A worker lifts a crankshaft product at Tianrun Industrial Technology Co Ltd in Wendeng district of Weihai city, east China's Shandong province, July 21, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 3.7 percent year-on-year in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Tuesday.

From January to July, value-added industrial output rose 3.8 percent year-on-year, according to the NBS.

China's industrial production recorded a steady recovery in the first seven months of the year, with the raw material sector posting a relatively fast expansion, Fu Linghui, a spokesperson with the NBS, told a press conference.

Among the three major sectors, the mining sector and the manufacturing sector expanded by 1.3 percent and 3.9 percent in July, respectively, while the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water rose 4.1 percent.

Output of the raw material sector climbed 8.8 percent from a year ago in July, 2 percentage points higher than the growth rate a month earlier.

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of state-controlled companies, joint-equity firms, and private enterprises went up 3.4 percent, 5 percent and 2.5 percent year-on-year in July, respectively.

In terms of products, the output of solar cells surged by 65.1 percent, while that of new-energy automobile products rose 24.9 percent.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of enterprises with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about $2.79 million) each.

Tuesday's data also showed that China's service production index went up 5.7 percent year-on-year in July

Retail sales up 2.5%

China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, maintained stable growth in July, official data showed Tuesday.

The retail sales of consumer goods went up 2.5 percent year-on-year last month to nearly 3.68 trillion yuan (about $512.22 billion). In the January-July period, the figure increased 7.3 percent.

The consumer market continued to recover and service consumption grew rapidly, the NBS said in a statement.  

"Domestic demand kept growing," NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference Tuesday. "The service consumption, such as summer vacation tourism, picked up markedly, offering significant support for expanding consumption."

In July, the catering sector reported a revenue increase of 15.8 percent from a year earlier. In the first seven months, online retail sales gained 12.5 percent and service sales surged 20.3 percent.  

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A worker assembles vehicles in a factory in Weifang, Shandong province, Jan 28, 2023. (Photo / CFP)

Service production expands 5.7%

Tuesday's data also showed that China's service production index went up 5.7 percent year-on-year in July.

Contact-based service sector witnessed a quick recovery, with the sub-index for accommodation and catering surging by 20 percent year-on-year.

The sub-index tracking the output of the information transmission, software and IT services climbed 11.2 percent, while that for financial services expanded 7.6 percent, according to the NBS.

The index measuring business activity in the service sector stood at 51.5 percent in July, above the boom-bust line of 50.

The index increased by 8.3 percent year-on-year in the first seven months, and the combined revenues of major service enterprises rose 7.5 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year.

From January to July, retail sales in the service sector surged by 20.3 percent, with consumption for summer vacation tourism, as well as culture, sports and entertainment picked up markedly, offering significant support for consumption expansion, said Fu.

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Fixed-asset investment up 3.4%

China's fixed-asset investment went up 3.4 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2023, the NBS said.

The total investment stood at 28.59 trillion yuan (about $3.98 trillion) in the period.

Investment in infrastructure construction increased 6.8 percent from the same period last year, and manufacturing investment rose 5.7 percent. Capital flowing into property development fell 8.5 percent, and investment from the private sector inched down 0.5 percent.

High-tech industries saw strong growth, with investment up 11.5 percent year-on-year. Specifically, investment into high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services sectors expanded 11.5 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively.