A look at China's April economic data

China's economic performance continued to keep within a reasonable range and maintained stable momentum in April.

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, "held steady" in April with an expansion of 5.4 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

The rate was down 3.1 percentage points from March, but grew 0.1 percentage points faster than the first two months, the statement said.

Within this figure, the output of the high-tech manufacturing sector surged 11.2 percent, more than doubling the pace of overall industrial output growth.

The manufacturing purchasing managers' index stood at 50.1 in April, staying above the boom-bust line of 50.

Fixed-asset investment grew 6.1 percent year-on-year during the January-April period, down slightly from the first quarter, by 0.2 percentage points.

"Investment has maintained steady growth, with high-tech industries continuing to post relatively fast growth," the NBS said.

Investment in high-tech manufacturing and services surged 11.4 percent and 15.5 percent year-on-year, respectively.

1CPI up 2.5%

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.5 percent year-on-year in April, as tighter supplies of vegetables, pork and fruit drove up food prices, according to NBS data.

The reading, in line with market expectations, accelerated from the 2.3 percent gain in March and 1.5 percent in February. On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent, compared with the 0.4 percent drop seen a month earlier.

2PPI rises 0.9%

China's producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 0.9 percent on a yearly basis in April.

The pace beat market expectations and picked up for two consecutive months, expanding from 0.4 percent in March and 0.1 percent in February.

On a monthly basis, producer prices went up 0.3 percent in April, faster than the 0.1 percent increase recorded in March.

3PMI at expansion territory

The purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector remained stable at 50.1 in April, slightly down from 50.5 in March.

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

4Industrial output swells 5.4%

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 5.4 percent year-on-year in April.

The rate was down 3.1 percentage points from March, but grew 0.1 percentage points faster than the first two months.

China's value-added industrial output is used to measure the output of large companies with annual main business revenue of more than 20 million yuan each.

5FAI growth up 6.1%

China continued to see steady growth in fixed-asset investment, boosted by robust high-tech investment in the first four months of 2019. FAI grew 6.1 percent year-on-year during the January-April period, retreating 0.2 percentage points from the first quarter.

The pace quickened from the 5.9 percent annual growth last year.

FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.

6Real estate investment increases 11.9%

China's real estate investment increased 11.9 percent year-on-year in the first four months of the year.

The growth was faster than the 11.8 percent expansion recorded in the January-March period.

Total property investment in the first four months amounted to 3.42 trillion yuan, with 72.8 percent used for residential buildings.

7Retail sales grows 7.2%

China's retail sales of consumer goods rose 7.2 percent year-on-year to over 3 trillion yuan in April.

The growth narrowed from an increase of 8.7 percent registered in March.

8Foreign trade up 6.5%

Foreign trade in April expanded by 6.5 percent to reach 2.51 trillion yuan. Exports grew by 3.1 percent in yuan terms last month, while imports jumped by 10.3 percent, as per data from the General Administration of Customs.

The trade surplus stood at 93.57 billion yuan in April, shrinking 43.8 percent year-on-year.

9 New yuan loans fall

China's new yuan-denominated loans stood at 1.02 trillion yuan in April 2019, 161.5 billion less than the same period last year, central bank data showed.

The increase was down from a gain of 1.69 trillion yuan in March.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8.5 percent year-on-year to 188.47 trillion yuan at the end of April, according to the People's Bank of China.

10FDI soars 6.3%

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland expanded 6.3 percent year-on-year in April to reach 62.95 billion yuan, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

FDI also increased 6.4 percent year-on-year to reach 305.24 billion yuan in the first four months.

11Fiscal revenue up 5.3%

China's fiscal revenue rose 5.3 percent year-on-year to 7.27 trillion yuan in the first four months of the year.

The central government collected about 3.47 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue during the period, up 4.3 percent year-on-year, while local governments saw fiscal revenue rise 6.1 percent to around 3.8 trillion yuan, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance.

12Job market remains stable

China's job market remained stable in April, seeing lower unemployment rates.

The surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 5 percent in April, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, according to the NBS.

NBS data also showed 4.59 million new jobs were created in cities nationwide in the first four months, fulfilling 42 percent of the whole year's quota.

13 Electricity consumption advances 5.8%

China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 5.8 percent year-on-year in April, official data showed.

Total power use reached 553.4 billion kilowatt hours last month according to the National Energy Administration.

Power use in the first four months totaled 2.23 trillion kilowatt hours, up 5.6 percent from one year earlier.

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