SCIO briefing on China's economic performance in 2017

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Speakers:
Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics
Xing Zhihong, spokesperson of National Bureau of Statistics, director general of Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the bureau

Chairperson:
Hu Kaihong, spokesperson of the State Council Information Office of China

Date:
Jan. 18, 2018

Hu Kaihong:


Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference. China's economic development has always drawn great public attention. Many people are keen to know how China's economy was last year. 


Today, we are delighted to invite Mr. Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, to introduce China's economic performance in 2017, and answer some of your questions. Also present at the conference is Mr. Xing Zhihong, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics and director general of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the bureau.


Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Ning.


Ning Jizhe:


Good afternoon. Now, I'll make a brief introduction of China's economic performance in 2017.


Last year, the national economy remained stable and saw a growth momentum beyond our expectations.


In 2017, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, adopted the new development philosophy, focused on supply-side structural reform, and pushed forward works in structural optimization, the shifting of driving forces and quality improvement. 


As a result, the national economy has maintained stable and sound momentum, which exceeded our expectations. Economic development has become more dynamic, with more driving forces for growth emerging and greater growth potentials shown. Economic development has become more stable, coordinated and sustainable. A stable and healthy economic development was achieved.


According to a preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China was 82.7122 trillion yuan in 2017, an increase of 6.9 percent at constant price compared with last year. In terms of quarterly data, the year-on-year growth of GDP was 6.9 percent, 6.9 percent, 6.8 percent, and 6.8 percent for the four quarters respectively. The value added of the primary industry was 6.5468 trillion yuan, up by 3.9 percent over the previous year; that of the secondary industry was 33.4623 trillion yuan, up by 6.1 percent; and that of the tertiary industry was 42.7032 trillion yuan, up by 8.0 percent.


1. Agricultural production enjoyed another harvest, and the production of animal husbandry grew stably.


The total grain output in 2017 was 617.91 million tons, an increase of 1.66 million tons compared with last year, up by 0.3 percent. The total output of summer grain was 140.31 million tons, up by 0.8 percent; the total output of early rice was 31.74 million tons, down by 3.2 percent; the total output of autumn grain was 445.85 million tons, up by 0.4 percent. The total output of cotton was 5.49 million tons, up by 2.7 percent. 


The total output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry was 84.31 million tons, up by 0.8 percent over last year, among which the total output of pork was 53.4 million tons, up by 0.8 percent; the beef 7.26 million tons, up by 1.3 percent; the mutton 4.68 million tons, up by 1.8 percent; the poultry 18.97 million tons, up by 0.5 percent. There were 433.25 million live pigs, a year-on-year decrease of 0.4 percent, while 688.61 million pigs were slaughtered, a year-on-year increase of 0.5 percent.


2. Industrial production grew faster with rising profit for enterprises.


The real growth of the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size in 2017 was 6.6 percent, 0.6 percentage point faster than last year. 


An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of the state holding enterprises was up by 6.5 percent; that of the collective enterprises, up by 0.6 percent; share-holding enterprises, up by 6.6 percent; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up by 6.9 percent. 


In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining industry dropped by 1.5 percent, manufacturing increased by 7.2 percent, and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water increased by 8.1 percent. The value added of the high-tech industry and equipment manufacturing increased by 13.4 percent and 11.3 percent year-on-year, 6.8 percentage points and 4.7 percentage points faster than that of the industries above the designated size. 


In 2017, the sales-output ratio of the industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 98.1 percent. The export delivery value of these enterprises reached 12.323 trillion yuan, up by 10.7 percent over last year. In December, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was up by 6.2 percent year-on-year or up by 0.52 percent month-on-month.


From January to November, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size stood at 6.875 trillion yuan, up by 21.9 percent year-on-year, 12.5 percentage points faster than the same period last year. The profit rate of the principal activities of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.36 percent, up by 0.54 percentage point compared with the same period last year.


3. The service sector maintained fast growth, and business activity indexes maintained within the range of expansion.


In 2017, the Index of Services Production increased by 8.2 percent over last year, 0.1 percentage point faster than last year. In December, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.9 percent year-on-year, 0.1 percentage point faster than last month. 


From January to November, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size increased by 13.9 percent year-on-year, 2.5 percentage points faster than the same period last year; the operating profit of service enterprises above the designated size increased by 30.4 percent, 28.2 percentage points faster; the business revenue of strategic emerging services, producer services and science and technology services increased by 18.0 percent, 15.0 percent and 15.1 percent year-on-year respectively.


