The gross domestic product (GDP) of China amounted to 21,343.3 billion yuan (around US$3,180.22bn) for the first three months of 2019 (Q1 2019), up 6.4% from a year ago, according to the preliminary estimates of the National Bureau of Statistics of China.
The rate was slightly ahead of the median forecast of a gain of 6.3% for the period by economists polled by Bloomberg. HSBC expected the full-year growth to hit 6.6%, which is more optimistic than the growth target of between 6% to 6.5% set by the Chinese government in March, partly due to the Sino-US trade war and high debt levels.
Specifically, the growth kept pace with last quarter’s, 0.4 percentage point lower than that of Q1 2018, and 0.2 percentage point lower than that of 2018.
The value-added of the primary industry was 876.9 billion yuan (US$130.66bn), up by 2.7% year-on-year; that of the secondary industry was 8,234.6 billion yuan (US$1,226.98bn), up by 6.1%; and that of the tertiary industry was 12,231.7 billion yuan (US$1,822.56bn), up by 7.0%.
The value-added of high-tech industries grew by 7.8% year-on-year, which accounted for 13.5% of that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size. Investment in high-tech services went up by 19.3% year-on-year. The value-added of the tertiary industry accounted for 57.3% of total GDP. Final consumption expenditure contributed 65.1% to GDP growth.
Total imports and exports grew by 3.7% to US$1,043.78bn. The trade balance was 529.7 billion yuan in surplus, up by 75.2% year-on-year. Per capita disposable income of urban households was 2.53 times that of rural households.
Pork output down 5.2%
The value-added of agriculture (crop farming) grew by 4.4% year-on-year in Q1. Eggs and milk output grew by 2.3% and 2.0%, respectively.
The total output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry was 22.52 million tons, down by 2.8% year-on-year. Specifically, the output decreased by 5.2% for pork (14.63 million tons) and increased by 1.7%, 1.4%, and 2.1% for beef, mutton, and poultry, respectively.
In March, the planting area intended for soybean increased by 16.4% year-on-year, and that for quality middle-season rice and single-cropping late rice grew by 1.9%.
High-tech industries represented 13.5% of total value-added of industrial enterprises
Total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 6.5% year-on-year in Q1 2019.
- Sorted by types of ownership, the value-added was up 4.5% for state holding enterprises, 7.8% for share-holding enterprises, and 1.4% for enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.
- In terms of sectors, the value-added was up 2.2% for mining, 7.2% for manufacturing, and 7.1% for the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas, and water.
- The value added of high-tech industries grew by 7.8% year-on-year, 1.3 percentage points higher than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, accounting for 13.5% of that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, 0.8 percentage point higher than the prior year period.
- The value-added of strategic emerging industries grew by 6.7% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size.
In Q1, the output of devices for mobile communication base stations, urban rail vehicles, new energy automobiles, and solar cells increased by 153.7%, 54.1%, 48.2%, and 18.2%, respectively.
In March, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was up by 8.5% year-on-year, 3.2 percentage points higher than that of the first two months, or up by 1.0% month-on-month.
In the first two months, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size stood at 708.0 billion yuan (US$105.49bn), down by 14.0% year-on-year. The profit rate of the business revenue of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 4.79%.
Value-added of information transmission, software and information technology services up 21.2%
For the tertiary industry, the value-added grew by 8.3% for leasing and business services, 7% for financial intermediation, 6% for lodging and catering services, 5.8% for wholesale and retail trade, and 21.2% for information transmission, software and information technology services.
The Index of Services Production increased by 7.4% year-on-year. The business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size increased by 10.9% year-on-year, 0.5 percentage point lower than that of last year.
Investment in fixed assets up 6.3%
The investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 10,187.1 billion yuan (US$1,517.91bn) in Q1, up 6.3% year-on-year.
- Private investment was 6,149.2 billion yuan, up 6.4%.
