China Media Group:

Since the beginning of this year, the industrial economy has rebounded at a faster pace and the PMI has stayed in expansionary territory for three consecutive months. How would you evaluate the performance of the industrial economy at present? Moreover, what measures will be taken to promote the steady growth of the industrial economy? Thank you.

Zhao Zhiguo:

Thank you for your questions. In the first quarter, China's value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 3% year on year, up a 0.3 percentage point from the fourth quarter of 2022. Overall, it has stabilized and rallied. In terms of industries, the outputs of the general equipment, automobile, and chemical fiber industries have increased year on year after declining year on year in the previous two months. Meanwhile, the outputs of the non-ferrous metals, building materials, electrical machinery, and special equipment industries grew more rapidly over the last two months. In terms of regions, the production in the eastern and northeastern regions has continued to recover. Among the top 10 provinces regarding value added, six provinces posted higher growth than the national level in the first quarter. Guangdong and Zhejiang have demonstrated sound recovery momentum, with positive growth in the first quarter. In terms of key products, the production of crude steel, generator sets, and refrigerators increased by 6.1%, 7.5%, and 8.4% year on year, respectively. Moreover, plastic products, bags and suitcases, general-purpose machinery, and automobiles still have advantages in exporting, with a double-digit increase year on year.

Next, we will focus on the following work.

First, we will foster a sound development environment for industries. We will fully implement policies and measures to keep growth stable, formulate and implement work plans to ensure steady growth in key sectors and continue to provide stronger policy support. We will coordinate between the MIIT and governments at provincial levels and foster collaboration among departments solidly and meticulously. We will support major industrial provinces to serve as the strong pillar of the industrial economy. We will give full play to the principal role of enterprises and provide strong support for developing leading enterprises and specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products to foster synergy in maintaining the steady growth of the industrial economy.

Second, we will work to steadily increase both the volume and quality of exports. The momentum in the export of advantageous products will be consolidated. We will offer more support to foreign trade firms in the manufacturing sector and provide good services for key foreign-invested enterprises and projects in the manufacturing sector. We will cooperate with relevant departments to implement policies and measures to ensure steady growth in foreign trade and make efforts to stabilize the export of industrial products.

Third, we will promote the recovery of domestic demand at a faster pace. We will act to increase the variety, raise the quality, and build brands of consumer goods and raw materials. Campaigns will be launched to promote new energy vehicles, smart appliances, and green building materials in rural areas. We will foster the local specialty food industry. With all these efforts, we will promote consumption through high-quality supply. We will make extensive efforts to advance major projects in the industry and information sector set out in the 14th Five-Year Plan. The plan to guide technology transformation and upgrading of industrial enterprises will be implemented. We will guide financial institutions to increase the supply of medium- and long-term loans to the manufacturing industry and actively expand effective investment.

Fourth, we will continue to create a strong impetus for growth. We will accelerate the innovative development of strategic emerging industries such as 5G, artificial intelligence, biological manufacturing, and intelligent connected vehicles and make a big push to develop advanced manufacturing to create new engines of growth. We will promote the development of the digital economy to foster new growth drivers for the economy. We will fully and meticulously implement measures to support stable growth, structural adjustments and capacity enhancement in SMEs. We will continue to improve services for enterprises, boost their confidence, and nurture a batch of SMEs into specialized and sophisticated enterprises that produce new and unique products.

We believe that advancing key projects under the 14th Five-Year Plan, implementing the strategic plan for boosting domestic demand, and introducing policies and initiatives to keep foreign trade stable will provide strong support for the sustained recovery of the industrial economy. With the effective release of the vitality of market entities, the potential of consumer consumption, and the impetus for industrial upgrading, China's industrial economy in the second quarter will further improve and lay a sound foundation for fulfilling our tasks and goals for the year. Thank you.