SCIO briefing on China's economic performance in July 2026

Phoenix TV:

We have noticed that the services production index rose 4.3% year on year in July, down from the previous month. What are the specific reasons for this slowdown? In addition, what are the current development trends and characteristics of the service sector, and what is your outlook for its development going forward? Thank you.

Fu Linghui:

Thank you for your questions. The service sector is an important part of economic development and has drawn wide public attention. Since the beginning of this year, various parties have taken active steps to expand capacity and improve quality in the service sector. China's service sector has maintained steady growth overall, featuring an improved development structure and stronger new growth drivers, and playing an important role in meeting the needs of business production and people's daily lives. The index of services production rose 4.3% year on year in July, showing the following main characteristics.

First, production in the service sector has maintained steady growth. In July, extreme weather in some regions and other factors slowed growth in transportation and related sectors, pulling the growth rate of the services production index below that of the previous month. That is the concern you raised. On a cumulative basis, however, the index rose 4.7% year on year during the January-July period, broadly in line with the first-half growth rate. The trend of steady growth in the service sector remains unchanged. In terms of supply and demand in the consumer market, the supply of services has increased steadily, ensuring that market prices remain basically stable. In July, service prices in the CPI rose 0.7% year on year, unchanged from the previous month.

Second, producer services have been optimized and upgraded. Structurally, the integrated advancement of technological and industrial innovation, coupled with rising demand for high-tech services such as R&D and design, has driven the upgrading of producer services. During the first seven months, investment in high-tech services increased 8.4% year on year, with investment in information services up 19.2%. As digital and intelligent development speeds up, the demand for information services continues to expand. In July, the production index for the information transmission, software, and information technology services rose 9.3% year on year, significantly faster than the overall growth rate of the service sector. To enhance product market value, businesses have increased their demand for brand planning, publicity and promotion, which has in turn driven rapid growth in business services. In July, the production index for leasing and business services increased 9% year on year.

Third, the efficiency of consumer services has improved. To meet residents' diverse service needs, various parties have created new service consumption scenarios, promoted the integrated development of service business models and expanded the effective supply of services, hence boosting service retail sales. During the January-July period, retail sales of services increased 5% year on year, outpacing the growth rate of the retail sales of goods. New consumer service models, such as instant retail, have met those diverse service needs and given the sector a clear lift. In July, the production index for wholesale and retail, which is closely related to people's daily lives, increased 2.1% year on year, 0.5 percentage point higher than the previous month.

Fourth, emerging service industries have shown sound momentum. The platform economy has continued to develop, with internet-based service transactions remaining robust. During the January-July period, the transaction volume on tourism and sightseeing service platforms increased 7.2% year on year, while the transaction volume on cultural and sports service platforms rose 8.9%. As the green transition in production and daily life advances, charging facilities for new energy vehicles have continued to improve, and related service transactions have expanded. In the first seven months, the transaction volume on energy conservation and environmental protection service platforms increased 26.6% year on year, while the transaction volume on key charging platforms increased more than 30%. At the same time, new service enterprises with strong market competitiveness are growing rapidly and are increasingly becoming a new driving force supporting the development of the service sector. In the first half of the year, operating revenue of "little giant" service enterprises above designated size that utilize special and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products increased 14.6% year on year, continuing an upward trend. Thank you.

Zhou Jianshe:

Due to time constraints, we will take one last question.