In December, the Business Activity Index for services was 53.4 percent. Specifically, the Business Activity Index kept within the expansion range of 57.0 percent and above in sectors like postal services, telecommunication, broadcasting, television and satellite transmission services, internet, software and information technology services, banking and insurance. 


From the perspective of market demand, the New Order Index for the service industry was 50.9 percent, remaining within the expansion range for eight months in a row. From the perspective of market expectations, the Business Activities Expectation Index was 60.3 percent, remaining within the expansion range for seven months in a row.


4. The investment structure continued to improve, and the floor space of commercial buildings for sale decreased.


In 2017, the investment in fixed assets (hereafter excluding rural households) was 63.1684 trillion yuan, growing by 7.2 percent over last year, 0.9 percentage point slower than last year. 


Specifically, the investment by the state holding enterprises reached 23.2887 trillion yuan, a rise of 10.1 percent; private investment reached 38.1510 trillion yuan, up by 6.0 percent, 2.8 percentage points faster than last year, accounting for 60.4 percent of the total investment. 


The investment in the primary industry was 2.0892 trillion yuan, up by 11.8 percent; the secondary industry 23.5751 trillion yuan, up by 3.2 percent, among which the investment in manufacturing was 19.3616 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.8 percent; and the tertiary industry 37.5040 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5 percent. The investment in infrastructure was 14.0005 trillion yuan, up by 19.0 percent, 1.6 percentage points faster than last year. The investment in the high-tech industry and equipment manufacturing went up by 17.0 percent and 8.6 percent year-on-year, 2.8 percentage points and 4.2 percentage points faster; the investment in energy-intensive manufacturing decreased by 1.8 percent compared with last year. 


The funds in place for investment in fixed assets in 2017 were 62.9815 trillion yuan, up by 4.8 percent compared with last year. The planned total investment in newly-started projects was 51.9093 trillion yuan, up by 6.2 percent. The year-on-year growth of investment in fixed assets from January to December was the same as that from January to November. In December, the investment in fixed assets grew by 0.53 percent month-on-month.


The total investment in real estate development in 2017 was 10.9799 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.0 percent, 0.1 percentage point faster than last year, among which the investment in residential buildings went up by 9.4 percent. New housing construction soared 7.0 percent in terms of floor space, which totaled 1.78654 billion square meters. Specifically, new housing construction soared 10.5 percent in terms of the floor space of residential buildings. 


The floor space of commercial buildings sold was 1.69408 trillion square meters, up by 7.7 percent. Specifically, the floor space of residential buildings sold was up by 5.3 percent. The total sales of commercial buildings were 13.3701 trillion yuan, up by 13.7 percent, among which the sales of residential buildings were up by 11.3 percent. 


The land space purchased for real estate development was 255.08 million square meters, up by 15.8 percent. By the end of December, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale was 589.23 million square meters, down by 15.3 percent over the end of the previous year. The funds in place for real estate development enterprises reached 15.6053 trillion yuan, up by 8.2 percent.


5. Market sales witnessed steady and comparatively fast growth, and consumption upgrade showed remarkable momentum.


In 2017, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 36.6262 trillion yuan, up by 10.2 percent, 0.2 percentage point slower than last year. Specifically, the retail sales of consumer goods by enterprises above the designated size stood at 16.0613 trillion yuan, up by 8.1 percent. 


Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 31.4290 trillion yuan, up by 10.0 percent; the retail sales in rural areas stood at 5.1972 trillion yuan, up by 11.8 percent. 


Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of the catering industry was 3.9644 trillion yuan, up by 10.7 percent; the retail sales of goods were 32.6618 trillion yuan, up by 10.2 percent. In particular, the retail sales of the enterprises above the designated size reached 15.0861 trillion yuan, up by 8.2 percent. 


The sales of upgraded consumer goods witnessed fast growth. Specifically, the sales of telecommunication equipment, sports and recreational articles, and cosmetics increased by 11.7 percent, 15.6 percent and 13.5 percent respectively. 


In December, the growth of total retail sales of consumer goods was 9.4 percent year-on-year, or 0.7 percent month-on-month.


In 2017, online retail sales reached 7.1751 trillion yuan, an increase of 32.2 percent compared with last year, 6.0 percentage points faster than last year. Specifically, the retail sales of physical goods was 5.4806 trillion yuan, up by 28.0 percent, accounting for 15.0 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, or 2.4 percentage points higher than last year. The online retail sales of non-physical goods were 1.6945 trillion yuan, up by 48.1 percent.


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