A look at China's August economic data

China's major economic data continually moderated in August, mainly because of increasing external headwinds, and more countermeasures are urged to offset the impact and stabilize growth.

China's industrial output in August rose by 4.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with 4.8 percent in July and 6.3 percent in June, based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Retail sales growth remained stable, increasing by 7.5 percent year-on-year, compared with 7.6 percent in July. Total sales reached 3.39 trillion yuan ($479.8 billion) in August, the NBS reported.

Fixed-asset investment was stable at a growth rate of 5.5 percent for the first eight months, down slightly from 5.7 percent in the January-to-July period, the NBS said.

The country's overall economic performance remained stable in August, although some indicators showed ups and downs within a short period, Fu Linghui, an NBS spokesman, said at a news conference.

Fu expressed confidence in achieving economic development goals for the year, given the stable foundation of China's economy.

"The general industrial structure is improving, which is especially reflected in the faster expansion of the high-tech service industry," Fu said.

1CPI up 2.8%

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, increased 2.8 percent year-on-year in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The growth rate remained unchanged from that in July.

On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices edged up 0.7 percent last month.

2PPI down 0.8%

China's producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, dropped 0.8 percent year-on-year in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The reading expanded from the 0.3-percent decline in July, the NBS data showed.

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI dropped 0.1 percent last month, narrowing from the 0.2-percent drop in July.

3PMI dips

The purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector dipped to 49.5 in August from 49.7 in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.

4Industrial output up 4.4%

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 4.4 percent year-on-year in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The growth rate was 0.4 percentage points lower than that logged in July, according to the NBS.

On a monthly basis, industrial output rose 0.32 percent from July.

5Fixed-asset investment up 5.5%

China's fixed-asset investment grew 5.5 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2019, 0.2 percentage points lower than the first seven months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Compared with the same period last year, growth was up 0.2 percentage points.

The FAI amounted to 40.06 trillion yuan in the January to August period, NBS data showed. FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.

6Property investment up 10.5%

China's investment in property development grew 10.5 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2019, down from 10.6 percent registered in the first seven months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Total property investment during the Jan-Aug period totaled 8.46 trillion yuan, the NBS said.

7 Retail sales up 7.5%

China's retail sales of consumer goods rose 7.5 percent year-on-year in August to 3.39 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The pace was 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous month.

In the first eight months, retail sales of consumer goods climbed 8.2 percent year-on-year to 26.22 trillion yuan. The pace was 0.1 percentage points lower than that in the first seven months.

8Foreign trade up 0.1%

Foreign trade in August expanded by 0.1 percent to reach 2.72 trillion yuan. Exports grew by 2.6 percent in yuan terms last month, while imports fell 2.6 percent, as per data from the General Administration of Customs.

Trade surplus stood at 239.6 billion yuan last month, expanding 41.8 percent from one year earlier.

9New yuan loans fall

China's new yuan-denominated loans reached 1.21 trillion yuan in August, 66.5 billion yuan less than the same period last year, central bank data showed.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8.2 percent year-on-year to 193.55 trillion yuan at the end of August, according to the People's Bank of China.

10FDI up 3.6%

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland reached 70.89 billion yuan, up 3.6 percent year-on-year in August.

The FDI expanded 6.9 percent year-on-year to 604.04 billion yuan in the January-August period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In US dollar terms, FDI inflow grew 3.2 percent year-on-year to $89.26 billion during the period, the ministry said.

11Fiscal revenue up 3.2%

China's fiscal revenue increased 3.2 percent year-on-year to about 13.71 trillion yuan in the first eight months of 2019, official data showed.

The central government collected about 6.6 trillion yuan during the period, up 3.5 percent year-on-year, while local governments saw fiscal revenue up 2.8 percent to about 7.12 trillion yuan, according to the Ministry of Finance.

12Job market remains stable

China's job market remained generally stable in the first eight months of the year, with the number of newly created jobs achieving 89.5 percent of this year's target.

A total of 9.84 million new urban jobs were created during the January-August period, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percentage points to 5.2 percent last month, NBS data showed.

13Power use up 4.4%

China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 4.4 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2019, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Total power use hit 4.7 trillion kilowatt hours in the January-August period.

In August alone, the country's power use grew 3.6 percent year-on-year, 0.9 percentage points higher than that in July.

The page is best viewed using IE version 8 or above, and other browers including chrome and baidu.

Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form.