Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 16th: The economic operation is recovering and the positive factors are accumulating and increasing-focusing on China’s economic trend in the first four months
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wei Yukun, Han Jianuo, Qu Lingyan
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on the 16th, since the beginning of this year, as the economy and society have fully resumed normal operation, macro policies have been coordinated at the forefront, and the national economic operation has continued to recover. Positive factors have accumulated and increased.
Year-on-year growth rate of most production demand indicators increased
“Under the combination of factors such as the economic recovery and improvement, the continuous release of policy effects, and the low base of the same period last year, the year-on-year growth rate of major production demand indicators rebounded significantly in April.” Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at the State Council Information Office on the same day. said at the press conference.
From the perspective of production, industrial production has grown steadily, and the service industry has a good growth momentum. From January to April, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 3.6% year-on-year, 0.6 percentage points faster than that from January to March. In April, the production index of the service industry increased by 13.5% year-on-year. Among them, the production index of the accommodation and catering industry, wholesale and retail industry, transportation and other industries were significantly faster than the production index of the entire service industry.
Insufficient aggregate demand is a prominent contradiction facing the current economic operation. The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on April 28 pointed out that “the current improvement in my country’s economic operation is mainly restorative, the endogenous driving force is not strong, and the demand is still insufficient.”
The latest data show that domestic demand continues to expand. With the orderly recovery of consumption scenes, residents’ consumption propensity has gradually increased, and service consumption has improved significantly. From January to April, the total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 8.5% year-on-year, 2.7 percentage points faster than that from January to March. In April, the total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 18.4% year-on-year, of which catering revenue increased by 43.8%. The scale of investment continued to expand. From January to April, investment in fixed assets increased by 4.7% year-on-year, which was 0.4 percentage points lower than that from January to March.
The resilience of foreign trade continued to emerge. From January to April, the total import and export of goods increased by 5.8% year-on-year. The World Trade Organization recently released the “Global Trade Data and Prospects” report, which raised the forecast for the growth rate of global trade in goods this year from 1% to 1.7%, arguing that the release of China’s consumer demand will promote the growth of international trade.
Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, said that China is “important” in the global trading system, and China’s foreign trade performance will promote the economic and trade development of other countries and regions.
From January to April, investment in high-tech industries increased by 14.7% year-on-year; online retail sales of physical goods increased by 10.4% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 3.1 percentage points faster than that from January to March; production of new energy vehicles increased by 85.4% year-on-year in April…Innovation leads The role continues to increase, and the new kinetic energy for development continues to grow.
Employment prices are generally stable
Employment is the foundation of people’s livelihood and development. Since the beginning of this year, with the recovery of the economy, the demand for jobs in the job market has gradually increased, and the urban surveyed unemployment rate has continued to decline.
Statistics show that in April, the national surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, and a decline for two consecutive months. The surveyed urban unemployment rate of the labor force aged 25 to 59 was 4.2%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, and is currently lower than the level of the same period in 2019 before the epidemic. The urban surveyed unemployment rate of migrants with agricultural household registration was 5.1%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.
“In the next stage, as the economy continues to recover, especially the service industry continues to improve, coupled with the effective employment stabilization policy, the employment situation is expected to be generally stable.” Fu Linghui said.
Domestic prices remained within a reasonable range. In April, the national consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.1% year-on-year, and the national industrial producer price index (PPI) fell by 3.6% year-on-year.
Since the beginning of this year, the monthly year-on-year increase in CPI has fallen, the decline in PPI has expanded, and prices have been running at a low level. Fu Linghui said that the low price operation is phased. From the perspective of core CPI, the core CPI rose by 0.7% year-on-year in April, the same increase as last month, and remained basically stable overall.
Fu Linghui said that due to the relatively limited pull of market demand on prices in the short term, the impact of international imports may continue, and the periodical low level of CPI year-on-year growth will continue. However, as the policy of expanding domestic demand takes effect, economic activity increases, employment gradually improves, and consumer confidence increases, the increase in CPI will return to a reasonable level.
Economic operation remains stable and recovery is supported
The streets and alleys are full of people, the scenic spots are full of tourists, and the residents’ willingness to spend and travel is high… The “May 1” holiday that just passed has confirmed the resilience and vitality of the Chinese economy.
Recently, international organizations and institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have raised their forecasts for China’s economic growth this year, demonstrating their confidence in China’s high-quality development. Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of the IMF, said that the contribution rate of China’s economy to global economic growth this year is about one-third, and it is a highlight of global growth this year.
However, judging from the latest data, insufficient domestic demand constraints still exist, and some structural problems are still relatively prominent, and many difficulties and challenges still need to be overcome to promote high-quality development.
“A proactive fiscal policy must be strengthened to improve efficiency, and a prudent monetary policy must be precise and powerful.” “It is necessary to increase the income of urban and rural residents through multiple channels and improve the consumption environment.” “It is necessary to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system supported by the real economy”…April The Politburo meeting of the CPC Central Committee held on the 28th made a series of important arrangements for economic work.
“It is necessary to thoroughly implement the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee, focus on restoring and expanding demand, comprehensively deepen reform and opening up, stimulate the vitality of business entities, effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas, and effectively protect and improve people’s livelihood.” Fu Linghui said.
Fu Linghui said that in the next stage, with the further effectiveness of various consumption-promoting policies and the continuous expansion of new consumption patterns, the rebound in consumption is expected to continue; the further implementation of policies to stabilize growth, employment, and prices will be conducive to the sustainable development of the economy. The recovery is improving; the overall employment situation has improved, and the consumption and service industries have stabilized and rebounded, which is expected to become an important support for the economic improvement in the second quarter.
[Responsible editor: Pan Yiqiao]