National Bureau of Statistics of China

16 May 2023

In April, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments firmly implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the general principle of pursuing progress while maintaining stability, fully and faithfully applied the new development philosophy on all fronts, accelerated efforts to create a new pattern of development, and ensured early and coordinated effects of macro policies. As the economic and social activities have fully returned to normal, the year-on-year growth for most production and demand indicators improved, services and consumption witnessed fast recovery, and employment and prices were generally stable. The economy sustained the good momentum for recovery.

1. Service Sector Continued the Recovery and Contact-and-Gathering-Based Services Improved Significantly.

In April, the Index of Services Production increased by 13.5 percent year on year, 4.3 percentage points faster than that of the previous month. Specifically, that of accommodation and catering, wholesales and retails, transportation, storage and post, information transmission, software and information technology services grew by 48.7 percent, 18.8 percent, 17.6 percent and 13.2 percent year on year respectively, or 18.8 percentage points, 7.9 percentage points, 5.7 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points faster than that of the previous month. In the first four months, the Index of Services Production increased by 8.4 percent year on year, 1.7 percentage points faster than that of the first three months. In the first three months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 5.0 percent year on year. In April, the Business Activity Index for Services was 55.1 percent, and the Business Activity Expectation Index for Services was 62.3 percent. Specifically, the Business Activity Index for railway transportation, air transportation, accommodation, telecommunication, broadcast, television and satellite transmission services, and culture, sports and entertainment stayed within the high expansion range of 60 percent and above.

2. Industrial Production Was Generally Stable and Equipment Manufacturing Grew Fast.

In April, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 5.6 percent year on year, 1.7 percentage points faster than that of the previous month, or down by 0.47 percent month on month. In terms of sectors, the value added of mining maintained the same level of growth, manufacturing went up by 6.5 percent and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water grew by 4.8 percent. The value added of equipment manufacturing went up by 13.2 percent year on year, 5.3 percentage points faster than that of the previous month. An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of state holding enterprises was up by 6.6 percent year on year; that of share-holding enterprises was up by 4.4 percent; that of enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan was up by 11.8 percent; and that of private enterprises was up by 1.6 percent. In term of products, the output of new-energy vehicles and solar cells went up by 85.4 percent and 69.1 percent year on year respectively. In the first four months, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size went up by 3.6 percent year on year, 0.6 percentage points faster than that of the first three months. In April, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 49.2 percent and the Production and Operation Expectation Index was 54.7 percent.

3. Market Sales Grew Fast and Online Retail Sales Witnessed Accelerated Growth.

In April, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,491.0 billion yuan, up by 18.4 percent year on year, 7.8 percentage points faster than that of the previous month, or up by 0.49 percent month on month. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 3,039.8 billion yuan, up by 18.6 percent year on year; and that in rural areas reached 451.3 billion yuan, up by 17.3 percent. Grouped by types of consumption, the retail sales of goods were 3,115.9 billion yuan, up by 15.9 percent; the income of catering was 375.1 billion yuan, up by 43.8 percent. The sales of upgraded goods grew fast, with the retail sales of gold, silver and jewelry, sports and recreation goods and cosmetics by enterprises above the designated size growing by 44.7 percent, 25.7 percent and 24.3 percent respectively. In the first four months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 14,983.3 billion yuan, up by 8.5 percent year on year, 2.7 percentage points faster than that of the first three months. The online retail sales totaled 4,410.8 billion yuan, up by 12.3 percent year on year, 3.7 percentage points faster than that of the first three months. Specifically, the online retail sales of physical goods were 3,716.4 billion yuan, up by 10.4 percent, accounting for 24.8 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

4. Investment in Fixed Assets Scaled up and Investment in High-Tech Industries Grew Fast.

In the first four months, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 14,748.2 billion yuan, up by 4.7 percent year on year, 0.4 percentage points lower than that of the first three months. Specifically, the investment in infrastructure grew by 8.5 percent year on year, that in manufacturing grew by 6.4 percent, and that in real estate development dropped by 6.2 percent. The floor space of commercial buildings sold was 376.36 million square meters, down by 0.4 percent year on year; the total sales of commercial buildings were 3,975.0 billion yuan, up by 8.8 percent. By industry, the investment in the primary industry went up by 0.3 percent year on year, that in the secondary industry up by 8.4 percent, and that in the tertiary industry up by 3.1 percent. The private investment went up by 0.4 percent. The investment in high-tech industries grew by 14.7 percent year on year, of which the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 15.3 percent and 13.4 percent respectively. In terms of high-tech manufacturing, the investment in manufacturing of electronic and communication equipment and in manufacturing of medical equipment, measuring instrument and meter grew by 19.9 percent and 19.4 percent respectively. In terms of high-tech services, the investment in services for transformation of scientific and technological achievements and in professional technical services went up by 42.1 percent and 33.9 percent respectively. The investment in social sectors grew by 5.6 percent. Specifically, the investment in health sector and education sector grew by 13.8 percent and 5.0 percent respectively. In April, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) dropped by 0.64 percent month on month.

