By industry, the value added of the primary industry was 1,018.6 billion yuan, down by 3.2%; that of the secondary industry was 7,363.8 billion yuan, down by 9.6%; and that of the tertiary industry was 12,268.0 billion yuan, down by 5.2%.

Overall Agricultural Production

In Q1 2020, the value added of agriculture (crop farming) grew by 3.5% year on year.

By the end of March, the sown area of grade Ⅰ and grade Ⅱ seedling of winter wheat accounted for 87.2% of the total, 3.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year.

In Q1 2020, the output of eggs grew by 4.3%, and that of milk grew by 4.6 percent. The output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry was 18.13 million tons. The pig production capacity continued to get recovered.

By the end of Q1 2020, 321.20 million pigs were registered in stock, up by 3.5% over the end of the Q4 2019, among which 33.81 million were breeding sows, up by 9.8%.

Industrial Production Dropped

In Q1 2020, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size went down by 8.4% year on year.

Specifically, in March, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size went down by 1.1% year on year, or 12.4 percentage points lower than the decline of the first two months, while the month-on-month growth was 32.13%, with the industrial output approaching the level of the same period last year.

An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of the state holding enterprises dropped by 6.0% year on year; that of share-holding enterprises down by 8.4 percent; that of enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan down by 14.5 percent; and that of private enterprises down by 11.3 percent.

In terms of sector:

• the value added of mining went down by 1.7%
• manufacturing down by 10.2%
• the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water down by 5.2 percent.
• The output of natural gas, non-woven fabrics, chemical medicine materials, crude oil, ten kinds of nonferrous metal, ethylene and crude steel went up by 9.1%, 6.1%, 4.5%, 2.4%, 2.1%, 1.3% and 1.2% respectively.
• The output of automatic vending and ticket machines, electronic components, integrated circuits, urban rail vehicles, and solar cells went up by 35.3%, 16.2%, 16.0%, 13.1% and 3.4% respectively.

In March, the high-tech manufacturing went up by 8.9% year on year, among which, the manufacturing of computers, communication equipment, and other electronic equipment went up by 9.9 percent.

The output of industrial robots and power generation equipment went up by 12.9% and 20.0% respectively.

Service Production Dropped

In Q1 2020, the total value added of the tertiary industry dropped year on year, while that of the information transmission, software and information technology services and that of financial intermediation went up by 13.2% and 6.0% respectively.

In March, the Index of Services Production dropped by 9.1%, 3.9 percentage points lower than the decline of the first two months.

In the first two months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size dropped by 12.2%, among which, that of internet and related services and that of software and information technology services went up by 10.1% and 0.7% respectively.

In March, the Business Activity Index for services was 51.8%, 21.7 percentage points higher than last month.

Specifically, the Business Activity Index for transportation, storage and post, retail trades and monetary and financial services was relatively high, reaching 59.3%, 60.6% and 62.9% respectively.

In terms of market expectation, the Business Activities Expectation Index for service was 56.8%, 17.1 percentage points higher than last month, showing greater confidence of enterprises for market development.

Investment Growth Slowed

In Q1 2020, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 8,414.5 billion yuan, down by 16.1% year on year, 8.4 percentage points lower than the decline of the first two months.

Specifically, the investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, and real estate development declined by 19.7%, 25.2%, and 7.7% respectively, 10.6 percentage points, 6.3 percentage points and 8.6 percentage points lower than the decline of the first two months.

The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 219.78 million square meters, down by 26.3 percent; and the total sales of commercial buildings were 2,036.5 billion yuan, down by 24.7%, the decline of which was narrowed by 13.6 percentage points and 11.2 percentage points compared to that of the first two months respectively.

By industry, the investment in the primary industry went down by 13.8 percent; the secondary industry down by 21.9 percent; the tertiary industry down by 13.5 percent; and the private investment reached 4,780.4 billion yuan, down by 18.8 percent.

The decline was narrowed by 11.8 percentage points, 6.3 percentage points, 9.5 percentage points and 7.6 percentage points respectively compared to that of the first two months.

The investment in the high-tech industry declined by 12.1%, 4.0 percentage points lower than that of the total investment.

Of the total, the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services went down by 13.5% and 9.0% respectively. In terms of high-tech manufacturing, the investment in manufacturing of computer and office equipment grew by 3.2 percent.

In terms of high-tech services, the investment in e-commerce services went up by 39.6%, that in professional technical services up by 36.7%, and that in services for commercialization of research findings up by 17.4%.

The investment in social sectors went down by 8.8%, among which, the investment in health sector dropped by 0.9%, or 15.2 percentage points lower than the decline of the total investment.

Investment in the manufacturing of biological medicines and products and other anti-epidemic related industries maintained growth, and construction of key projects for epidemic prevention accelerated.

In March 2020, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) grew by 6.05% month on month.

Imports and Exports of Goods Slowed Down

In Q1 2020, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 6,574.2 billion yuan, down by 6.4% year on year.

In March, the total value of imports and exports was 2,445.9 billion yuan, down by 0.8% year on year, a decline slowed by 8.7 percentage points compared to that of the first two months.

Of the total, the value of exports was 1,292.7 billion yuan, down by 3.5 percent; the value of imports was 1,153.2 billion yuan, up by 2.4%, with import of general trade growing by 4.0 percent.

In Q1 2020, the total value of exports was 3,336.3 billion yuan, down by 11.45%; the total value of imports was 3,238.0 billion yuan, down by 0.75%.

The trade balance was 98.3 billion yuan in surplus. The import and export of general trade accounted for 60.0% of the total value of the imports and exports, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared with the same period last year.

In Q1 2020, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 2,408.2 billion yuan, down by 10.3% year on year, 8.8 percentage points lower than the decline of the first two months.

In March, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 1,030.7 billion yuan, up by 3.1 percent.

Growth of Consumer Price Declined

In Q1 2020, China CPI went up by 4.9% year on year. Check out details here.

In Q1 2020, the producer prices for industrial products went down by 0.6% year on year.

Specifically, the prices in March dropped by 1.5% year on year, 1.1 percentage points faster than the year-on-year decline in the first two months, or down by 1.0% month on month.

In Q1 2020, the purchasing prices for industrial producers went down by 0.8% year on year; specifically in March, the prices dropped by 1.6% year on year, or down by 1.1% month on month.

Surveyed Unemployment Rate in Urban Areas Dropped

In Q1 2020, the newly increased employed people in urban areas totaled 2.29 million according to NBS.

In March, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.9%, 0.3 percentage points lower than that of February.

Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rate of population aged from 25 to 59 was 5.4%, 0.5 percentage points lower than the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas, 0.2 percentage points lower than that of last month.

The urban unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.7%, the same as the previous month. In March, the employees of enterprises worked averagely 44.8 hours per week, 4.6 hours more than last month. By the end of February, the number of rural migrant workers reached 122.51 million.

China per capita income down 3.9% in Q1 2020; and, retail sales down 19%.

In 2019, GDP in China’s eastern areas was 51,116.1 billion yuan, an increase of 6.2% compared with the previous year; the central areas, 21,873.8 billion yuan, up by 7.3%; the western areas, 20,518.5 billion yuan, up by 6.7%; and the northeastern areas, 5,024.9 billion yuan, up by 4.5%.

In 2019, the GDP in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region reached 8,458.0 billion yuan, up by 6.1% over the previous year; that in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, 45,780.5 billion yuan, up by 6.9%; and that in the Yangtze River Delta, 23,725.3 billion yuan, up by 6.4%.

The value added of the primary industry was 7,046.7 billion yuan accounting for 7.1% of total GDP, up by 3.1%; the secondary industry was 38,616.5 billion yuan (39% of total GDP), up by 5.7%; and, the tertiary industry was 53,423.3 billion yuan (53.9%), up by 6.9%.

The contribution of the final consumption expenditure to GDP was 57.8%, that of the gross capital formation 31.2 percent and that of the net exports of goods and services 11.0 percent.

The per capita GDP in 2019 was 70,892 yuan, up by 5.7% compared with the previous year. The gross national income in 2019 was 98,845.8 billion yuan, up by 6.2% over the previous year.

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The national energy consumption per 10,000 yuan worth of GDP went down by 2.6 percent over 2018, and the overall labor productivity reached 115,009 yuan per person in 2019, up by 6.2% over the previous year.

By the end of 2019, the total number of Chinese population at the mainland reached 1,400.05 million, an increase of 4.67 million over that at the end of 2018. Of this total, urban permanent residents totaled 848.43 million, accounting for 60.60% of the total population (the urbanization rate of permanent residents), 1.02 percentage points higher than 2018.

The urbanization rate of the population with household registration was 44.38%, 1.01 percentage points higher than 2018. The year 2019 saw 14.65 million births, a crude birth rate of 10.48 per thousand, and 9.98 million deaths, a crude death rate of 7.14 per thousand.

The natural growth rate was 3.34 per thousand. The population who lived in places other than their household registration areas reached 280 million, of which 236 million were floating population.

At the end of 2019, the number of employed people in China was 774.71 million, and that in urban areas was 442.47 million, accounting for 57.1%, 1.1 percentage points higher than the end of 2018.

The newly increased employed people in urban areas reached 13.52 million, 90 thousand less than the previous year. The surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2% at the year end, and the registered urban unemployment rate was 3.6%.

The total number of migrant workers in 2019 was 290.77 million, up by 0.8% over that of 2018. Specifically, the number of migrant workers who left their hometowns and worked in other places was 174.25 million, up by 0.9%, and those who worked in their own localities reached 116.52 million, up by 0.7%.

The consumer prices in 2019 went up by 2.9% over the previous year. The producer prices for industrial products went down by 0.3% and the purchasing prices for industrial producers down by 0.7 percent. The prices for investment in fixed assets increased by 2.6 percent. The producer prices for farm products increased by 14.5%.

In December 2019, out of the 70 large-and-medium-sized cities, 68 cities experienced a year-on-year rise in sales prices of new commercial residential buildings and two cities experienced a decline.

At the end of 2019, China’s foreign exchange reserves reached US$3,107.9 billion, an increase of US$35.2 billion compared with 2018. The average exchange rate of the year was 6.8985 RMB to 1 USD dollar, depreciated by 4.1% over that of 2018.

By the rural poverty line of annual per capita income of 2,300 yuan (at 2010 constant prices), the rural population living in poverty at the end of 2019 was 5.51 million, 11.09 million less compared with that at the end of 2018, and the incidence of poverty was 0.6 percent, 1.1 percentage points lower than that of the previous year.

In 2019, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in impoverished areas was 11,567 yuan, an increase of 11.5% over 2018, or a real increase of 8.0% after deducting price factors.

Industry and Construction

In 2019, the total value added of the industrial sector was 31,710.9 billion yuan, up by 5.7% over the previous year. The value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size increased by 5.7 percent.

Of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, in terms of ownership, the value added of the state-holding enterprises grew by 4.8%, that of the share-holding enterprises up by 6.8%, that of the enterprises funded by foreign investors and investors from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan up by 2.0% and that of private enterprises up by 7.7%.

In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining industry was up by 5.0 percent, that of manufacturing up by 6.0 percent and that of production and supply of electricity, heat power, gas and water up by 7.0 percent.

In 2019, of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, the value added for processing of food from agricultural and sideline products was up by 1.9 percent over the previous year;

• for textile industry up by 1.3 percent;
• for manufacture of raw chemical materials and chemical products up by 4.7 percent;
• for manufacture of non-metallic mineral products up by 8.9 percent;
• for smelting and pressing of ferrous metals up by 9.9 percent;
• for manufacture of general purpose machinery up by 4.3 percent;
• for manufacture of special purpose machinery up by 6.9 percent;
• for manufacture of automobiles up by 1.8 percent;
• for manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus up by 10.7 percent;
• for manufacture of computers, communication equipment and other electronic equipment up by 9.3 percent;
• for production and supply of electricity and heat power up by 6.5 percent

In 2019, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size were 6,199.6 billion yuan, down by 3.3 percent over the previous year.

By ownership, the profits of state-holding enterprises were 1,635.6 billion yuan, down by 12.0 percent over the previous year; those of share-holding enterprises were 4,528.4 billion yuan, down by 2.9 percent; those of enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan were 1,558.0 billion yuan, down by 3.6 percent; and those of private enterprises were 1,818.2 billion yuan, up by 2.2 percent.

In terms of different sectors, the profits of mining were 527.5 billion yuan, up by 1.7 percent over the previous year; those of manufacturing were 5,190.4 billion yuan, down by 5.2 percent; and those of the production and supply of electricity, heat power, gas and water were 481.6 billion yuan, up by 15.4 percent. In 2019, the cost for per-hundred-yuan business revenue of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 84.08 yuan, or 0.18 yuan more than that of 2018; the profit rate of the business revenue was 5.86 percent, down by 0.43 percentage points.

In 2019, the value added of construction enterprises in China was 7,090.4 billion yuan, up by 5.6 percent over the previous year. The profits made by construction enterprises qualified for general contracts and specialized contracts reached 838.1 billion yuan, up by 5.1 percent over the previous year, of which the profits made by state-holding enterprises were 258.5 billion yuan, up by 14.5 percent.

Service Sector

In 2019, the value added of the wholesale and retail trades was 9,584.6 billion yuan, up by 5.7 percent over the previous year; that of transport, storage and post was 4,280.2 billion yuan, up by 7.1 percent; that of hotels and catering services was 1,804.0 billion yuan, up by 6.3 percent; that of financial intermediation was 7,707.7 billion yuan, up by 7.2 percent; that of real estate was 6,963.1 billion yuan, up by 3.0 percent; that of information transmission, software and information technology services was 3,269.0 billion yuan, up by 18.7 percent; and that of leasing and business services was 3,293.3 billion yuan, up by 8.7 percent.

In 2019, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size grew by 9.4 percent over the previous year, and the operating profits grew by 5.4 percent.

The turnover of telecommunication services totaled 10,678.9 billion yuan, up by 62.9 percent over the previous year.

By the end of 2019, there were 1,792.38 million phone subscribers in China, 1,601.34 million of which were mobile phone subscribers. Mobile phone coverage rose to 114.4 sets per 100 persons.

The number of fixed broadband internet users reached 449.28 million, an increase of 41.90 million over the end of the previous year. Of this total, fixed fiber-optic broadband internet users amounted to 417.40 million, an increase of 49.07 million.

The mobile internet traffic in 2019 was 122.0 billion gigabytes, up by 71.6 percent over the previous year. Software revenue from software and information technology services industry in 2019 was 7,176.8 billion yuan, up by 15.4 percent over 2018.

China retail in 2019

Investment in Fixed Assets

The total investment in fixed assets of the country in 2019 was 56,087.4 billion yuan, up by 5.1 percent over the previous year.

Of the total, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 55,147.8 billion yuan, up by 5.4 percent. By regions, the investment in eastern areas was up by 4.1 percent over the previous year, central areas up by 9.5 percent, western areas up by 5.6 percent, and northeastern areas down by 3.0 percent.

In 2019, the investment in real estate development was 13,219.4 billion yuan, up by 9.9 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the investment in residential buildings reached 9,707.1 billion yuan, an increase of 13.9 percent, that in office buildings was 616.3 billion yuan, up by 2.8 percent, and that in buildings for commercial business was 1,322.6 billion yuan, down by 6.7 percent.

China Import & Export

The total value of imports and exports of goods in 2019 reached 31,550.5 billion yuan, up by 3.4 percent over that of the previous year.

Of this total, the value of goods exported was 17,234.2 billion yuan, up by 5.0 percent; the value of goods imported was 14,316.2 billion yuan, up by 1.6 percent. The surplus of trade in goods reached 2,918.0 billion yuan, up by 593.2 billion yuan over that of the previous year.

The total value of imports and exports between China and countries along the Belt and Road was 9,269.0 billion yuan, an increase of 10.8 percent over that of the previous year. Of the total, the value of goods exported was 5,258.5 billion yuan, an increase of 13.2 percent; that of goods imported was 4,010.5 billion yuan, an increase of 7.9 percent.

Households Income and Consumption

In 2019, the per capita disposable income nationwide was 30,733 yuan, an increase of 8.9 percent over that of the previous year or a real increase of 5.8 percent after deducting price factors.

The median of per capita disposable income nationwide was 26,523 yuan, up by 9.0 percent.

In terms of usual residence, the per capita disposable income of urban households was 42,359 yuan, up by 7.9 percent over that of 2018, or a real growth of 5.0 percent after deducting price factors.

The median of per capita disposable income of urban households was 39,244 yuan, up by 7.8 percent.

The per capita disposable income of rural households was 16,021 yuan, up by 9.6 percent over that of the previous year, or 6.2 percent in real terms after deducting price factors. The median of per capita disposable income of rural households was 14,389 yuan, up by 10.1 percent.

Grouped by income quintile, the per capita disposable income of low-income groups reached 7,380 yuan, the lower-middle-income group 15,777 yuan, the middle-income group 25,035 yuan, the upper-middle-income group 39,230 yuan and the high-income group 76,401 yuan.

The per capita monthly income of migrant workers was 3,962 yuan, increased by 6.5 percent over that of the previous year.

Science & Technology

Expenditures on research and experimental development activities (R&D) were worth 2,173.7 billion yuan in 2019, up by 10.5 percent over that of 2018, accounting for 2.19 percent of GDP.

Download the Dossier: China’s Economy in 2019

The gross domestic product (GDP) of China was 45,093.3 billion yuan (US$6,565.68 billion) in the first half of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 6.3% at comparable prices according to the preliminary estimates of National Bureau of Statistics of China. The year-on-year GDP growth for the first quarter was 6.4 percent, and 6.2% for the second quarter.

The value-added of the primary industry was 2,320.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 3.0%; the secondary industry was 17,998.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 5.8%; and the tertiary industry was 24,774.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 7.0%.

Agricultural Production

In the first half of 2019, the value-added of crop farming grew by 3.9% year on year, 0.5 percentage point slower than the first quarter. The overall output of summer grain was 141.74 million tons, an increase of 2.93 million tons over last year, up by 2.1 percent, hitting the highest record as that of 2017.

The structure of crop farming was further optimized, as planting area for cotton and soybean increased. In the first half, the output of eggs grew by 3.6% year on year, and that of milk grew by 1.7%. The output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry was 39.11 million tons, down by 2.1 percent, among which, the output of beef, mutton and poultry grew by 2.4 percent, 1.5% and 5.6% year on year respectively, while the output of pork went down by 5.5%.

Industrial Production

In the first half, the year-on-year growth rate of total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.0 percent, 0.5 percentage point slower than the first quarter.

In June, the year-on-year growth rate of total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.3 percent, 1.3 percentage points faster than that of May, up by 0.68% month on month.

An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value-added of the state holding enterprises went up by 5.0% year on year; that of share-holding enterprises up by 7.3%; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan up by 1.4%.

In terms of sectors, the value-added of the mining grew by 3.5% year on year, the manufacturing grew by 6.4% and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas, and water grew by 7.3%. The value-added of strategic emerging industries grew by 7.7 percent, 1.7 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size.

The value-added of high-tech manufacturing grew by 9.0 percent, 3.0 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, accounting for 13.8% of the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, 0.8 percentage point higher than that of the same period last year.

The output of new energy vehicles and solar cells grew by 34.6% and 20.1% year on year.

In the first five months of 2019, the total profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size was 2,379.0 billion yuan, down by 2.3% year on year, 1.1 percentage points less than that of the first four months. The profits of industrial enterprises above the designated size in May grew by 1.1 percent, while that for April was down by 3.7% year on year.

The profit rate of the business revenue of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 5.72 percent, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of the first four months in 2019.

Service Sector Grew Fast

In the first half, the service sector maintained good momentum. The value-added of information transmission, software, and information technology services, that of leasing and business services, that of transport, storage and postal services, and that of financial intermediation grew by 20.6 percent, 7.8 percent, 7.3% and 7.3% year on year respectively, or 13.6 percentage points, 0.8 percentage point, 0.3 percentage point and 0.3 percentage point faster than that of the tertiary industry.

