[Report from the press conference of the State Council Information Office]
Guangming Daily reporter Zhang Yi
Market sales continued to pick up in July, with retail sales of 2,892 billion yuan, and the growth rate turned from negative to positive for the first time during the year, an increase of 0.2%; exports of goods trade were 1,684.6 billion yuan, an increase of 10.4%; China’s manufacturing PMI was 51.1%, an increase of 0.2 from the previous month Percentage points... On August 14, the National Bureau of Statistics released major macroeconomic data for July.
Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at the press conference of the State Information Office that since July, under the influence of a series of policy measures to coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, proactive fiscal policies and prudent monetary policies have continued. The economy has overcome the unfavorable effects of the epidemic and flood conditions, and has continued to maintain a stable recovery trend, with major indicators continuing to pick up.
"Buy, buy, buy" accelerates, and the growth rate of retail sales of goods turns from negative to positive for the first time this year
"In July, the epidemic prevention and control situation continued to improve, residents' living order continued to be restored, and wholesale, retail, accommodation and catering enterprises resumed business and the market steadily progressed." Zhang Min, a statistician from the Department of Trade and Foreign Economic Affairs of the National Bureau of Statistics, pointed out when interpreting the data. Driven by the implementation of a number of policies such as the strategy of expanding domestic demand and promoting the consumption of key commodities, market sales continued to improve, commodity retail sales achieved year-on-year growth, catering revenue continued to rebound, and new consumption continued to grow rapidly.
Affected by the impact of the epidemic, the retail sales of goods in each month of the first half of the year decreased year-on-year. As the epidemic prevention and control continued to consolidate, the commodity retail market continued to recover. In July, the retail sales of goods increased by 0.2% year-on-year, achieving positive growth for the first time in the year. The consumption of automobile products increased by double digits, and the consumption upgrade products increased rapidly.
New consumption continues to accelerate. Online retail formats such as fresh food e-commerce and store-to-home have grown rapidly, and online shopping has maintained rapid growth. From January to July, the national online retail sales of physical goods increased by 15.7% year-on-year, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from January to June; the online retail sales of physical goods accounted for 25.0% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, an increase of 5.6 percentage points from the same period last year.
The growth rate of goods trade exports, setting a new record since the epidemic
my country's exports of goods in July set a record, which was the highest export value since the emergence of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. 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%.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, the State Council issued a series of powerful and effective measures to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment. All regions and departments have vigorously implemented them to effectively relieve difficulties for enterprises. Foreign trade companies have faced difficulties, innovated and developed, and worked hard. The export growth rate in July set a record since the outbreak of the epidemic, far higher than other major economies in the world.
"Foreign trade in July 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 strong. A series of policies that support stable foreign trade have played a positive role in stabilizing foreign trade companies and expanding exports. Fu Linghui pointed out that China has a complete industrial system, strong supporting capabilities, and strong ability to adjust and adapt to external changes. The export of anti-epidemic materials plays a driving role.
From the perspective of industrial production, in July, the national industrial added value above designated size increased by 4.8% year-on-year, the growth rate was the same as in June; the month-on-month increase was 0.98%. The added value of the equipment manufacturing industry and high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 13.0% and 9.8% year-on-year respectively. In terms of product output, the output of mining, shoveling and transporting machinery, automobiles, industrial robots, smart phones, and microcomputer equipment increased by 46.1%, 26.8%, 19.4%, 19.2%, and 17.8% respectively.
The market is expected to improve as a whole, and the economy continues to improve
In July, China's manufacturing PMI was 51.1%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month; the non-manufacturing business activity index was 54.2%, and the manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs were above the threshold for five consecutive months. "As the overall planning for epidemic prevention and development policies are taking effect, my country's economic prosperity continues to recover, and business operations continue to improve." said Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician at the Service Industry Survey Center of the National Bureau of Statistics.
The market expects that the driving force for the overall improvement comes from the continued growth of the positive trend.
Fu Linghui analysis pointed out that the current industrial upgrading situation has not changed. From an industrial perspective, among the industries above designated size, high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing increased by 9.8% and 13% respectively year-on-year, which were significantly faster than the growth of the entire industry above designated size. Some new products have grown strongly, and 3D printing equipment, smart watches, and smart bracelets have maintained rapid growth.
New development momentum continues to increase. In July, the national service industry production index increased by 3.5% year-on-year, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from June. The growth trend of the modern service industry is good. In July, the production index of information transmission, software and information technology services increased by 13.7% year-on-year, which was also faster than the growth of the overall service industry. The production index of the financial industry, real estate industry and other service industries increased by 10.4%, 7.8%, and 3.3%, respectively, 2.9, 3.9, and 2.3 percentage points faster than in June.
From the perspective of employment and prices, the employment situation is generally stable. The unemployment rate in the urban survey in July was 5.7%, the same as the previous month. Although due to the influence of the flood, consumer prices in July rose by 2.7% year-on-year, which was a slight increase from the previous month, but overall it was still less than 3%, which was still a moderate increase.
"Guangming Daily" (August 15, 2020 Edition 02)