Chinanews Client Beijing, August 14 (Reporter Li Jinlei) On August 14, the National Bureau of Statistics released China's economic data for July. How will the Chinese economy start in the second half of the year? Are pork prices still going up? Are there enough food stocks?
Let's first look at the performance of the "troika" of consumption, export, and investment.
Changsha's "night economy" gradually recovered. Citizens travel to taste food on summer nights. Photo by Yang Huafeng
The growth rate of commodity retailing turned from negative to positive for the first time in the year
With the return of fireworks, "buy, buy, buy" is also speeding up.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that market sales continued to pick up in July, with retail sales of 2,892 billion yuan, and the growth rate changed from negative to positive for the first time in the year, an increase of 0.2%.
Online retail continues to improve. From January to July, the national online retail sales reached 6,078.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.0%, which was 1.7% faster than that in the first six months.
Export growth reached double digits
Data show that in July, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 2,927 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%. Among them, exports were 1,684.6 billion yuan, an increase of 10.4%; imports were 1,242.4 billion yuan, an increase of 1.6%.
The export growth rate in July not only set a record since the outbreak of the epidemic, but also far higher than other major economies in the world, and was also a new high since March last year.
The spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics Fu Linghui analyzed that in July, foreign trade was better than expected, and exports achieved positive growth for four consecutive months. This is because China’s economic resilience and potential are huge, and its ability to adjust and adapt is relatively strong. A series of policies to support stable foreign trade will It has played a positive role in stabilizing foreign trade enterprises and expanding exports. Moreover, China has a complete industrial system, strong supporting capabilities, strong ability to adjust and adapt to external changes, and exports of anti-epidemic materials play a stimulating role.
The picture shows the container terminal of Xiuying Port in Haikou. Photo by Luo Yunfei
Investment decline continues to narrow
Data show that from January to July, the national investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 3,292.14 billion yuan, down 1.6% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed by 1.5 percentage points from January to June; the month-on-month increase was 4.85% in July.
Let's look at the performance of the two livelihood indicators of price and employment.
Pork prices rose by 85.7%
In July, the national consumer prices rose by 2.7% year-on-year, an increase of 0.2 percentage points over June.
Among food, tobacco and alcohol prices, pork rose by 85.7%, fresh vegetables by 7.9%, grain by 1.6%, and fresh fruits by 27.7%.
Data map: Supermarket employees are sorting pork. Zhang Yunshe
It can be seen that the price increase of "Second Brother" is still relatively high.
Pork prices once dropped before, why did they rebound again? Fu Linghui said that pork prices have risen because of the gradual recovery of catering services and the expansion of pork demand as companies resume work and production; second, the southern flood in July has some adverse effects on pig production and transportation.
Regarding the trend of pork prices, Fu Linghui said that from the survey, the number of live pigs is increasing seasonally, but from the perspective of supply, the production and supply of live pigs are still in tight balance, and high prices will continue for a period of time. Generally speaking, pork It is unlikely that prices will rise sharply.
Food stocks are relatively sufficient
Regarding the food prices that everyone cares about, Fu Linghui said that China's food production has been stable at more than 1.3 trillion catties for five consecutive years, and the current grain stocks are relatively sufficient. This year's summer grains also achieved a bumper harvest, setting a record high. The output of summer grains increased by 0.9% over the previous year.
Fu Linghui said that on the whole, agricultural investment has gradually increased in recent years, and there is still a relatively good foundation for food stability. There are foundations and conditions for keeping food prices stable throughout the year.
Data map: During the wheat harvest season, the waves of wheat rolled over the ground golden. Photo by Liu Hao and Chen Jie
The employment situation is generally stable
Employment is the foundation of people's livelihood. Statistics show that from January to July, 6.71 million new jobs were created in cities and towns across the country, a decrease of 1.96 million compared with the same period last year.
In July, the surveyed unemployment rate in cities and towns across the country was 5.7%, which was the same as in June. Among them, the surveyed unemployment rate for 25-59 years old was 5.0%, a decrease of 0.2%; but the unemployment rate in the youth population survey increased.
Fu Linghui reminded that university graduates reached 8.74 million this year, a record high. In July, as college students entered the labor market intensively, the unemployment rate of people aged 20-24 with colleges and above (mainly new graduates) was rising, which was 3.3 percentage points higher than the same period last year. The pressure of these key groups should still be given great attention.
The Minister of Human Resources and Social Affairs Zhang Jinan recently pointed out that in the second half of the year, for college graduates, we will continue to encourage the expansion of enterprises to absorb the scale, expand the scale of grassroots employment, expand the scale of enrollment, and expand the scale of training and internships. (Finish)