On March 18, at the press conference on the operation of the national economy in January-February 2024 held by The State Council Information Office, Liu Aihua, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, chief economist and Director of the Comprehensive Statistics Department of the National Economy, said that in January-February this year, with the continuous effect of various policies, industrial production growth accelerated. The added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 7.0% year on year, 0.2 percentage points higher than that in December last year. Specifically, the industrial operation presents the following characteristics.

S406AM-CA  First, the growth of industries and products has expanded, and the physical quantity index has grown rapidly. From January to February, among 41 industrial categories, 39 industries achieved year-on-year growth in added value, with an increase of 95.1%. It was 19.5 percentage points higher than that in December last year. Of the 619 major industrial products included in the statistics, the output of 418 products increased, with an increase of 67.5%, an increase of 5.7 percentage points. In terms of physical volume indicators, industrial power generation above designated scale increased by 8.3% year-on-year, and freight volume increased by 7.5%, both maintaining rapid growth.

Second, the growth of high-tech manufacturing has accelerated. From January to February, the added value of high-tech manufacturing industries above designated size increased by 7.5% year-on-year, 1.1 percentage points higher than that in December of last year, accelerating growth for three consecutive months. Among them, the added value of the electronic and communication equipment manufacturing industry, aerospace and spacecraft and equipment manufacturing industry increased by 12.6% and 14.1% respectively, all of which were double-digit growth.

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Third, the recovery of consumer goods manufacturing is relatively large. From January to February, the added value of the large-scale consumer goods manufacturing industry increased by 4.7% year-on-year, 4.4 percentage points faster than that in December last year. Of the 13 consumer goods industries, 12 industries picked up their growth rate. Among them, the furniture manufacturing industry increased by 11.1%, the culture and education industry and beauty increased by 10.0%, and the food industry increased by 7.3%, which was higher than the average growth rate of the industry.

S406AM-CA  Fourth, industrial exports increased from a decline. From January to February, the value of industrial exports above designated size fell by 3.2% in December last year to increase by 0.4%, ending the previous eight consecutive months of decline. Among the top 10 export industries, eight industries’ export growth accelerated or the decline narrowed from December last year.

Liu Aihua said that at the same time, it is also necessary to see that the current operating pressure of some industrial enterprises is still large, and they are still facing problems such as insufficient orders and rising costs. However, it is more important to see that while China’s manufacturing industry continues to consolidate traditional advantages such as the integrity of the industrial system and the huge market size, its innovation capacity is also constantly improving, and a number of advantageous industries have been formed in some key areas and key tracks, and the competitiveness is being reshaped in the transformation and upgrading. This year’s National Two sessions will vigorously promote the construction of a modern industrial system, accelerate the development of new quality productivity ranked first in the government work in 2024, introduced a series of policy measures including large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods to replace the old, and further optimize the business environment, which is expected to form a strong promotion of the follow-up industrial economic development. To provide a strong driving force and support for the high-quality development of industry, industrial production is expected to continue to maintain a stable operation, continue to play the role of economic ballast.