Guangzhou (JLC), August 15, 2023 – China's economy continued to improve in July, with the service sector, industrial output, retail, etc. growing when some other sectors remained stable, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on August 15.
Service sector continues to grow
China's service production index went up 5.7% year on year in July, data from the NBS showed Tuesday.
In January-July, the service production index gained 8.3% on year.
In July, commercial activity index for the service sector stood at 51.5%, above the critical 50%, a line that separates growth from contraction.
Air transport, courier services, TV broadcasting, satellite transmission services, Internet software and IT technologies sectors were above 60%, indicating high prosperity for these sectors.
Industrial output grows steadily
China's value-added industrial output, a gauge of activity in the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors, went up 3.7% YoY in July, the NBS data showed.
In breakdown, output from the mining sector increased 1.3% YoY, output from the manufacturing sector grew 3.9%, and output from the electricity, heat, gas and water sector gained 4.1%.
Notably, output of solar cells and new energy vehicles (NEVs) gained 65.1% and 24.9% YoY respectively in July.
In January-July, China's value-added industrial output rose 3.8% YoY, the NBS data showed.
Industrial output is used to measure the activity of enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least CNY20 million (about USD2.79 million).
The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 49.3% in July, the NBS said.
Retail sector continues to recover
China's retail sales of consumer goods, a key measurement of consumer spending, increased 2.5% YoY to about CNY3.68 trillion in July, the NBS said on Tuesday.
Among them, retail sales of goods stood at CNY3.25 trillion in July, gaining 1.0% YoY, and sales from the catering industry amounted to about CNY0.43 trillion, growing 15.8%, the NBS said.
In January-July, China's retail sales for consumer goods gained 7.3% to CNY26.43 trillion.
Online sales stood at CNY8.31 trillion in January-July, gaining 12.5%.
Fixed-asset investment keeps expanding
In January-July, China's fixed-asset investment went up 3.4% YoY to CNY28.59 trillion, the NBS data showed.
In breakdown, fixed-asset investment in infrastructure and manufacturing gained 6.8% and 5.7% YoY respectively.
However, investment in the property sector dropped 8.5% YoY.
Foreign trade drops amid better structure
In July, total value of imports and exports of goods (in CNY terms) totaled CNY3.46 trillion, dropping 8.3% YoY, the NBS data showed.
Export value fell 9.2% YoY to CNY2.02 trillion in July, while import value contracted 6.9% YoY to CNY1.44 trillion in the month.
In January-July, total value of imports and exports of goods (in CNY terms) totaled CNY23.55 trillion, gaining 0.4% YoY.
Export value gained 1.5% YoY to CNY13.47 trillion in January-July, while import value contracted 1.1% to CNY10.08 trillion in these months.
Unemployment rate stable
The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5.3% in July, versus 5.2% in June, the NBS data showed.
