The machine and equipment manufacturing industry markedly rebounded in May of this year. The decline in the index of service production has slowed, and modern service industries have supported growth. Sales in the market increased in the month, and sales of basic consumer goods and online retail sales continued to grow.
Investment in high-tech industries grew fast, growth of imports and exports of goods accelerated and trade structure continued to improve in the month, according to official statistics. Consumer price remained stable and growth of producer prices for industrial products continued to slow down.
In May, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above a designated size grew by 0.7 per cent year on year (YoY), while that in April it was down by 2.9 per cent. The month-on-month (MoM) growth was 5.61 per cent.
In May, the index of services production was down by 5.1 per cent YoY, 1 percentage point slower than the previous month.
The total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,354.7 billion yuan in May, down by 6.7 per cent YoY, 4.4 percentage points slower than that in the previous month, or an MoM increase of 0.05 per cent.
In the first five months this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods were worth 17,168.9 billion yuan, down by 1.5 per cent YoY. Online retail sales totalled 4,960.4 billion yuan, up by 2.9 per cent. The online retail sales of physical goods were worth 4,271.8 billion yuan, up by 5.6 per cent, accounting for 24.9 per cent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.
In May, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 3,450.0 billion yuan, up by 9.6 per cent YoY—9.5 percentage points faster than that in the previous month. Specifically, the value of exports was 1,976.5 billion yuan, up by 15.3 per cent—13.4 percentage points faster than that in the previous month.
The value of imports was 1,473.6 billion yuan in May, up by 2.8 per cent YoY. The trade balance was 502.9 billion yuan in surplus.
In the first five months this year, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 16,037.4 billion yuan, up by 8.3 per cent YoY. Specifically, the value of exports was 8,943.7 billion yuan, up by 11.4 per cent; the value of imports was 7,093.7 billion yuan, up by 4.7 per cent.
In the first five months, the imports and exports of general trade accounted for 64 per cent of the total value of imports and exports.
