In this June 15, 2022 photo, a worker checks the carbon fiber production line in a factory in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province of China. (PHOTO / VCG)

BEIJING - China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 3.5 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of this year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday.

In July alone, industrial output growth registered 3.8 percent year-on-year and it was 0.38 percent higher than the previous month, according to the NBS.

In July alone, industrial output growth registered 3.8 percent year-on-year and it was 0.38 percent higher than the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics

In a breakdown by ownership, the value-added output of state-controlled enterprises led the gains with a year-on-year growth of 5.4 percent in July, followed by share-holding enterprises.

Among the three major sectors, the production and supply of utilities showed the fastest growth of 9.5 percent year-on-year during the period, outpacing that of the mining and the manufacturing sector.

The high-tech manufacturing sector stood out with a year-on-year growth of 5.9 percent, 2.1 percentage points higher than the overall industrial output growth, according to the NBS.

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In terms of products, the production of new-energy automobiles and solar cells surged by 112.7 percent and 33.9 percent year-on-year, respectively.

China will expand infrastructure investment to drive the growth of the investment in relevant manufacturing industries and fully implement tax and fee reduction policies to reduce the cost for enterprises in the next phase, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said.

The industrial output measures the activity of designated large enterprises with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about US$2.96 million).

Retail sales up 2.7%

Retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, went up 2.7 percent year-on-year in July, according to the NBS. The growth slowed from a 3.1-percent increase registered in June.

Fu attributed the slower growth to sporadic COVID-19 resurgences and moderate auto sales.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods totaled around 3.59 trillion yuan (about US$532.6 billion in July, according to the NBS.

In the first seven months, China's total retail sales of consumer goods stood at 24.63 trillion yuan, down 0.2 percent year-on-year.

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"Although the growth of retail sales tempered in July, the recovery trend of consumption remains unchanged," Fu said.

Last month, sales of daily necessities sustained steady growth. Sales of beverage jumped 3 percent year-on-year in July, and sales of grain, edible oil and other food products rose 6.2 percent, NBS data showed.

Online consumption continued to shore up retail sales. In the first seven months, online sales of physical goods climbed 5.7 percent year-on-year, up 0.1 percentage point from that in the January-June period.

Sales of major supermarkets grew 4.1 percent year-on-year in the first seven months, while that of convenience stores rose 4.6 percent from a year ago, data showed.

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With policies to boost demand taking effect, the decline in catering revenue has narrowed. The sector saw its revenues fall 1.5 percent year-on-year in July, narrowing by 2.5 percentage points from the previous month.

With pro-consumption policies, supportive measures for enterprises and an improving consumption environment in place, China's consumption will sustain recovery momentum and become a stronger engine of economic growth despite all challenges, Fu noted. 

Fixed-asset investment up 5.7%

China's fixed-asset investment went up 5.7 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of this year, the NBS said.

Fixed-asset investment from January to July totaled 31.98 trillion yuan (about US$4.74 trillion), the NBS said in a statement.

The growth slowed from a 6.1-percent increase posted in the first half of this year. In July, fixed-asset investment picked up 0.16 percent from June.

From January to July, fixed-asset investment from the private sector increased 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 17.8 trillion yuan.

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Investment in infrastructure and manufacturing gained 7.4 percent and 9.9 percent year-on-year during the period, respectively.

Fu said that stepped-up pro-investment measures and local authorities actively pushing forward the construction of major projects including the new infrastructure, transport and water conservancy projects, are all conducive to expanding the investment in infrastructure.

Investment in property development went down 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first seven months. Investment into the high-tech industries saw stellar growth, with the manufacturing and services sectors jumping by 22.9 percent and 14.3 percent year on year, respectively, NBS data showed.

Home prices stable

China's home prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities displayed a generally stable trend in July, according to NBS data.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- edged up 0.3 percent month-on-month in July.

New home prices in 31 second-tier cities stayed flat month on month, while 35 third-tier cities saw a month-on-month decline of 0.3 percent, the same level as that in June.

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Last month, 40 out of the 70 cities saw a month-on-month drop in new home sales prices, the data showed.

Prices of resale homes in the four first-tier cities increased 0.2 percent in July, widening 0.1 percentage points from that in June.

Second-tier and third-tier cities saw their prices of resale homes inch down 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent on a monthly basis, respectively. 

Urban unemployment drops

The NBS data also showed that China's surveyed urban unemployment rate continued to drop in July, down from 5.5 percent in June to stand at 5.4 percent last month.

In the first seven months of the year, 7.83 million new urban jobs were created. The surveyed unemployment rate among those aged between 25 and 59, which constitute the majority of the labor market, dropped to 4.3 percent in July, according to the data.

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The surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities came in at 5.6 percent in July, down 0.2 percentage point from June.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate is calculated based on the number of unemployed people who have participated in the employment survey in urban areas, including migrant workers in cities.

Property investment down

Meanwhile, investment in property development went down 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2022, the NBS said. The total property investment in the period stood at 7.95 trillion yuan (about US$1.18 trillion).

Investment in residential buildings came in at 6.02 trillion yuan, down 5.8 percent year-on-year. 

Although investments declined, the downward trend of the property sector has slowed down thanks to the government's stabilizing policies, the NBS' Fu said, adding that the overall risk in the country's property development projects is controllable.

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With the continued improvement of the country's long-term housing mechanism and differentiated regulatory policies, the property market will gradually stabilize to maintain steady and sound development, Fu said.

Monday's data also showed that commercial housing sales in terms of floor area totaled 781.78 million square meters in the January-July period, down 23.1 percent year on year. In value, the sales fell 28.8 percent to 7.58 trillion yuan.

The property development climate index compiled by the NBS came in at 95.26 points in July.