Speaker:
Ning Jizhe, director of the National Bureau of Statistics
Chairperson:
Hu Kaihong, director-general of the Press Bureau, State Council Information Office
Date:
Jan. 20, 2017
Hu Kaihong:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning! Welcome to the press conference held by the State Council Information Office today. We are delighted to have Mr. Ning Jizhe, director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), to brief you about China's economic performance in 2016 and answer your questions. Also at the press conference today is Mr. Sheng Laiyun, spokesperson for the NBS. Now, Mr. Ning, please.
Ning Jizhe:
Friends from the press, good morning. Today is Xiaonian or the Preliminary Eve of the Chinese New Year. I wish you all a happy new year. Now let me introduce to you the performance of the Chinese economy in 2016.
In 2016, faced with a complicated domestic and international environment, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC)Central Committee with General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core, the whole country carried forward the overall plan for promoting all-round economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress as well as the “Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy” in a coordinated way; adhered to the general work guideline of making progress while maintaining stability; followed the new vision of development; insisted on supply-side structural reform as the mainline; appropriately expanded the aggregate demand; advanced reforms; properly responded to risks and challenges and shaped good social expectations. As a result, the national economy has achieved moderate yet steady and sound development, getting off to a good start during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.
According to the preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China was 74.41trillion yuan in 2016, an increase of 6.7 percent compared with last year. Specifically, the year-on-year growth of GDP for the first quarter was 6.7 percent, 6.7 percent for the second quarter, 6.7 percent for the third quarter, and 6.8 percent for the fourth quarter. The value added of the primary industry was 6.37trillion yuan, up by 3.3 percent over the previous year; that of the secondary industry was 29.62trillion yuan, up by 6.1 percent; and 38.42trillion yuan for the tertiary industry, up by 7.8 percent.
1. Agricultural production enjoyed another harvest, and production of animal husbandry was generally stable.
The total grain output in 2016 was 616.24 million tons, a decrease of 5.2 million tons compared with last year, down by 0.8 percent; however, it is still the second highest in history. The total output of summer grain was 139.2 million tons, down by 1.2 percent; the total output of early rice was 32.78 million tons, down by 2.7 percent; the total output of autumn grain was 444.26 million tons, down by 0.6 percent. The total output of cotton in 2016 was 5.34 million tons, down by 4.6 percent. The total output of oil-bearing crops was 36.13 million tons, up by 2.2 percent; that of vegetables was 800.05 million tons, up by 1.9 percent; that of fruits was 283.19 million tons, up by 3.4 percent. The total output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry was 83.64 million tons, down by 1.1 percent over last year, among which the total output of pork was 52.99 million tons, down by 3.4 percent; beef 7.17 million tons, up by 2.4 percent; mutton 4.59 million tons, up by 4.2 percent; poultry 18.88 million tons, up by 3.4 percent. The total output of poultry eggs was 30.95 million tons, up by 3.2 percent; the total output of milk was 36.02 million tons, down by 4.1 percent.
2. Industrial production grew steadily with rising profits for enterprises.
The real growth of the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size in 2016 was 6.0 percent, the same as that in the first three quarters. An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of state holding enterprises was up by 2.0 percent; that of collective enterprises, down by 1.3 percent; share-holding enterprises, up by 6.9 percent; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up by 4.5 percent. In terms of sectors, the value added of mining dropped by 1.0 percent, manufacturing increased by 6.8 percent and electricity, thermal power, gas and the production and supply of water increased by 5.5 percent. The value added of the high-tech industry grew by 10.8 percent over last year, 4.8 percentage points higher than industrial enterprises above the designated size, accounting for 12.4 percent of industrial enterprises above the designated size, 0.6 percentage points more than last year. In 2016, the sales-output ratio of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 97.8 percent. The export delivery value of these enterprises reached 11.92 trillion yuan, up by 0.4 percent over last year. In December, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size was up by 6.0 percent year-on-year or up by 0.46 percent month-on-month.
From January to November, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size stood at 6.03trillion yuan, up by 9.4 percent year-on-year, 1.0 percentage point higher than that in the first three quarters. The profit rate of the main business operations of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 5.85 percent, up by0.26percentage points year-on-year.
3. The growth of investment in fixed assets was slow yet stable, and the floor space of commercial buildings for sale decreased.
In 2016, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 59.65 trillion yuan, a nominal growth of 8.1 percent over last year or a real growth of 8.8 percent after deducting price factors, 0.1 percentage points slower than that in the first three quarters.