In the first half of 2019, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.3% year on year, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of the first quarter; specifically, that for June grew by 7.1 percent, 0.1 percentage point faster than that of May.

In June, the Business Activity Index for services was 53.4 percent, continuing to stay above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction. The Business Activities Expectation Index for services was 60.3 percent, staying at a high level.

In the first five months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size increased by 10.1% year on year, 0.3 percentage point faster than that of the first four months; specifically, the business revenue of strategic emerging services, high-tech services and technology services demonstrated fast growth, which increased by 12.5 percent, 12.3% and 12.0% respectively, or 2.4 percentage points, 2.2 percentage points and 1.9 percentage points faster than the growth of the service enterprises above the designated size.

Market Sales Demonstrated a Stable and Rising Trend with Higher Growth Rate and Share for Online Retail Sales

Investment Witnessed Steady Growth and the Investment in High-tech Industries Grew Fast

In the first half, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 29,910.0 billion yuan, up by 5.8% year on year, 0.2 percentage point faster than that of the first five months, or 0.5 percentage point slower than that of the first quarter.

Specifically, the private investment reached 18,028.9 billion yuan, up by 5.7%. The investment in the primary industry went down by 0.6%; the secondary industry went up by 2.9 percent, among which, that in manufacturing went up by 3.0%; the tertiary industry went up by 7.4 percent, among which, that in infrastructure was up by 4.1%.

The investment in the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 10.4 percent, 4.6 percentage points faster than the total investment; the investment in high-tech services went up by 13.5 percent, 7.7 percentage points faster than the total investment. In June, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) grew by 0.44% month on month.

In the first half, the total investment in real estate development was 6,160.9 billion yuan, up by 10.9 percent, or 0.9 percentage point slower than that of the first quarter. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 757.86 million square meters, down by 1.8% year-on-year. The total sales of commercial buildings were 7,069.8 billion yuan, up by 5.6 percent, maintaining the same speed as that of the first quarter.

Imports and Exports Showed Slight Growth

In the first half, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 14,667.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.9 percent, 0.2 percentage point faster than the first quarter.

The total value of exports was 7,952.1 billion yuan, up by 6.1%; the total value of imports was 6,715.5 billion yuan, up by 1.4%. The trade balance was 1,236.6 billion yuan in surplus, up by 41.6% year on year.

The import and export of general trade increased by 5.5 percent, accounting for 59.9% of the total value of the imports and exports, an increase of 0.9 percentage point compared with the same period last year.

The exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 5.3 percent, accounting for 58.2% of the total value of exports. The total value of imports and exports by private enterprises increased by 11.0 percent, accounting for 41.7% of the total value, 2.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

In June, the total value of imports and exports was 2,561.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%. The total value of exports was 1,453.5 billion yuan, up by 6.1 percent, and the total value of imports was 1,108.3 billion yuan, down by 0.4%.

In the first half, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 5,836.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%. In June, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 1,055.5 billion yuan, up by 1.9 percent, 1.2 percentage points faster than that of May.

Consumer Price

In the first half, the consumer price went up by 2.2% year on year, 0.4 percentage point faster than the first quarter.

Specifically, the price went up by 2.2% both in the urban and rural areas. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 3.9% year on year; clothing up by 1.8%; housing up by 2.0%; articles and services for daily use up by 1.1%; transportation and communication down by 1.0%; education, culture and recreation up by 2.5%; medical services and health care up by 2.6%; other articles and services up by 2.2%.

In terms of food, tobacco and alcohol prices, prices for grain went up by 0.5 percent, pork up by 7.7 percent, fresh vegetables up by 9.2%. Core CPI excluding the price of food and energy went up by 1.8% year on year, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of the first quarter.

In June, the consumer price went up by 2.7% year on year, increasing at the same speed as last month, and down by 0.1% month on month.

In the first half of 2019, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 0.3% year on year, 0.1 percentage point faster than the first quarter. In June, the producer prices for industrial products were unchanged compared with the same period last year, down by 0.3 percentage month on month.

In the first half, the purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 0.1% year on year, increasing at the same speed as the first quarter. In June, the prices dropped by 0.3% year on year and down by 0.1% month on month.

Employment

In the first half, the newly increased employed people in urban areas totaled 7.37 million, accounting for 67% of the whole-year target. In June, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.1 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month.

Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rate of the population aged from 25 to 59 was 4.6 percent, 0.5 percentage point lower than that of the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.0 percent, the same as the previous month.

In June, the employees of enterprises worked averagely 45.7 hours per week. At the end of the second quarter, the number of rural migrant workers reached 182.48 million, an increase of 2.26 million over the same period last year, up by 1.3 percent, and 0.1 percentage point faster than the first quarter.

Residents Income Grew Faster than Economic Growth and Urban-Rural Income Ratio Continued to Narrow Down.

In the first half, the nationwide per capita disposable income of residents was 15,294 yuan, a nominal growth of 8.8% year on year, 0.1 percentage point faster than that of the first quarter; the real increase was 6.5% after deducting price factors, 0.2 percentage point higher than the economic growth.

In terms of permanent residence, the per capita disposable income of urban households was 21,342 yuan, real growth of 5.7%. The per capita disposable income of rural households was 7,778 yuan, real growth of 6.6%.

The per capita disposable income of urban households was 2.74 times of the rural households, 0.03 less than that of the same period last year. The median of the nationwide per capita disposable income was 13,281 yuan, a nominal increase of 9.0% year-on-year.

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• Bloomberg: China’s Debt Ratio Is Growing as Its Economy Loses Steam
• Reuters: China second-quarter GDP growth slows to 27-year low as trade war bites, more stimulus seen
• FT: China’s economy grows at slowest rate in nearly 30 years

The gross domestic product (GDP) of China was 65,089.9 billion yuan (US$9,368.51 bn) in the first three quarters of 2018, a year-on-year increase of 6.7% at comparable prices, according to the preliminary estimates of National Bureau of Statistics of China.

Specifically, the year-on-year growth was 6.8% for Q1 2018, 6.7% for Q2 2018, and 6.5% for Q3 2018. The value added of the primary industry was 4,217.3 billion yuan (US$607 bn), up by 3.4% year-on-year; the secondary industry 26,295.3 billion yuan (US$3,784.73 bn), up by 5.8%; and the tertiary industry 34,577.3 billion yuan (US$4,976.78 bn), up by 7.7%.

Agricultural Production was Sound

The output of summer crops was 138.72 million tons, a decrease of 3.06 million tons or 2.2% less over last year, and that of the early rice was 28.59 million tons, a decrease of 1.28 million tons or 4.3% less over last year.

