The National Bureau of Statistics released data on China’s economy in May 2024, highlighting the combined functionality of all sectors. While the expansion of commercial production has slowed, foreign income and industry have increased, driven through retail sales, reflecting strong domestic demand in a stabilizing global economy. environment.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released economic signals for May, offering a comprehensive review of the functionality of industry, services, consumption, foreign industry and investment.
The data indicate a slowdown in the expansion of commercial production, some production sectors still show physically strong performances. On the other hand, consumption is increasing, driven by the expansion of services, retail sales, and imports. The slight increase in those spaces suggests a strengthening of domestic demand, boosted by a stabilizing global economic scenario and the boost provided by Labor Day in early May.
China’s overseas industry also continued to show marked improvement, reflecting the country’s export functions and rising imports.
Despite these positive trends, demanding situations persist for economic momentum. The balance between boosting domestic demand and achieving a solid trade expansion will be very important for China’s economic outlook in the coming months.
The annual expansion of China’s trade sector slowed in May from last month but remained strong. Total value-added trade production rose by 5. 6% year-on-year in May, a monthly increase of 0. 3% but a slowdown from the 6. 7% year-on-year expansion recorded in April. Manufacturing value-added output rose 6% year-on-year, slowing from 7. 5% year-on-year in April.
According to NBS spokesman Liu Aihua, aircraft production has played a role in stabilizing the overall trade expansion. The price of the sector increased by 7. 5% compared to last year, contributing 2. 6% of emissions to the expansion of all industries above the designated duration and accounting for 45. 7% of the overall expansion. Within this sector:
Some sectors of production of electronic and high-tech devices had strong performance:
However, the automobile production sector slowed significantly, going from a 16. 3% year-on-year jump in April to a 7. 6% year-on-year expansion in May, likely due to falling domestic demand.
From January to May, the overall value-added output of longer-term business enterprises (those with a major source of annual revenue exceeding RMB 20 million) increased by 6. 2% year-on-year. In particular, private companies continued to outperform state-owned companies, with value-added output expanding 5. 9% year-on-year, compared to 3. 6% for state-owned companies. At the same time, the value-added output of foreign invested enterprises (FIE) increased by 2. 5% year-on-year.
In May, China’s services sector performed remarkably, contributing particularly to overall economic stability and growth. Several key factors, coupled with supportive macroeconomic policies, external demand, and the boost provided by Labor Day, have played a central role in the sector’s recovery.
The Facilities Production Index increased 4. 8% year over year in May, a 1. 3% improvement from last month. Last Labor Day this month provided a major boost to tourism and similar activities. During the holidays, the number of domestic tourists and overall spending increased by 7. 6% and 12. 7%, respectively, year-on-year, while box office profits for advertising exhibitions (excluding entertainment venues) nationally they increased 37. 2% year over year.
This increase in holiday travel and recreational activities had a positive effect on the transport, storage, postal services, and accommodation and food sectors.
Overall, several service sectors posted healthy expansion in May:
Between January and May, the services output index increased by 5% year-on-year, and revenue from services of more than a fixed duration expanded by 8. 2% year-on-year.
Total retail sales of customer goods reached RMB 3. 92 trillion (540. 6 billion U. S. dollars) in May, up 3. 7 year-on-year, accelerating from 2. 3 percent growth. registered in April. Between January and May, total retail sales of goods for customers reached RMB 19. 5 trillion ($2. 7 trillion), up 4. 1 trillion year-on-year.
Highlights include:
The growth in sales of lifestyle products stands out, adding sports and entertainment items (20. 2%), cosmetics (18. 7%), communication devices (16. 6%) and household appliances and audiovisual devices (12. 9%).
Online retail sales continued to grow strongly, reaching RMB 5. 77 trillion in the first five months of the year, an increase of 12. 4% compared to 2023. Of this amount, online retail sales of physical products reached RMB 4. 83 trillion (USD 665. 64 billion). , a year-on-year increase of 11. 5%, representing 24. 7% of total retail sales for the period.
Between January and May 2024, facility retail sales increased 7. 9% year-on-year. According to Yuan Yan, lead statistician of the Department of Trade and Economy of the NBS, the expansion rate decreased compared to the January-April period, partly due to the upper base effect of the same era in 2023.
The expansion rate of retail sales was 4. 4 percentage points higher than that of retail sales of goods during this period.
Despite emerging demand, inflation remained moderate in May, and the national consumer price index (CPI) expanded 0. 3% year-on-year, in line with the April rate. Food fell 2% year-on-year, paring last month’s 0. 7% year-on-year decline.
Thereof:
Non-food costs increased 0. 8% compared to last month, and the accumulation rate decreased 0. 1% compared to last month’s percentage emissions. Among non-food items, energy costs increased 3. 4% year-on-year, and the accumulation rate decreased 0. 2 in line with last month’s percentage emissions. Prices increased by 0. 8 in line with cents, and the pace of accumulation remained the same as last month.
The core CPI, food and energy prices, increased by 0. 6% year-on-year.
China’s foreign industry increased in May, with a total industrial volume of RMB 3. 71 trillion (511. 8 billion U. S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 8. 6 percent. Of this total, exports rose by 11. 2% year-on-year to RMB 2. 15 trillion ($296. 3 billion), while imports rose by 5. 2% year-on-year to $1. 56 billion. RMB billion (USD 215 billion).
Between January and May 2024, the total import and export volume reached RMB 17. 5 trillion (US$2. 42 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 6. 3%. Exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 7. 9% year-on-year, representing 59% of total exports.
These figures imply a notable rebound after a difficult period. Throughout 2023, the country has struggled with stagnant industrial growth, a result of weakening demand in key export markets such as the EU and the United States. Total foreign industry in 2023 grew by 0. 2%, with exports growing by 0. 6%, while imports saw a slight decline of 0. 3% year-on-year.
In the first five months of 2024, China’s constant asset investment (FAI) reached RMB 18. 8 trillion (USD 2. 59 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 4%. Of this amount, public sector investment increased by 7. 1% year-on-year. , while investment in the personal sector increased by 0. 1% year-on-year.
Excluding investment in real estate development, the ISP rose 8. 6 percent.
Breaking down investment by sector, investment in infrastructure increased by 5. 7%, investment in production by 9. 6%, while investment in real estate decreased by 10. 1%. In particular, investments in high-tech industries saw significant growth, with an increase of 11. 5%. % year on year.
Foreign PSIs continued to decline, reflecting the difficulties and uncertainties faced by foreign-invested companies in China. Between January and May 2024, EIA ISPs fell 15. 4% year-on-year, and the drop deepened with 0. 2 emissions between January and April. In contrast, domestic business investment increased by 3. 8% year-on-year, and that of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan increased by 6. 6% year-on-year.
About us
China Briefing is one of Asia Briefing’s regional publications, supported by Dezan Shira.
Dezan Shira
Our free webinars are packed with information on doing business in China.
The subscription provides you with that, plus free access to our articles and magazines.
Subscribe now to our weekly newsletter China Edition. It’s free, with no strings attached.
Not convinced? Click here to view our week’s issue.
Type in a keyword to start your search. . .