Specifically, investment by state holding enterprises reached 21.31 trillion yuan, a rise of 18.7 percent; private investment reached 36.52 trillion yuan, up by 3.2 percent, 0.7 percentage point faster than that in the first three quarters, accounting for 61.2 percent of the total investment. The investment in the primary industry was 1.88 trillion yuan, up by 21.1 percent; the secondary industry 23.18 trillion yuan, up by 3.5 percent; and the tertiary industry 34.58 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.9 percent, among which the investment in infrastructure was 11.89 trillion yuan, up by 17.4 percent.
Investment in the high-tech industry went up by 15.8 percent year-on-year, 7.7 percentage points faster than that of total investment. The funds in place for investment in fixed assets in 2016 were 60.7 trillion yuan, up by 5.8 percent compared with last year. The planned total investment in newly-started projects in 2016 was 49.33 trillion yuan, up by 20.9 percent over last year. In December, investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) grew by 0.53 percent month-on-month.
The total investment in real estate development in 2016 was 10.26 trillion yuan, a nominal growth of 6.9 percent (a real growth of 7.5 percent after deducting price factors), 1.1 percentage points faster than that in the first three quarters and 5.9 percentage points faster than last year, among which the investment in residential buildings went up by 6.4 percent. The floor space newly started was 1.67 billion square meters, up by 8.1 percent over last year. Specifically, the newly started floor space of residential buildings went up by 8.7 percent.
The floor space of commercial buildings sold was 1.57 billion square meters, up by 22.5 percent. Specifically, the floor space of residential buildings sold was up by 22.4 percent. The total sales of commercial buildings were 11.76 trillion yuan, up by 34.8 percent, among which the sales of residential buildings were up by 36.1 percent.
The land space purchased for real estate development was 220.25 million square meters, down by 3.4 percent over last year. By the end of December, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale was 695.39 million square meters, down by 3.2 percent compared with that at the end of last year. The funds in place for real estate development enterprises reached 14.42 trillion yuan, up by 15.2 percent over last year.
4. Market sales witnessed steady and comparatively fast growth, and categories of upgraded consumer goods enjoyed rapid growth.
In 2016, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 33.23 trillion yuan, a nominal annual rise of 10.4 percent (a real growth of 9.6 percent after deducting price factors), the same as that in the first three quarters.
Specifically, the retail sales of consumer goods by enterprises above the designated size stood at 15.43 trillion yuan, up by 8.1 percent. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 28.58 trillion yuan, up by 10.4 percent, and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 4.65 trillion yuan, up by 10.9 percent.
Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of the catering industry was 3.58 trillion yuan, up by 10.8 percent; and the retail sales of goods were 29.65 trillion yuan, up by 10.4 percent. In particular, the retail sales of the enterprises above the designated size reached 14.51 trillion yuan, up by 8.3 percent. The retail sales of communication equipment and housing goods grew fast. The retail sales of communication equipment went up by 11.9 percent; furniture sales up by 12.7 percent; the building and decoration materials up by 14.0 percent. In December, the nominal growth of total retail sales of consumer goods was 10.9 percent year-on-year (a real growth of 9.2 percent after deducting price factors), or 0.89 percent month-on-month. In 2016, online retail sales reached 5.16 trillion yuan, an increase of 26.2 percent compared with last year, among which the retail sales of physical goods was 4.19 trillion yuan, up by 25.6 percent, accounting for 12.6 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, or 1.8 percentage points higher than that in last year.
5. The drop in the value of exports narrowed and the value of imports shifted from negative to positive.
The total value of imports and exports in 2016 was 24.33 trillion yuan, down by 0.9 percent, and 6.1 percentage points less than last year.
The total value of exports was 13.84 trillion yuan, down by 2.0 percent; the total value of imports was 10.49 trillion yuan, up by 0.6 percent. In particular, the value of general trade accounted for 55 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 1.0 percentage point higher than last year. The trade balance was 3.35 trillion yuan in surplus.
By quarters, the total value of exports in the first quarter, second quarter and third quarter dropped by 7.9 percent, 0.8 percent and 0.3 percent respectively compared with the same period of last year, while the fourth quarter went up by 0.3 percent. In December, the total value of imports and exports was 2.59 trillion yuan, up by 4.9 percent year-on-year. Of this total, the value of exports was 1.43 trillion yuan, up by 0.6 percent; and the value of imports was 1.16 trillion yuan, up by 10.8 percent.