In the first three quarters, the output of pork, beef, and mutton was 60.07 million tons, up by 0.2% year-on-year, among them, the output of pork was 38.43 million tons, up by 0.3%. There were 428.87 million pigs registered, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%; and 495.79 million pigs were slaughtered, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%.

The Industrial Production was Generally Stable

In the first three quarters of 2018, the real growth of the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was 6.4% year-on-year, 0.3 percentage point slower than H1 2018.

From the perspective of ownership types, the value added of the state holding enterprises went up by 7.0% year-on-year; collective enterprises down by 1.4%; share-holding enterprises up by 6.6%; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan up by 5.7%.

In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining increased by 1.8% on a year-on-year basis, the manufacturing grew by 6.7%, and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas, and water grew by 10.3%.

In September, the value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size grew by 5.8% year-on-year.

In the first three quarters, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.8% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point slower than H1 2018. Specifically, information transmission, software, and information technology services grew by 37.5% year-on-year; leasing and business services grew by 10.8% year-on-year.

In September, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.3% year-on-year.

In the first eight months, the total profits registered by industrial enterprises above the designated size were 4,424.9 billion yuan (US$636.88 bn), up by 16.2% year-on-year. The profit rate from the principal businesses of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.43%, 0.35 percentage point higher than that of the same period last year.

From January to August, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size grew by 12.0% year-on-year, and the profits for service enterprises above the designated size grew by 15.5% year-on-year.

Growth of Residents’ Consumption was Accelerated

In the first three quarters, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 27,429.9 billion yuan (US$3,948.04 bn), a year-on-year rise of 9.3%, 0.1 percentage point slower than H1 2018. In terms of areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 23,471.7 billion yuan (US$3,378.33 bn), up by 9.1%, and the retail sales in rural areas were 3,958.2 billion yuan (US$569.71 bn), up by 10.4%.

Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of the catering was 2,976.3 billion yuan, up by 9.8% year-on-year; and the retail sales of goods were 24,453.6 billion yuan, up by 9.2%.

The sales of upgraded consumer goods witnessed fast growth. Among the retail sales of enterprises above designated size, the retail sales of petroleum and related products, as well as communication appliances increased by 14.4% and 10.7% year-on-year, or 5.4 percentage points and 1.4 percentage points faster than the same period last year.

In September, the total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 9.2% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point faster than August.

In the first three quarters, the national per capita consumption expenditure of residents was 14,281 yuan (US$2,055.49), a nominal year-on-year growth of 8.5%, 1.0 percentage point faster than the same period last year, or a real growth of 6.3% after price adjustment, 0.4 percentage point faster.

Specifically, the nominal growth of per capita consumption expenditure of urban households increased by 6.5%, 0.3 percentage point faster than the same period last year; the nominal growth of per capita consumption expenditure of rural households increased by 12.0%, 3.4 percentage points faster.

Private Investment and the Investment in Manufacturing Accelerated

In the first three quarters, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 48,344.2 billion yuan (US$6,958.27 bn), a year-on-year growth of 5.4%, 0.6 percentage point less than the first six months, and 0.1 percentage point faster than the first eight months.

Specifically, private investment reached 30,166.4 billion yuan (US$4,341.91 bn), up by 8.7% year-on-year, 0.3 percentage point faster than H1 2018, or 2.7 percentage points faster than the same period last year.

The investment in the primary industry was up by 11.7%; the secondary industry grew by 5.2%, among which the investment in manufacturing was up by 8.7%, 1.9 percentage points faster than H1 2018, achieving a faster growth for the sixth consecutive month; the tertiary industry went up by 5.3%, among which the investment in infrastructure increased by 3.3%.

In the first three quarters, the total investment in real estate development was 8,866.5 billion yuan (US$1,276.17 bn), a year-on-year growth of 9.9%. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 1,193.13 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%. The total sales of commercial buildings were 10,413.2 billion yuan (US$1,498.79 bn), a growth of 13.3% year-on-year.

Growth of Export Speeded up

In the first three quarters, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 22,283.9 billion yuan (US$3,207.36 bn), an increase of 9.9% year-on-year, 2.1 percentage points faster than H1 2018.

Specifically, the value of exports totaled 11,858.5 billion yuan (US$1,706.82 bn), up by 6.5%, 1.8 percentage points faster than H1 2018; the value of imports totaled was 10,425.4 billion yuan (US$1,500.55 bn), an increase of 14.1% year-on-year, 2.5 percentage points faster than H1 2018.

The trade balance was 1,433.1 billion yuan (US$206.27 bn) in surplus, down by 28.3% than the same period last year. The imports and exports with major trading partners increased. The imports and exports with the European Union, the United States, and ASEAN went up by 7.3%, 6.5%, and 12.6%, respectively.

And the imports and exports with some countries along the “Belt and Road” demonstrated growing momentum. The imports and exports with Russia, Poland, and Kazakhstan went up by 19.4%, 11.9%, and 11.8%, respectively.

In September, the total value of imports and exports was 2,885.2 billion yuan (US$415.27 bn), a year-on-year increase of 17.2%. Among that, the total value of exports was 1,549.2 billion yuan (US$222.98 bn), up by 17.0%, and the total value of imports was 1,336.0 billion yuan (US$192.29 bn), up by 17.4%.

In the first three quarters, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above designated size reached 8,972.9 billion yuan (US$1,291.49 bn), a year-on-year increase of 8.1%.

In September, the export delivery value of the industrial enterprises above designated size reached 1,183.9 billion yuan (US$170.40 bn), a year-on-year increase of 11.7%.

Consumer Price Grew Mildly and the Growth of Prices for Industrial Products was Stable.

In the first three quarters, the consumer price went up by 2.1% year-on-year, 0.1 percentage point higher than H1 2018.

Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco, and alcohol went up by 1.6% year-on-year; clothing up by 1.2%; housing up by 2.4%; articles and services for daily use up by 1.6%; transport and communication up by 1.7%; education, culture, and recreation up by 2.2%; medical services and health care up by 5.0%; other articles and services up by 1.1%.

In September, the consumer price was up by 2.5% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point higher than last month, and up by 0.7% month-on-month.

In the first three quarters, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 4.0% year-on-year, 0.1 percentage point higher than H1 2018. The purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 4.5% year-on-year.

In September, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 3.6% year-on-year, 0.5 percentage point less than last month, up by 0.6% month-on-month; and the purchasing prices for industrial producers were up by 4.2% year-on-year, or up by 0.6% month-on-month.

The Surveyed Unemployment Rate Dropped and the Employment Situation was Generally Stable

In September, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 4.9%, 0.1 percentage point less than last month, or 0.1 percentage point less over the same month last year.

The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 4.7%, 0.2 percentage point less than last month and 0.1 percentage point less than the same month last year. Specifically, the surveyed unemployed rate of major labor force aged from 25 to 59 was 4.3%, which was the same as last month.

