SCIO briefing on China’s economic performance in Aug.

: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, September 14, 2017

Adjust font size:

Speaker:
Liu Aihua, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics

Chairperson:
Xi Yanchun, vice director-general of the Press Bureau, State Council Information Office

Date:
Sept. 14, 2017

Liu Aihua:

First, industrial production was stable, corporate profits continued to improve.

In August, the total added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.0 percent year-on-year, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month; and grew 0.46 percent faster than July, representing a gain of 0.05 percentage points.

An analysis by types of ownership shows State holding enterprises saw a gain of 7.8 percent; collective enterprises were down 2.1 percent; share-holding enterprises achieved a 5.8 percent increase; and those funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan rose 7.9 percent.

The added value of the mining industry fell 3.4 percent year-on-year; manufacturing rose 6.9 percent, a gain of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month; and that of the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water rose 8.7 percent. The production and sales rate of industrial enterprises above designated size reached 98.5 percent. From January to August, the total added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.7 percent year-on-year. In August, The Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) stood at 51.7 percent, a gain of 0.3 percentage points from the previous month. This represented 13 consecutive months of improvement.

From January to July, industrial enterprises above designated size achieved a total profit of 4.2481 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.2 percent year-on-year. The main business income profit margin reached 6.09 percent, up 0.41 percentage points year-on-year.

Second, the service sector grew at a relatively fast pace, with the business activity index extremely active.

In August, the service sector production index increased by 8.3 percent year-on-year, the growth rate being unchanged from the previous month; however, it was 0.9 percentage point higher than the same period last year. Information transmission, software and information technology services, rental and business services maintained double-digit growth.

From January to August, the service sector production index increased by 8.3 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point higher than the same period last year. From January to July, the operating income of service enterprises above designated size grew by 13.4 percent year-on-year, up by 0.2 percentage points from the first half of the year. The operating profit of service enterprises above designated size grew by 22.6 percent year-on-year, up by 6.6 percentage points from the first half of the year.

In August, the business activity index for services stood at 52.6 percent, showing a continued good performance. Specifically, the business activity index for sectors such as air transport, postal services, telecommunications, radio and television and satellite transmission, and the Internet and software information technology services stayed within the relatively good range of over 60.0 percent. From the market demand perspective, the new orders index of the service sector was 50.3 percent, 0.1 percentage points higher than the previous month, and maintaining an advance for the fourth consecutive month.