- Investment grew by 3% in the primary industry, 4.2% in the secondary industry, and 7.5% in the tertiary industry.
- Investment in high-tech manufacturing went up by 11.4% year-on-year, 5.1 percentage points higher than that of the total investment.
- Investment in high-tech services went up by 19.3% year-on-year, 13.0 percentage points higher than that of the total investment.
The total investment in real estate development was 2,380.3 billion yuan (US$354.67bn), up 11.8% year-on-year. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 298.29 million square meters, down by 0.9% year-on-year. The total sales of commercial buildings were 2,703.9 billion yuan (US$402.89bn), up by 5.6%.
Total imports and exports up 3.7% to US$1,043.78bn
The total value of imports and exports was 7,005.1 billion yuan (US$1,043.78bn), up by 3.7% year-on-year. The total value of exports was 3,767.4 billion yuan, up by 6.7%; the total value of imports was 3,237.7 billion yuan, up by 0.3%. The trade balance was 529.7 billion yuan in surplus, up by 75.2% year-on-year.
The value of general trade grew by 6.0%, accounting for 59.6% of the total value of imports and exports. The export of electrical and mechanical products increased by 5.4%, representing 58.8% of the total value of exports. 40.6% of the total value of imports and exports were by private enterprises, up by 9.9%.
In March, the total value of imports and exports was 2,462.6 billion yuan (US$366.94bn), up by 9.6% year-on-year. Specifically, the total value of exports was 1,341.9 billion yuan, up by 21.3%; the total value of imports was 1,120.7 billion yuan, down by 1.8%.
In Q1, the export delivery value of the industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 2,766.3 billion yuan (US$412.19bn) in Q1, up by 4.8% year-on-year. In March, the export delivery value of the industrial enterprises above the designated size stood at 1,029.2 billion yuan (US$153.35bn), up by 5.7%.
Unemployment in 31 major cities was 5.1%
In Q1, the newly increased employed people in urban areas totaled 3.24 million. At the end of March, the number of rural migrant workers reached 176.51 million, 2.10 million more than that of the prior year period.
In March, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.2%. Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rate of the population aged from 25 to 59 was 4.8%. The surveyed urban unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.1%, 0.1 percentage point higher than that of last month.
The employees of enterprises worked an average of 46.0 hours per week, increased by 1.1 hours over that in February.
Value-added of the tertiary industry accounted for 57.3% of total GDP
The national industrial capacity utilization rate in Q1 reached 75.9%, the second highest since 2013 compared with the same period in the past. At the end of March, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale was 516.46 million square meters, 6.05 million square meters less than that at the end of February, down by 9.9% year-on-year. At the end of February, the asset-liability ratio of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 56.9%, down by 0.2 percentage point year-on-year.
In Q1, the investment in ecological protection and treatment of environmental pollution and that in railway transport went up by 43.0% and 11.0%, respectively, 36.7 percentage points and 4.7 percentage points higher than that of the total investment.
At the end of February, the balance of local governments debt stood at 19,142.0 billion yuan (US$2,852.22bn), which was within the limit approved by the National People’s Congress.
According to preliminary estimation, the share of consumption of clean energy such as natural gas, hydropower, nuclear power, and wind power in total energy consumption in Q1 was 1.5 percentage points higher than that of the prior year period. The energy consumption per unit GDP went down by 2.7% year-on-year.
In Q1 2019, the value-added of the tertiary industry accounted for 57.3% of total GDP, 0.6 percentage point higher than that of the prior year period, 18.7 percentage points higher than that of the secondary industry. It contributed 61.3% to GDP growth, 24.4 percentage points higher than that of the secondary industry.
Consumption continued to perform as the dominant driving force from the demand side with final consumption expenditure contributing 65.1% to GDP growth.
Service consumption took up 47.7% of households final consumption expenditure, 1.4 percentage points higher than that of the prior year period.
Check out China per capita income, consumption expenditure, and CPI in Q1 2019.