By the end of Q3 2018, the number of rural migrant workers reached 181.35 million, 1.66 million more than the same period last year, an increase of 0.9% year-on-year. The average monthly income of rural migrant workers was 3,710 yuan (US$533.99), an increase of 7.3% year-on-year.

Resident Income Grew Synchronized with the National Economy

In the first three quarters, the national per capita disposable income was 21,035 yuan (US$3,027.61), a nominal increase of 8.8% year-on-year, or a real increase of 6.6% after price adjustment; the growth rate was the same as H1 2018, which is almost same as that of the national economy.

In terms of permanent residence, the per capita disposable income of urban households was 29,599 yuan (US$4,260.24), a nominal increase of 7.9% year-on-year, or a real increase of 5.7% after price adjustment.

The per capita disposable income of rural households was 10,645 yuan (US$1,532.16), a nominal increase of 8.9% year-on-year, or a real increase of 6.8% after price adjustment. The per capita income of urban households was 2.78 times that of rural households, 0.03 less than the same period last year. The median of the national per capita disposable income was 18,236 yuan (US$2,624.74), a nominal increase of 8.7% year-on-year.

Economic Structure Continued to be Optimized and the Economy was more Consumption-based.

Industries continued to be upgraded. In the first three quarters, the growth rate of the value added of the tertiary industry was 1.9 percentage points higher than that of the secondary industry, accounting for 53.1% of the GDP, which was 0.3 percentage point higher than the same period last year and 12.7 percentage points higher than that of the secondary industry.

The role of consumption as the basic economic function was further solidified. In the first three quarters, the contribution rate of final consumption expenditure to economic growth was 78.0%, 46.2 percentage points higher than the total capital formation.

The consumption expenditure on services continued to represent a larger share. In the third quarter, the consumption expenditure on services accounted for 52.6% of the national consumption expenditure of households, 0.2 percentage point higher than the same period last year.

The investment structure continued to be optimized. In the first three quarters, the investment in the high-tech manufacturing industry grew by 14.9% year-on-year, 9.5 percentage points higher than the total investment.

The trade structure was further improved. In the first three quarters, import and export of general trade increased by 13.5%, accounting for 58.4% of the total value of the imports and exports, an increase of 1.9 percentage points compared with the same period last year. The export of mechanical and electronic products grew by 7.8%, accounting for 58.3% of the total value of exports.

Growth of New Driving Forces was Accelerated

The capacity utilization rate maintained stably. In the first three quarters, the industrial capacity utilization rate nationwide was 76.6%, maintaining the same level as compared with the same period last year.

In Q3 2018, the capacity utilization rate of smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, as well as mining and washing of coals were 78.7% and 70.1%, respectively, or 2.0 and 1.1 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The corporate cost and leverage ratio decreased. In the first eight months, the cost for per-hundred-yuan turnover of principal business of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 84.39 yuan, 0.35 yuan less than the same period last year.

By the end of August, the asset-liability ratio of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 56.6%, 0.5 percentage point lower than the same period last year.

The inventory of commercial buildings continued to decrease. By the end of September, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale has dropped by 13.0% year-on-year.

More efforts were taken to improving weak links of key fields. In the first three quarters, the investment in the management of environmental protection and treatment of environmental pollution and the investment in agriculture increased by 33.7% and 12.4% year-on-year, respectively, or 28.3 percentage points and 7.0 percentage points faster than the total investment.

The progress of green development was achieved steadily. In the first three quarters, the energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped by 3.1% year-on-year.

New industries grew fast. In the first three quarters, the value added of high-tech industries and equipment manufacturing increased by 11.8% and 8.6% year-on-year, 5.4 and 2.2 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size.

The value added of industrial strategic and emerging industries went up by 8.8% year on year, 2.4 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size.

New products grew rapidly. In the first three quarters, the production of new energy vehicles was up by 54.8% year-on-year, and integrated circuits up by 11.7%.

New types of business were booming. In the first three quarters, the online retail sales reached 6,278.5 billion yuan (US$903.68 bn), a year-on-year growth of 27.0%. Specifically, the online retail sales of physical goods were 4,793.8 billion yuan (US$689.98 bn), a year-on-year growth of 27.7%, accounting for 17.5% of the total retail sales of consumer goods; the online retail sales of non-physical goods was 1,484.7 billion yuan (US$213.69 bn), an increase of 24.8%.

China’s job hunting websites reached almost 450 million monthly internet users and the number of monthly visits totaled 3 billion in Q3 2015 according to iResearch.

51job.com (hereinafter called 51job) and Zhaopin.com (hereinafter called Zhaopin) were major job hunting companies in China. Total revenues of 51job was 520 million yuan (US$80.27 million) and total revenues of Zhaopin were 350 million yuan (US$54.02 million) in Q3 2015. Influenced by the autumn busy season of job hunting, operating revenues of both companies increased slightly.

Online job hunting revenues made up about 60% of 51job revenues in Q3 2015. HR and related revenues made up about 35%. Compared with Zhaopin, 51job was relatively concentrated in revenue pattern while also more reasonable given that non-online job hunting revenues.

Revenues except online websites of Zhaopin only accounted for about 10% in Q3 2015 including campus recruitment, career assessment and HR related revenues. The ratio was much lower compared with 34.9% of 51job.

The size of China’s online employment market was stable in the past 12 months. The number of monthly coverage users reached nearly 450 million from July to September this year with a slight down in QoQ rate and YoY rate. The downturn mainly resulted from rising mobile app users.

Monthly visits of China’s employment websites remained steady across the year and the peak appeared in March 2015. Post-Chinese New Year is often a period when many employees looked for new opportunities in China. A report from 58.com said as high as 65% staff in China would change job after the Chinese New Year because of no year-end bonus.

Zhaopin has surpassed 51job in online monthly reached users since May 2015. Monthly reached users of online websites of Zhaopin were 520,000 more than 51job. The soaring number of app users was mainly driven from superior user experience on Zhaopin’s mobile app.

Major employment websites maintained stable in terms of monthly reached users on mobile apps in Q3 2015. 51job maintained a total number of monthly coverage users about 2.6 million since May 2015. Zhaopin has been steadily growing in monthly users this year.

The gap in daily reached users had gradually widened between 51job and Zhaopin mobile apps in Q3 2015. Daily reached users of 51job declined slightly in September while the total increased in Q3 2015. Daily coverage users of Zhaopin declined in Q3 while still maintained a slight growth compared with Q2 2015.

51job spent 79.9% advertising spends of nearly 700,000 yuan on Weibo and other portal websites in Q3 2015. The ratio was 2.4 percentage points higher compared with the previous quarter.

