission, software and information technology service industries increased by 20.9% year-on-year. From January to July, the operating income of service industry enterprises above designated size increased by 27.8% year-on-year; the two-year average growth rate was 10.9%. Among them, the operating income of information transmission, software and information technology service industry, scientific research and technical service industry increased by 24.2% and 21.1% respectively year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 17.0% and 11.8% respectively. In August, the business activity index of the service industry was 45.2%, of which the wholesale, monetary and financial services, capital market services and other industries were all higher than 54.0%; the business activity expectation index of the service industry was 57.3%, which continued to be in a relatively high boom range.

3. Market sales maintained growth, and consumption of upgraded products was relatively active

In August, the total retail sales of consumer goods was 3,439.5 billion yuan, an increase of 2.5% year-on-year, and an average increase of 1.5% in two years, a decline of 2.1 percentage points from July; an increase of 0.17% month-on-month. From January to August, the total retail sales of consumer goods totaled 28,122.4 billion yuan, an increase of 18.1% year-on-year, and an average increase of 3.9% over the two years. In August, according to the location of business units, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas was 2,995 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%; the retail sales of rural consumer goods was 444.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%. In terms of consumption type, retail sales of goods amounted to 3,093.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%; catering revenues were 34.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.5%. Classified by commodity category, the retail sales of 11 of the 18 commodity categories of units above designated size maintained a positive year-on-year growth. The consumption of upgraded products was relatively active. The retail sales of sports and entertainment products and cultural and office products of units above designated size increased by 22.7% and 20.4% respectively year-on-year. Basic living consumption maintained rapid growth. The retail sales of beverages, Chinese and Western medicines, and grain, oil and food products of units above designated size increased by 11.8%, 10.2%, and 9.5% respectively year-on-year. From January to August, the national online retail sales reached 8122.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.7%. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods was 6,634 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%; it accounted for 23.6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

4. Investment in fixed assets has grown steadily, while manufacturing and private investment have grown rapidly

From January to August, the national investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 34,691.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%, an average increase of 4.0% in two years, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from January to July; a month-on-month increase of 0.16% in August. In terms of sectors, infrastructure investment from January to August increased by 2.9% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 0.2%, down 0.7 percentage points from January-July; manufacturing investment increased by 15.7% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 3.3%. From July to July, it accelerated by 0.2 percentage points; real estate development investment increased by 10.9% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 7.7%, down 0.3 percentage points from January to July. The sales area of commercial housing nationwide was 114193 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%; the sales of commercial housing was 1,19047 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.8%. In terms of industries, investment in the primary industry increased by 18.1% year-on-year, investment in the secondary industry increased by 12.9% year-on-year, and investment in the tertiary industry increased by 6.8% year-on-year. Private investment increased by 11.5% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 3.9%, which was 0.5% faster than that from January to July. Investment in high-tech industries increased by 18.9% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 13.4%; among them, investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech service industries increased by 25.8% and 6.3% year-on-year respectively. In the high-tech manufacturing industry, investment in the computer and office equipment manufacturing industry, aviation, spacecraft, and equipment manufacturing industry increased by 48.8% and 45.2% year-on-year respectively; in the high-tech service industry, the investment in the e-commerce service industry and the inspection and testing service industry increased year-on-year respectively 36.0%, 23.6%. Investment in the social sector increased by 13.3% year-on-year, an average increase of 10.7% in two years; of which investment in health and education increased by 33.8% and 12.2% respectively.

5. Import and export of goods accelerates growth, and the trade structure continues to optimize

In August, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 3,429.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.9% and an acceleration of 7.4 percentage points from July. Among them, exports were 1902.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.7%; imports were 1.5265 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%. The import and export balance, the trade surplus was 376.3 billion yuan. From January to August, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 24,783.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.7%. Among them, exports were 13,655.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.2%; imports were 1,12181 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.4%. The trade structure continued to be optimized. From January to August, exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 23.8% year-on-year, accounting for 58.8% of total exports. General trade imports and exports accounted for 62% of total imports and exports, an increase of 1.6 percentage points over the same period last year. The import and export of private enterprises accounted for 48.1% of the total import and export, an increase of 2.3 percentage points over the same period last year. At the end of August, the country’s foreign exchange reserves totaled 3,322.1 billion U.S. dollars, staying above 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars for four consecutive months.

6. The employment situation is generally stable, and the unemployment rate of young people in urban surveys has fallen

From January to August, 9.38 million new jobs were created in cities and towns across the country, completing 85.3% of the annual target. In August, the nationwide surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.1%, the same as in July. The unemployment rate of the local household registration population survey was 5.2%, and the unemployment rate of the foreign household registration population survey was 5.0%. The census unemployment rate for 16-24 years old was 15.3%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from July; the census unemployment rate for 25-59 years old was 4.3%. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.3%, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from July. The average weekly working hours of employees in enterprises across the country is 47.5 hours.

7. Consumer prices are generally stable, and the ex-factory prices of industrial producers have expanded.

In August, the national consumer price (CPI) rose by 0.8% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage points lower than that in July, and 0.1% month-on-month. In terms of categories, the price of food, tobacco and alcohol decreased by 2.0% year-on-year, the price of clothing increased by 0.5%, the price of housing increased by 1.1%, the price of daily necessities and services increased by 0.6%, the price of transportation and communication increased by 5.9%, the price of education, culture and entertainment increased by 3.0%, and the price of medical and health care rose by 0.4%, and the price of other supplies and services fell by 3.9%. Among the prices of food, tobacco and alcohol, pork prices fell 44.9%, fresh vegetables prices fell 1.5%, grain prices rose 0.8%, and fresh fruit prices rose 5.0%. After deducting food and energy prices, the core CPI rose by 1.2%, 0.1 percentage point lower than in July. From January to August, the national consumer prices rose by 0.6% year-on-year.

In August, the national producer prices for industrial producers rose by 9.5% year-on-year, an increase of 0.5 percentage points over July; the month-on-month increase was 0.7%. Purchasing prices for industrial producers rose by 13.6% year-on-year, an increase of 0.5 percentage points over July; a month-on-month increase of 0.8%. From January to August, the ex-factory prices of industrial producers and the purchasing prices of industrial producers increased by 6.2% and 8.6% respectively year-on-year.

In general, the national economy continued to recover in August. However, it should also be noted that the current international environment is complex and severe, and the impact of natural disasters such as the spread of domestic epidemics and floods on economic operations has appeared, and the foundation for economic recovery still needs to be consolidated. In the next step, we must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, follow the decisions and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, adhere to the general tone of the work of seeking progress while maintaining stability, fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, and deepen the supply-side structural reforms. , To accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, effectively implement macro-policy cross-cycle adjustments, consolidate and expand the results of coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, maintain economic operations in a reasonable range, and promote high-quality economic development.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics