At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on August 17, Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, stated that from January to July, production and supply grew steadily, employment and prices remained generally stable, foreign trade resilience continued to be evident, and new growth drivers expanded. The national economy operated smoothly overall, continuing its trend of shifting towards new momentum and structural optimization.
Despite the complex and volatile external environment and numerous challenges facing domestic economic operations this year, China has steadfastly adhered to the direction of high-quality development, using innovation to forge new momentum and advantages. The economy has demonstrated a development trend of new momentum and structural optimization, a trend that continued effectively into July. Fu Linghui noted that China is in a process of accelerating the transformation between old and new growth drivers, and the accumulation of new momentum is making a significant contribution to economic growth.
Sufficient "New" Momentum
This year, new industries and new drivers have continued to increase their contribution to economic growth, increasingly becoming the key support for the stable operation of China's economy in a complex environment. Meng Xia, an associate professor at the School of Economics and Management of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), stated that based on the released data, new quality productive forces are being rapidly cultivated and strengthened. Digital technology, intelligent technology, and green technology are accelerating their integration into industrial development, with new industries and products represented by electronic information, intelligent equipment, and new energy vehicles maintaining rapid growth.
Data shows that in the first seven months of this year, new momentum contributed 50.9% to the growth of industries above designated size, an increase of 3 percentage points compared to the first half of the year. In July, the equipment manufacturing industry and high-tech manufacturing industry showed improved development momentum, with growth rates accelerating by 1.3 and 2.8 percentage points respectively compared to the previous month.
Wang Guahua, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, stated that the equipment manufacturing industry is a concentrated reflection of a country's industrial strength, while high-tech manufacturing is a sector with relatively high R&D investment and added value. The growth in these two areas indicates that China's manufacturing industry is transitioning towards the mid-to-high end of the industrial and value chains, which is a qualitative improvement more worthy of attention than quantitative growth.
In the service sector, integrated business formats such as culture, tourism, sports, and commerce continue to enrich, and the deep integration of advanced manufacturing and modern services has effectively promoted economic transformation and upgrading. In the first seven months, the two modern service industries of information transmission, software and information technology services, and leasing and business services contributed over 40% to the growth of the service industry production index.
High "Intelligence" Content
Artificial intelligence has become an accelerator for the transformation between old and new growth drivers. Since the beginning of this year, AI has accelerated its empowerment of thousands of industries, both upgrading traditional industries and continuously spawning new industries and business formats, pressing the fast-forward button for the transformation of old and new growth drivers.
On the production side, in July, the added value of AI-related electronic components and equipment manufacturing and intelligent equipment manufacturing industries grew by 24.7% and 15.1% respectively. On the consumption side, from January to July, retail sales of wearable smart devices above designated size increased by more than double. On the investment side, from January to July, investment in information services and electronics and communication equipment manufacturing grew by 19.2% and 7.1% respectively. Fu Linghui stated that with the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, new forms of the intelligent economy continue to emerge, and the supporting role of new momentum growth for economic development will continue to strengthen.
Strong "Green" Content
Green new momentum is being rapidly cultivated. Wang Guahua stated that China is cultivating new industries and expanding new markets in the green transformation, continuously converting ecological advantages into development advantages. On the production side, a batch of new industries and products that fit the green and low-carbon trend are growing rapidly.
In July, the added value of the bio-based materials manufacturing industry grew by 20.6% year-on-year. The increased demand for new energy vehicles and new energy storage drove the production of lithium-ion batteries to grow by 58.8%, and the production of hydroelectric generator sets and water quality pollution prevention equipment grew by 79.4% and 18.6% respectively, effectively ensuring the needs of domestic green transformation and ecological environment governance. Data shows that in the first seven months, China supported higher-quality industrial growth with lower energy consumption, with energy consumption per unit of added value for industries above designated size falling by 3.5% year-on-year.
On the demand side, green consumption and green trade are becoming increasingly popular. The retail penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles has exceeded 60% for four consecutive months, reaching 65.1% in July, meaning that approximately two out of every three passenger cars sold are new energy vehicles. Wang Guahua noted that new energy vehicles, energy-saving home appliances, and smart homes are increasingly favored by consumers.
Currently, many positive and profound changes are occurring in China's economic operations, with the development model accelerating its shift from traditional factor-driven to innovation-driven. However, industrial transformation and upgrading, as well as the transformation of old and new growth drivers, are not processes that proceed uniformly. Jiang Tao, a professor at the Department of Economics and Economic Management Teaching and Research at the Party School of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the CPC, stated that China's institutional advantages, advantages of a super-large market, advantages of a complete industrial system, and advantages of a strong talent pool determine that the fundamentals of the economy's positive long-term outlook have not changed. As long as we continue to deepen reforms, promote technological innovation, prevent and defuse risks, and promote the smooth transition between old and new growth drivers, we will be able to continuously unleash the potential of the super-large market and industrial innovation.