Zhaopin invested far more spends in advertising than 51job in Q3 2015. 65.9% advertising spends were made available for real estate websites with 38.6 percentage points high compared to Q2 in Q3 2015. 28.6% advertising spends were in portal websites while might be supposed that Zhaopin wouldn’t want to have direct conflicts on portal websites. Advertising channels of Zhaopin were more diverse compared with 51job.

Looking for jobs through job hunting websites has become an avoidable trend. Compared to traditional job fairs, online employment websites are more efficient and less costly. Especially for university graduates, blindly sending resumes always had no effect.

Also read: China’s Talents in Internet Industry 2015

By 2025, China’s investment in tourism will amount to US$278.7 billion, taking over the US as the world’s largest tourism country according to WTTC. In the following 10 years, the growth rate of the tourism industry will continue higher growth than the macro-economy. The tourism industry is expected to offer 72.9 million new jobs.

Although China’s economic growth slows down, China in the global tourism market gains an increasingly larger share. According to data of the World Travel and Tourism Council, annual growth rate of China tourism GDP a is 3.8%, slightly lower than the previous year’s estimation of 4.1%. Many factors can explain why China will be difficult to maintain high growth rates, including the gradual loss of the demographic dividend, decline of return on investment (ROI) year by year, unfavorable external environment, slowing productivity growth , transformation of the economic structure and others.

By 2025, China’s investment in tourism will reach US$278.7 billion, taking over the US as the world’s largest tourism country. However, the total tourism GDP contribution, inbound and outbound tourism consumption rank after the United States. The contribution of the tourism industry in China’s GDP will increase from 9.8% 2014 to 10.5% 2025 and tourism employment in the total employment rises from 9.4% 2014 to 10.7% 2015, mainly due to strong growth demand in the emerging market and a growing consumption trend in tourism, in addition, the support of the government and the companies to meet the large demand of tourism infrastructure and talents.

By 2025, China will surpass Spain and France to be the second largest country by tourism revenue, following the U.S., and the largest tourism spending country, followed by America, German and the United States.

Also read: China the Largest Inbound Tourism Market for Japan H1 2015

EnfoDesk estimated the total transaction value of China online employment market exceeded RMB3.24 billion (US$526.67 million) in 2014 and the market is keeping stable growth. It is estimated that in 2017, it will will be over RMB5.33 billion (US$886.41 million).

There are more opportunities for online job hunters with low-level of education and grassroots blue-collar workers. With easy access to Internet as well as popularity of mobile device, they tend to find jobs on the internet.

China online employment market now involves human resource market’s many services, such as headhunting service, job assessment, training, HR outsourcing and consulting. News platform, vertical employment platform，as well as social employment platform will be in the competition.

The popularity of internet in tier-3 & 4 cities and in rural areas as well as small & medium enterprises’ IT improvement promote the development of China online employment in 2014. Besides, the essential reason is that China’s fast-growing economy stimulates continuous need for human resources.

Also read: China E-commerce Market in 2014

According to National Bureau of Statistics of China, GDP of China was 63,646.3 billion yuan (USD 10,239.9 billion) in 2014, an increase of 7.4% at comparable prices.

The year-on-year GDP growth of the first quarter in 2014 was 7.4%, the second quarter 7.5%, the third quarter 7.3%, and the fourth quarter 7.3%. The gross domestic product of the fourth quarter of 2014 went up by 1.5% quarter-on-quarter.

Agricultural Production

China’s total grain output in 2014 was 607.10 million tons, an increase of 5.16 million tons, up by 0.9%.

• Summer grain: 136.60 million tons, an increase of 3.6%
• Early rice: 34.01 million tons, a decrease of 0.4%
• Autumn grain: 436.49 million tons, an increase of 0.1%
• Cereals: 557.27 million tons, an increase of 0.8%
• Cotton: 6.16 million tons, a decrease of 2.2%
• Pork, beef, mutton and poultry: 85.40 million tons, an increase of 2.0%
• Poultry eggs: 28.94 million tons, an increase of 0.6%
• Milk: 37.25 million tons, an increase of 5.5%

Industrial Production

The total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size in 2014 was up by 8.3% at comparable prices.

An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added growth of:

• the state-owned and state holding enterprises: 4.9%;
• collective enterprises: 1.7%;
• share-holding enterprises: 9.7 percent;
• enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: 6.3%

Out of the 464 kinds of industrial products, the output of 329 kinds realized an increase compared with last year. In 2014, the sales-output ratio of industrial enterprises above designated size reached 97.8%. The export delivery value of these enterprises reached 12,093.3 billion yuan, up by 6.4%.

In December, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 7.9% year-on-year or up by 0.75% month-on-month.

Investment in Fixed Assets

In 2014, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) in China was 50,200.5 billion yuan, the nominal year-on-year growth of 15.7% over last year (a real growth of 15.1% after deducting price factors).

• The investment by the state-owned and state holding enterprises: 16,162.9 billion yuan, a rise of 13.0%
• Private investment: 32,157.6 billion yuan, up by 18.1%, accounting for 64.1% of the total investment

The growth in eastern, central and western regions was 14.6%, 17.2% and 17.5% respectively.

The total investment in real estate development in 2014 was 9,503.6 billion yuan, a nominal growth of 10.5% (a real growth of 9.9% after deducting price factors). In particular, the investment in residential buildings went up by 9.2%.

China Retail Market

In 2014, China’s total retail sales of consumer goods reached 26,239.4 billion yuan, a nominal annual rise of 12.0% (a real growth of 10.9 percent after deducting price factors).

The retail sales in urban areas reached 22,636.8 billion yuan, up by 11.8%; and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 3,602.7 billion yuan, up by 12.9%.

The income of catering industry was 2,786.0 billion yuan, up by 9.7%; and the retail sales of goods were 23,453.4 billion yuan, up by 12.2%.

In December, the nominal growth of total retail sales of consumer goods was 11.9% over last year (a real growth of 11.5% after deducting price factors), or 1.01% month-on-month.

In 2014, the online retail sales reached 2,789.8 billion yuan, an increase of 49.7% compared with last year and the online retail sales of the enterprises (units) above designated size stood at 440.0 billion yuan, up by 56.2%.

Imports and Exports: Slowed Down

The total value of imports and exports in 2014 was 26,433.5 billion yuan, an increase of 2.3%. The total value of exports was 14,391.2 billion yuan, up by 4.9%; the total value of imports was 12,042.3 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.6%. The trade balance was 2,348.9 billion yuan in surplus.

In December, the total value of imports and exports was 2,490.1 billion yuan, the year-on-year growth of 4.2%. Of this total, the value of exports was 1,397.3 billion yuan, up by 9.9%; and that of imports was 1,092.8 billion yuan, down by 2.3%.

