Date:
Oct. 19, 2018
Hu Kaihong:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference. Today, we have invited Mr. Mao Shengyong, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, to introduce China's economic performance of the first three quarters of 2018. He will also answer some of your questions.
Now, Mr. Mao will give you a brief introduction.
Mao Shengyong:
The Chinese economy has, on the whole, maintained stable in the first three quarters with deepened transformation and upgraded development.
During the first three quarters, the country was confronted with a rather complex international situation as well as formidable tasks of domestic reform and development. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, firmly adopted a new development philosophy, actively worked in line with the standards and requirements for high quality growth through deepened supply-side structural reform, and strived for coordination in maintaining stable growth, advancing reform, promoting structural adjustment, improving people's well-being, and guarding against risks. As a result, the national economy has maintained generally stable while achieving steady progress. The economic structure has continued to be upgraded; old growth drivers have been constantly replaced by new ones; the development quality and performance has steadily improved, and high quality growth has been achieved.
According to preliminary statistics, GDP in the first three quarters was 65.09 trillion yuan (US$9.38 trillion), up 6.7 percent year on year in comparable prices. On a quarterly basis, the year-on-year increase was 6.8 percent, 6.7 percent and 6.5 percent respectively. In regard to the different industrial sectors, the added value of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries reached 4.22 trillion yuan, 26.30 trillion yuan and 34.58 trillion yuan respectively, up 3.4 percent, 5.8 percent and 7.7 percent year on year.
1. The agricultural sector posted stable performance with an improved planting structure.
The total output of summer grain was 138.72 million metric tons, a drop of 3.06 million metric tons, or a year-on-year decrease of 2.2 percent. The total output of early rice was 28.59 million metric tons, down 1.28 million metric tons, or 4.3 percent year on year. We expect a bumper yield in Autumn grain. With an upgraded structure, planting areas for quality rice, soybeans, cotton and sugar increased, while the corn planting area decreased. In the first three quarters, the total output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry reached 60.07 million metric tons, up 0.2 percent year on year, among which the figure for pork was 38.43 million metric tons, up 0.3 percent. There were 428.87 million live pigs, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3 percent, while 495.79 million pigs were slaughtered, a year-on-year increase of 0.1 percent.
