(Economic Watch) China's "First Quarterly Report" presents seven highlights
China News Agency, Beijing, April 18 (Reporter Li Xiaoyu) China's economic data for the first quarter was announced on the 18th.
Under multiple risks and uncertainties, China's economy continued to grow steadily, showing seven bright spots.
GDP growth rate increased month-on-month
According to official data, in the first quarter of this year, China's GDP was 27,017.8 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year increase of 4.8% and a month-on-month increase of 1.3% from the fourth quarter of 2021.
Zhao Xijun, co-director of the China Institute of Capital Markets at Renmin University of China, said that the economic growth rate in the first quarter rose month-on-month, reversing the downward trend of economic growth in the last quarter, which is a sign of the stabilization of China's economy.
Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the 4.8% year-on-year growth rate of China's economy in the first quarter was in line with expectations.
With the further development of foreign trade exports in the second quarter, China's economic growth rate for the whole year is expected to be between 5.5% and 6%.
Industrial production accelerates growth
In the first quarter, the added value of China's industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.5% year-on-year, rebounding from the fourth quarter of the previous year and maintaining a relatively rapid growth.
Among them, the high-tech manufacturing industry grew rapidly.
In the first quarter, the added value of the equipment manufacturing industry increased by 8.1% year-on-year, of which the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing, computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industries all increased by more than 10%.
Fu Linghui, a spokesman for China's National Bureau of Statistics, said that the rapid growth of industrial production was not only driven by the recovery of the domestic economy and the world economy, but also by factors such as the strengthening of the driving role of industrial innovation and the continuous drive of industrial upgrading. The role of supply strengthening and the rapid growth of related industries.
Fixed asset investment soared
In the first quarter, China's fixed asset investment increased by 9.3% year-on-year, significantly higher than the GDP growth rate in the same period.
Among them, the growth rate of investment in manufacturing reached 15.6%.
Fu Linghui said that since the beginning of this year, all localities have actively promoted the construction of major projects, driving the rapid growth of investment.
As China's support for the development of the real economy continues to increase, the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and the growing momentum of innovation and development in emerging industries will help drive the growth of industrial investment.
At the same time, centering on major national strategic deployments and the "14th Five-Year Plan", making infrastructure investment moderately ahead of time will also help to expand investment.
Import and export achieved "seven consecutive increases"
Despite the high base last year, China's import and export of goods trade in the first quarter of this year still achieved a growth of 10.7%.
So far, China's foreign trade has maintained year-on-year growth for seven consecutive quarters.
Gao Lingyun, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that this fully reflects the resilience of China's foreign trade.
In addition to the growth in scale, the quality and efficiency of China's foreign trade has also been significantly improved.
Not only the number of foreign trade enterprises is increasing, but also the market structure of close regional cooperation and diversified trade is also optimized.
Prices remain moderately rising
While the shadow of inflation looms over the world, Chinese prices remain basically stable.
In the first quarter, the national consumer price (CPI) rose by 1.1% year-on-year, slightly larger than the increase in January-February.
Core CPI rose 1.2%, the same increase as in January-February.
Fu Linghui said that although there are international imported factors and some short-term supply pressures for fresh food, the supply capacity of China's commodity and service market is relatively sufficient, and there are foundations and conditions for prices to maintain an overall stable and moderate upward trend.
The employment situation is generally stable
As an important indicator of people's livelihood, the national urban surveyed unemployment rate averaged 5.5 percent in the first quarter, 0.1 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
Among them, the unemployment rate of the main employment group aged 25-59 was 4.9%, which was the same as the same period of the previous year.
Resident income growth outpaces GDP
In the first quarter, China's per capita disposable income was 10,345 yuan, a nominal increase of 6.3% year-on-year; after deducting price factors, the real increase was 5.1%, higher than the GDP growth rate in the same period.
Bai Jingming, former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, said that the growth rate of residents' income is higher than that of GDP, which indicates that the internal distribution structure of China's economy is optimizing, which is a manifestation of China's economic resilience.
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