6.3%! Industrial Production "Accelerates" in First Two Months, Equipment Manufacturing Contributes Prominently

On March 16, the National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that from January to February, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.3% year-on-year (actual growth rate excluding price factors). Month-on-month, in February, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 0.83% compared to the previous month.

Year-on-year growth rate of added value of industrial enterprises above designated size. (National Bureau of Statistics / Chart)

Looking at the three major categories, from January to February, the value added by mining increased by 6.1% year-on-year, manufacturing grew by 6.6%, and electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply increased by 4.7%.

Notably, the value added of equipment manufacturing increased by 9.3% year-on-year, and high-tech manufacturing increased by 13.1%, both faster than the overall industrial added value by 3.0 and 6.8 percentage points, respectively.

Regarding the performance of China’s economy in these two months, Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, chief economist, and director of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics on the National Economy, stated that from the industrial perspective, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.3% year-on-year from January to February, accelerating by 1.1 percentage points compared to December last year. This growth mainly stems from improved domestic demand, strengthened export pull, and the effects of macro policies. Among industries, the growth of equipment manufacturing contributed notably to the overall industrial growth, with an increase of 9.3% in the first two months, accounting for 47.4% of the total growth of industrial enterprises above designated size, showing a very strong pull.

By economic type, from January to February, the added value of state-controlled enterprises increased by 4.2% year-on-year; joint-stock enterprises grew by 6.9%; foreign and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan-invested enterprises increased by 4.0%; and private enterprises grew by 7.4%.

By industry, in the first two months, out of 41 major industry categories, 35 saw year-on-year growth in added value.

These include coal mining and washing, which grew by 7.2%; oil and natural gas extraction, up 5.8%; food processing, up 6.1%; alcohol, beverage, and refined tea manufacturing, up 4.3%; textile industry, up 5.3%; chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing, up 7.6%; non-metallic mineral products, up 2.5%; ferrous metal smelting and rolling, up 2.2%; non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling, up 3.9%; general equipment manufacturing, up 8.9%; specialized equipment manufacturing, up 8.8%; automobile manufacturing, up 3.4%; railway, ship, aerospace, and other transportation equipment manufacturing, up 13.7%; electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing, up 8.7%; computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing, up 14.2%; and power, heat production, and supply, up 5.1%.

By product, in the first two months, out of 626 industrial products above designated size, 397 saw year-on-year increases in output.

These include steel at 221.19 million tons, down 1.1%; cement at 178.27 million tons, up 6.8%; ten non-ferrous metals at 13.42 million tons, up 3.9%; ethylene at 6.6 million tons, up 5.1%; automobiles at 4.024 million units, down 9.9%, including new energy vehicles at 1.604 million units, down 13.7%; electricity generation at 1,571.8 billion kWh, up 4.1%; crude oil processing at 122.63 million tons, up 2.9%.

Fu Linghui stated that overall, in the first two months, major economic indicators showed a clear rebound, and the national economy started well. However, it is also necessary to recognize that external environment changes have deepened, geopolitical risks continue to rise, and old problems and new challenges remain in domestic economic development and transformation, with some enterprises facing operational difficulties.

Fu Linghui pointed out that in the next stage, efforts should be made to earnestly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference and the National Two Sessions, fully and accurately implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, focus on promoting high-quality development, adhere to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, implement more proactive macro policies, develop new productive forces suited to local conditions, and focus on stabilizing employment, enterprises, markets, and expectations to promote qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth of the economy.