China's industrial economy grows steadily in H1 of 2017

China's State Council Information Office briefed on July 25 that Chinese industries have seen stable growth since the beginning of this year, while the information and communication technology sector has continued to develop rapidly.

Major indicators performed better than expected, with a growth rate of 0.9 percentage points faster than the same period last year to mark the best year-on-year performance in the past three years. The utilization of industrial capacity grew faster than during the same period of 2015, as well as the margin of main business income.

China's industrial restructuring efforts paid off, as initial efforts behind the "China Manufacturing 2025" initiative moved forward. Electronics and heavy equipment manufacturing have been leading the growth with new progress.

Profit in the sectors increased by 4.9 percent and 12.7 percent respectively in the first five months. Achievements include the C919 large passenger aircraft and the country's first domestically-made aircraft carrier.

Entrepreneurship and innovation has put an end to the contraction of small- and medium-size enterprises for the past 32 consecutive months. As for the information communications technology and software sector, the initiative to increase Internet access speed while lowering tariff standards has completed its yearly target ahead of schedule.

In the second half of 2017, the government will seek to consolidate the momentum of stable growth for the industries. It will also advance the supply-side structural reform, promoting the shift from old growth drivers to new ones.

The ministry will also make vigorous efforts to revitalize the manufacturing industry, while continuing to enhance the role of the information communication technology sector in supporting economic and social development.

Zhang Feng, the ministry's chief engineer, answered questions related to VPN usage. The ministry will ban illegal cross-border telecommunications businesses, but qualified suppliers can continue to provide users with high-quality, stable, and safe VPN services, he said.