A worker checks the operation of a carbon fiber production line at a factory in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. (GENG YUHE / CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING - China's industrial production expanded in the first two months of the year, with the high-tech manufacturing sector posting stellar performance, official data showed Tuesday.

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 7.5 percent year-on-year in the period, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Despite unfavorable factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and a complex international environment, China's production demand registered relatively rapid growth, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said.

The output of the high-tech manufacturing sector jumped 14.4 percent year-on-year from January to February.

Specifically, the output of new energy vehicles logged a marked increase of 150.5 percent, while that of industrial robots and solar batteries jumped 29.6 percent and 26.4 percent year-on-year, respectively.

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of state-owned enterprises rose 5.9 percent from a year earlier, and the private sector's output increased 8.7 percent.

Retail sales in urban areas reached 6.46 trillion yuan during the two-month period, up 6.7 percent year-on-year, while those in rural areas increased 7.1 percent year-on-year

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The purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.2 in February, up from 50.1 in January.

Retail sales up 6.7 percent

China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption growth, rose 6.7 percent year-on-year to 7.44 trillion yuan during the first two months of 2022, the NBS said.

The growth rate was 5 percentage points higher than that in December last year, the bureau said.

Retail sales in urban areas reached 6.46 trillion yuan during the two-month period, up 6.7 percent year-on-year, while those in rural areas increased 7.1 percent year-on-year.

Retail sales of goods rose 6.5 percent from a year ago to 6.67 trillion yuan, while catering revenue hit 771.8 billion yuan, an increase of 8.9 percent year-on-year.

In the first two months, China's online retail sales continued to show robust expansion and reached 1.96 trillion yuan, up 10.2 percent year-on-year, the data showed.

Passengers check in at Jinan Railway Station in Jinan, east China's Shandong province, Feb 1, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Service sector rebound

The country's service sector continued its rebound trend in the first two months of 2022, with modern services posting marked growths, according to Tuesday's data.

The index gauging the country's service industry output rose 4.2 percent year-on-year in the Jan-Feb period, 1.2 percentage points quicker than that in December 2021, according to data released by the NBS.

The sub-index tracking the output of the information transmission, software and IT services climbed 16.3 percent year-on-year, while that for accommodation and catering expanded 8.2 percent.

NBS data showed that the country's railway and air transportation, postal services, culture and entertainment activities have rebounded to a rather active level.

In the first two months, investment in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries increased 8.8 percent, 19.6 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively, from a year earlier

The service sector is expected to keep up the recovery momentum, according to the NBS.

Fixed-asset investment up 12.2 percent

China's fixed-asset investment went up 12.2 percent year-on-year in the first two months of the year, the NBS said

During the period, the fixed-asset investment stood at around 5.076 trillion yuan, the bureau said.

Compared with the same period in 2021, the growth rate was up 7.3 percentage points, according to NBS data.

On a month-on-month basis, the fixed-asset investment gained 0.66 percent in February.

Investment by the private sectors rose 11.4 percent year-on-year during the period, the NBS data showed.

In the first two months, investment in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries increased 8.8 percent, 19.6 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

Investment in infrastructure and manufacturing gained 8.1 percent and 20.9 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Investment in high-tech manufacturing and services jumped 42.7 percent and 16 percent year-on-year, respectively, according to the NBS data.

FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.

Residential buildings in Tongshan, Hubei, China, July 27, 2021. (XINHUA)

Property investment up 3.7 percent

China's investment in property development rose 3.7 percent year-on-year in the first two months of this year, data from the NBS showed.

Investment in residential buildings went up 3.7 percent from a year earlier to near 1.08 trillion yuan in the Jan-Feb period

During this period, property investment stood at around 1.45 trillion yuan, NBS data showed.

Investment in residential buildings went up 3.7 percent from a year earlier to near 1.08 trillion yuan in the Jan-Feb period.

During the same period, commercial housing sales dropped 9.6 percent year-on-year in terms of floor area to 157.03 million square meters.

In terms of value, commercial housing sales went down 19.3 percent to around 1.55 trillion yuan.

In this year's government work report, China reiterated the principle of "housing is for living in, not for speculation," vowing to keep land prices, housing prices and market expectations stable and adopt city-specific measures to facilitate positive circulation and sound development in the real estate sector.

The country will move faster to develop the long-term rental market, promote the construction of government-subsidized housing, and support the commodity housing market in better meeting the reasonable needs of homebuyers, according to the report.

SOEs see steady revenue, profit growth

China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises reported steady revenue and profit growth in the first two months of 2022, according to the country's top state asset regulator.

The combined revenues of 97 central SOEs reached 5.7 trillion yuan from January to February, up 17.6 percent year on year, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council said in a statement on Tuesday.

During the period, the total profits of these companies hit 367.87 billion yuan, expanding 20.6 percent year on year, with net profits growing 20.4 percent to 282.17 billion yuan.

The regulator urged efforts to maintain the accelerated growth of central SOE profits compared to those of the broader economy, to ensure their asset-liability ratio remains under control and to increase their profit margins, productivity, and research and development investment.

Overseas returnees communicate with employers at a job fair during the 19th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province, April 24, 2021. (MAO SIQIAN / XINHUA)

Urban unemployment rate at 5.5%

A total of 1.63 million new jobs were created in the urban regions for the first two months of this year

China's employment remained stable, with the surveyed urban unemployment rate standing at 5.5 percent in February, unchanged from the same period last year, the official statistics showed.

The figure edged up 0.2 percentage points from January, the NBS said.

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A total of 1.63 million new jobs were created in the urban regions for the first two months of this year.