Consumer Price: Increased at a Low Rate

In 2014, the consumer price went up by 2.0% in China. The price went up by 2.1% in urban areas and 1.8% in rural areas.

• Prices for food rose by 3.1%
• tobacco, liquor and related articles decreased by 0.6%
• clothing up by 2.4%;
• household facilities, articles and maintenance services up by 1.2%
• health care and personal articles grew by 1.3%
• transportation and communication down by 0.1%
• recreation, education, culture articles and services up by 1.9%
• housing up by 2.0%

Grain grew up by 3.1%, oil or fat down by 4.9%, pork down by 4.3%, fresh vegetables down by 1.5%.

In December 2014, the consumer prices went up by 1.5% year-on-year, or 0.3% up month-on-month. In 2014, the producer prices for industrial products went down by 1.9% compared with last year, while the price in December dropped by 3.3% year-on-year and 0.6% month-on-month. The purchasing price for industrial producers was down by 2.2% compared with last year and in December, the price was down by 4.0% year-on-year and 0.8% month-on-month.

Residents’ Income: Continued to Increase

Based on the integrated household survey, the national per capita disposable income was 20,167 yuan in 2014, a nominal growth of 10.1% or a real increase of 8.0% after deducting price factors.

In terms of permanent residence, the per capita disposable income of urban households was 28,844 yuan, a nominal growth of 9.0%, or a real growth of 6.8% after deducting price factors.

The per capita disposable income of rural residents was 10,489 yuan, up by 11.2% nominally, or 9.2% in real terms. The median of the national disposal income was 17,570 yuan, a nominal increase of 12.4%.

Taking the per capita disposable income of nationwide households by income quintiles, that of the low-income group reached 4,747 yuan, the lower-middle-income group 10,887 yuan, the middle-income group 17,631 yuan, the upper-middle-income group 26,937 yuan, and the high-income group 50,968 yuan.

The Gini Coefficient for national disposable income in 2014 was 0.469. The per capita net income of rural residents was 9,892 yuan, an increase of 9.2% after deducting the price factors. The number of rural migrant workers at the end of the year was 273.95 million, which was 5.01 million more than that in the previous year, or up by 1.9%. Specifically, the numbers of local and outside workers were 105.74 million and 168.21 million respectively, up by 2.8 and 1.3%. The average monthly income of migrant workers was 2,864 yuan, up by 9.8%.

Industrial Structural: Stable Progress

The industrial structure was further optimized. In 2014, the value of the tertiary industry accounted for 48.2% of GDP, 1.3 percentage points higher than last year, 5.6 percentage points higher than that of the secondary industry.

The structure of domestic demand was further improved. In 2014, the final consumption expenditure accounted for 51.2% of GDP in China, 3.0 percentage points higher than last year.

The income gap between urban and rural households was further narrowed. In 2014, the real growth of the per capita disposable income of rural households was 2.4 percentage points faster than that of urban households. The per capita income of urban households was 2.75 times of the rural households, 0.06 less than last year.

In 2014, the energy consumption per unit of GDP decreased by 4.8% compared with last year.

Money Supply

By the end of December 2014, the balance of broad money (M2) was 122.84 trillion yuan, an increase of 12.2% compared with that at the end of last year; the balance of narrow money (M1) was 34.81 trillion yuan, up by 3.2%; and the balance of cash in circulation (M0) was 6.03 trillion yuan, a rise of 2.9%.

At the end of December, the amount of outstanding loans was 81.68 trillion yuan, while the amount of outstanding deposits was 113.86 trillion yuan. In 2014, the newly increased loans reached 9.78 trillion yuan, an increase of 890.0 billion yuan; the newly increased deposits were 9.48 trillion yuan, or 3.08 trillion yuan less than last year. The social financing reached 16.46 trillion yuan, a decrease of 859.8 billion yuan.

Population and Employment

By the end of 2014, the total population of mainland China was 1,367.82 million (including population of 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and servicemen in CPLA; but excluding residents in Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, Taiwan Province and overseas Chinese), an increase of 7.10 million over that at the end of 2013.

In 2014, the number of births was 16.87 million and the birth rate was 12.37 in a thousand; the number of deaths were 9.77 million with a death rate of 7.16 in a thousand; the natural growth rate was 5.21 in a thousand, an increase of 0.29 in a thousand.

In terms of gender, the male population was 700.79 million, and female population was 667.03 million; the sex ratio of total population was 105.06 (the female is 100, male to female); the sex ratio at birth was 115.88.

Population at the working age of 16-59 was 915.83 million, a decrease of 3.71 million as compared that at the end of 2013, and it accounted for 67.0% of the total population; population aged 60 and over was 212.42 million, which was 15.5% of the total population; population aged 65 and over was 137.55 million, accounting for 10.1% of the total population.

In terms of urban-rural structure, the urban population was 749.16 million, an increase of 18.05 million over the previous year; and the rural population was 618.66 million, a decrease of 10.95 million. The proportion of urban population to total population was 54.77%.

The population who reside in street communities but with permanent household registration elsewhere and having been away from that place for more than 6 months reached 298 million, which was 9.44 million more than that in the previous year. The migrant population was 253 million, or 8.00 million more. At the end of the year, the total number of employed persons was 772.53 million, or 2.76 million more than that at the end of 2013; the number of urban employed persons was 393.10 million, or 10.70 million more.

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Chinese employees’ frequency of changing jobs is higher than American employees in 2014 according to a report from LinkedIn. The report covers Chinese employees from China’s major economic circles, i.e. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic circle, Yangtze river delta economic circle, the pearl river delta economic circle and middle-China economic circle.

The report shows Chinese employees’ average length of service is 34 months while American is 56 months in 2014. Chinese employees’ median of length of service is 24 months, which is over half year shorter than American employees’.

In China, employees in commercial service industry (like Law firms, accounting firms and consulting companies), finance & insurance and Internet industry have the shortest average length of service in 2014.

When changing jobs, Chinese tend to receive job opportunity news passively; the above is a list of factors affecting them to choose a company. Self-development in a company is the first factor  for Chinese employees.

Also read: China Online Employment Market Analysis

Total revenue of China online employment market exceeded RMB3.08 billion ($501.6 million) in 2013 with an increase of 15.25% from last year.

In 2013, total number of employers having adopted online recruitment exceeded 1.969 million with an increase of 21.6% from last year in China according to iReearch. The growing of online employment in China is due to three factors:

1. The increase of total Internet users in China stimulates online employment.
2. Employment needs of small and medium-sized enterprises are increasing; the cost of online employment are very low and sometimes free
3. Rapid development of economy in China has direct impact

With rapid increase of employees looking for jobs online, it is estimated that total number of online job seekers will increase to 150.646 million in 2017 in China, estimated iResearch.

Related: Status of China’s Business Social Networking Market