Mao Shengyong:
2. Production in both the industrial and service sectors is generally stable, and corporate profits registered relatively fast growth.
In the first three quarters, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 6.4 percent year-on-year, although this was down 0.3 percentage points from the level recorded in the first half of the year. In terms of economic types, the added value of State-owned enterprise increased by 7 percent year-on-year, that of collectively owned enterprises decreased by 1.4 percent, that of joint-stock enterprises rose by 6.6 percent and that of foreign-invested companies and Hong Kong-, Macao- and Taiwan-invested companies grew by 5.7 percent.
In the three major categories, the added value achieved by the mining industry increased by 1.8 percent year-on-year, that of the manufacturing industry increased by 6.7 percent, while that in the sectors of electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply grew by 10.3 percent. In September, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size rose 5.8 percent year-on-year. In the first three quarters, the index of services production increased by 7.8 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage points lower compared to the level achieved in the January-June period, with information transmission, software and information technology services, and leasing and business services growing by 37.5 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively.
In September, the index of services production grew by 7.3 percent year-on-year. During the January-August period, the combined profits of industrial enterprises above designated size stood at 4.42 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.2 percent; the profit margin in regard to the main business income of industrial enterprises above designated size was 6.43 percent, up 0.35 percentage points year-on-year. During the January-August period, the operating revenues and operating profits of service sector enterprises above designated size respectively rose by 12 percent and 15.5 percent year-on-year.
3. Market sales kept increasing, while consumer spending increased at a faster speed.
In the first three quarters, total retail sales of consumer goods reached 27.4299 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.3 percent. This was 0.1 percentage point lower than the figure for the first half of this year. Specifically, retail sales in urban areas reached 23.4717 trillion yuan, up 9.1 percent, while sales in rural areas totaled 3.9582 trillion yuan, up 10.4 percent.
Grouped by consumption patterns, revenue from the catering sector totaled 2.9763 trillion yuan, up 9.8 percent, while revenue from commodities rose 9.2 percent to 24.4536 trillion yuan. Sales of goods for a consumption upgrade grew at a faster rate. Of commodities above the limitation unit, the total retail sales of gasoline and related products rose 14.4 percent, and that of communication products rose 10.7 percent. This represented gains of 5.4 percentage points and 1.4 percentage points respectively from the same period of last year.
In September, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 9.2 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point faster than the previous month. In the first three quarters, residents' per-capita consumption spending was 14,281 yuan, representing nominal growth of 8.5 percent year-on-year, 1.0 percentage point faster than the same period of last year, and an actual growth of 6.3 percent, 0.4 percentage point faster year-on-year after adjusting for inflation. Specifically, urban residents' per-capita consumption spending was nominally up by 6.5 percent, 0.3 percentage point higher year-on-year. For rural residents, there was a nominal gain of 12.0 percent, 3.4 percentage points higher than last year.
