NBS: China Value-Added Industrial Output Up 3.0% in Q1, Automobile Manufacturing Grows 4.4%

According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on April 18, the actual year-on-year growth of the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size stood at 3.9% in March (all growth rates of added value refer to the real growth rates excluding price factors). On a month-on-month basis, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size in March rose by 0.12% from the previous month. In the first quarter (January-March), the national added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 3.0% year-on-year, 0.3 percentage points faster than that in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Broken down by the three major industrial sectors, in March, the added value of the mining industry increased by 0.9% year-on-year, that of the manufacturing industry by 4.2%, and that of the production and supply of electricity, heat power, gas and water by 5.2%.

Grouped by ownership type, in March, the added value of state-holding enterprises rose by 4.4% year-on-year; joint-stock enterprises by 4.4%, enterprises with foreign, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan investments by 1.4%; and private enterprises by 2.0%.

By industrial sector, of the 41 major industrial categories in March, the added value of 26 maintained a year-on-year growth. Specifically, the coal mining and washing industry increased by 0.7%, the petroleum and natural gas extraction industry by 2.2%, the agricultural and sideline food processing industry by 4.9% year-on-year decline, the wine, beverage and refined tea manufacturing industry by 1.0% year-on-year decline, the textile industry by 3.1% year-on-year decline, the raw chemical materials and chemical products manufacturing industry by 7.1%, the non-metallic mineral products industry by 3.8%, the ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry by 6.0%, the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry by 7.0%, the general equipment manufacturing industry by 4.6%, the special purpose equipment manufacturing industry by 7.3%, the automobile manufacturing industry by 13.5%, the railway, ship, aerospace and other transportation equipment manufacturing industry by 8.6%, the electrical machinery and apparatus manufacturing industry by 16.9%, the computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry by 1.2%, and the electricity and heat power production and supply industry by 5.3%. In addition, the industrial added value of the automobile manufacturing industry registered a year-on-year growth of 4.4% in the first quarter.

In terms of specific products, of the 620 product varieties in March, the output of 347 saw a year-on-year increase. Specifically, crude steel output reached 127.25 million tons, up 8.1% year-on-year; cement 205.80 million tons, up 10.4%; ten non-ferrous metals 6.28 million tons, up 6.9%; ethylene 2.61 million tons, up 3.6%; motor vehicles 2.608 million units, up 11.2% — including 668,000 new energy vehicles (NEVs), up 33.3%; electricity generation 717.3 billion kilowatt-hours, up 5.1% year-on-year; and crude oil processing volume 63.29 million tons, up 8.8% year-on-year.

In March, the product sales rate of industrial enterprises stood at 94.1%, a year-on-year decrease of 0.6 percentage points; industrial enterprises achieved export delivery value of 1.2596 trillion yuan, a nominal year-on-year decline of 5.4%.

In addition, in the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 1,149.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%, in contrast to a 2.7% decline in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Grouped by the location of business entities, retail sales in urban areas stood at 996.64 billion yuan, up 5.7% year-on-year; while those in rural areas reached 152.58 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 6.2%.

By consumption type, commodity retail sales amounted to 1,027.86 billion yuan, growing by 4.9% year-on-year; catering revenue hit 121.36 billion yuan, surging by 13.9% year-on-year.

Sales of basic living commodities performed well: the retail sales of clothing, footwear, headgear and needle textiles, as well as grain, oil and food products by enterprises above designated size rose by 9.0% and 7.5% year-on-year respectively.

Sales of upgrade-oriented commodities witnessed a substantial growth: the retail sales of gold, silver and jewelry, as well as books, newspapers and magazines by enterprises above designated size increased by 13.6% and 13.4% year-on-year respectively.

National online retail sales reached 328.63 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 8.6%, among which online retail sales of physical goods stood at 278.35 billion yuan, up 7.3% year-on-year, accounting for 24.2% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

In the first quarter, retail sales of automobile-related commodities totalled 108.28 billion yuan, a year-on-year drop of 2.3%, making up 9.4% of the total retail sales of consumer goods nationwide.

In March alone, the total retail sales of consumer goods hit 378.55 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.6%, 7.1 percentage points faster than that in January-February, with a month-on-month growth of 0.15%. Among them, retail sales of automobile-related commodities reached 426.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 11.5%, accounting for 11.3% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.