5. Imports and Exports of Goods Kept Growing and Trade Structure Continued to Improve.

In April, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 3,434.7 billion yuan, up by 8.9 percent year on year. Specifically, the value of exports was 2,026.5 billion yuan, up by 16.8 percent; and the value of imports was 1,408.1 billion yuan, down by 0.8 percent. The trade balance was 618.4 billion yuan in surplus. In the first four months, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 13,323.2 billion yuan, up by 5.8 percent year on year. Specifically, the value of exports was 7,672.9 billion yuan, up by 10.6 percent; and the value of imports was 5,650.3 billion yuan, up by 0.02 percent. In the first four months, the imports and exports of general trade grew by 8.5 percent, accounting for 65.4 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 1.6 percentage points higher than that in the same period of the previous year. The imports and exports by private enterprises grew by 15.8 percent, accounting for 52.9 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 4.6 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year. The exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 10.5 percent year on year, accounting for 57.9 percent of the total exports.

6. Employment was Generally Stable and Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate Went Down.

In April, the urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous month. The surveyed unemployment rate of population with local household registration was 5.1 percent and that of population with non-local household registration was 5.4 percent, among which, the rate of the population with non-local agricultural household registration was 5.1 percent. Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rates of the population aged from 16 to 24 and from 25 to 59 were 20.4 percent and 4.2 percent respectively. Among the population aged from 25 to 59, the surveyed unemployment rates of the population with junior secondary school education or below, with senior secondary school education, with junior college education, and with university education or above were 4.5 percent, 4.6 percent, 4.0 percent and 3.1 percent respectively. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.5 percent. The employees of enterprises worked 48.8 hours per week on average.

7. Consumer Price Went Up Year on Year and Producer Prices for Industrial Products Went Down Year on Year.

In April, the consumer price index (CPI) went up by 0.1 percent year on year, or down by 0.1 percent month on month. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 0.8 percent year on year; clothing up by 0.9 percent; housing down by 0.2 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 0.1 percent; transportation and communication down by 3.3 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 1.9 percent; medical services and health care up by 1.0 percent; and other articles and services up by 3.5 percent. In terms of food, tobacco and alcohol prices, prices for fresh vegetables were down by 13.5 percent, grain up by 1.1 percent, pork up by 4.0 percent and fresh fruits up by 5.3 percent. The core CPI excluding the prices of food and energy went up by 0.7 percent year on year, same as that of the previous month. In the first four months, the consumer price index went up by 1.0 percent year on year.

In April, the producer prices for industrial products dropped by 3.6 percent year on year, or down by 0.5 percent month on month. The purchasing prices for industrial producers dropped by 3.8 percent year on year, or down by 0.7 percent month on month. In the first four months, the producer prices for industrial products and the purchasing prices for industrial producers went down by 2.1 percent and 1.5 percent year on year respectively.

Generally speaking, in April, the national economy sustained the momentum of recovery with increasing positive factors. However, we should be aware that the international environment is still complicated and severe while the domestic demand remains insufficient and the endogenous driving force for economic recovery is not strong yet. At the next stage, we must follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while maintaining stability, fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, accelerate efforts to create a new pattern of development and comprehensively deepen reform and opening up. We must give full play to the effectiveness of policies while boosting the vitality of business entities, focus on the recovery and expansion of demand and accelerate modernizing the industrial system so as to achieve effective enhancement of quality and reasonable growth of quantity of economy and strive to pursue high-quality development.

Notes:

1. The growth rates of value added of industrial enterprises above designated size and its sub-items are calculated at comparable prices. Both are real growth rates. The growth rates of other indicators are nominal growth by using current prices unless otherwise specified.

2. Industrial enterprises above designated size are industrial enterprises with annual revenue from principal business over 20 million yuan.

As industrial enterprises above the designated size change every year, to ensure the data comparability between years, the coverage of the data of the same period last year used for estimating year-on-year growth rates like that of products output, is as consistent as possible with the current period and different from the coverage of the data published last year. The main reasons are as follows: First, the statistical units change. Every year, some enterprises are included in the survey as they meet the threshold, while some enterprises are removed from the survey because of downsizing. Besides, enterprises that have newly gone into operation, been bankrupted, canceled their registrations or had their business licenses revoked also cause impact. Second, duplicated outputs across regions of enterprise groups have been removed based on the ad hoc surveys since duplication is found in the products output of some enterprise groups.

3. The Index of Services Production is the change of production in the reporting period compared to the base period with the price factors deducted.

4. The scope of the total retail sales of consumer goods includes all legal entities, establishments and self-employed individuals involved in retail trades or providing catering services. Specifically, businesses above the designated size include wholesale enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals), retail enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) and lodging and catering enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) with annual revenue from principal business over 20 million yuan, 5 million yuan and 2 million yuan respectively.

As the wholesale, retail, and lodging and catering enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) above the designated size change every year, to ensure the data comparability between years, the coverage of the data of the same period last year used for estimating year-on-year growth rates like that of the retail sales of consumer goods by businesses above the designated size is consistent with the current period and different from the coverage of data published last year. The main reasons are: some enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) are included in the survey as they meet the threshold, while some enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) are removed from the survey because of downsizing every year. Besides, enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) that have newly gone into operation, been bankrupted, canceled their registrations or had their business licenses revoked also cause impact.

Online retail sales refer to the retail sales of goods and services realized through internet trading platforms (including self-built websites and third-party platforms). Goods and services include physical goods and non-physical goods (e.g. virtual goods and services).

The total retail sales of consumer goods include the online retail sales of physical goods, but not the non-physical goods.

5. Data of imports and exports are from the General Administration of Customs.

6. Employed people refer to people aged 16 and above who have the ability to work and engage in gainful employment for remuneration payment or business income.

7. Due to the rounding-off reasons, the subentries may not add up to the aggregate totals.

In case of any differences between English translation and the original Chinese text, the Chinese edition shall prevail.