Press briefing on H1 economic data

6. The growth of consumer price remained stable.

In the first six months of the year, consumer prices increased by 2.3 percent year-on-year, maintaining the same level as the first quarter. Specifically, prices increased by 2.3 percent in urban areas and 2.0 percent in rural areas. Grouped by commodity categories, food prices rose by 3.4 percent; tobacco, liquor and articles decreased by 0.6 percent; clothing increased by 2.3 percent; household facilities, articles and maintenance services increased by 1.3 percent; health care and personal articles grew by 1.2 percent; transportation and communication increased by 0.1 percent; recreation, education, culture articles and services grew by 2.3 percent and housing went up by 2.5 percent. In terms of food prices, grain grew by 2.9 percent, oil or fat down by 5.3 percent, pork down by 5.1 percent, fresh vegetables up by 1.0 percent. In June, the consumer prices went up by 2.3 percent year-on-year, or 0.1 percent down month-on-month. In the first half of the year, producer prices for industrial products fell by 1.8 percent year on year, while prices in June dropped by 1.1 percent year-on-year and 0.2 percent month-on-month. The purchasing price for industrial producers was down by 2.0 percent year-on-year. In June, prices were down by 1.5 percent year-on-year and 0.1 percent month-on-month.

7. Incomes continued to increase

In the first half of the year, the per capita cash income of rural residents was 5,396 yuan, up by 12.0 percent nominally, or 9.8 percent in real terms. The per capita disposable income of urban households was 14,959 yuan, a nominal growth of 9.6 percent, or a real growth of 7.1 percent after deducting price factors. Based on the integrated household survey, in the first half of 2014, the national per capita disposable income was 10,025 yuan, a nominal growth of 10.8 percent or a real increase of 8.3 percent. The median of the national disposal income was 8,780 yuan, a nominal increase of 13.7 percent. By the end of June, the number of rural migrant workers was 174.18 million, which was 3.07 million more than the same period last year, or up by 1.8 percent. The monthly income of migrant workers was 2,733 yuan, up by 10.3 percent.

8. Stable progress achieved in structural adjustment

Optimization of the industrial structure continued. In the first half of the year, the value of the tertiary industry accounted for 46.6 percent of GDP, 1.3 percentage points higher than the same period last year, and 0.6 percentage points higher than that of the secondary industry. The structure of domestic demand was further improved. In the first half of the year, the final consumption expenditure accounted for 52.4 percent of GDP, 0.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year. The income gap between urban and rural households was further narrowed. In the first half of the year, the real growth of the per capita cash income of rural households was 2.7 percentage points faster than the per capita disposable income of urban households. The per capita income of urban households was 2.77 times of the rural households, 0.06 less than that of the same period last year. Energy conservation and consumption reduction continued to make progress. In the first half of the year, energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP decreased by 4.2 percent.

9. Money supply continued to grow steadily

By the end of June, the balance of broad money (M2) was 120.96 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 14.7 percent; the balance of narrow money (M1) was 34.15 trillion yuan, up by 8.9 percent; and the balance of cash in circulation (M0) was 5.70 trillion yuan, a rise of 5.3 percent. At the end of June, the amount in outstanding loans was 77.63 trillion yuan, while the amount of outstanding deposits was 113.61 trillion yuan. In the first half of the year, the newly increased loans reached 5.74 trillion yuan, an increase of 659.0 billion yuan; the newly increased deposits were 9.23 trillion yuan, or 135.4 billion yuan more than last year. The social financing reached 10.57 trillion yuan, an increase of 414.6 billion yuan.

Generally speaking, China's economy showed a good momentum of stable and moderate growth in the first half of the year. However, we should keep in mind that the domestic and international economic environment is still complicated and the national economy still faces many challenges. In the next stage, we should raise our spirits, focus on implementation and abide by the decisions of the Central Party Committee and the State Council. We should make unwavering efforts to deepen reform, promote innovation, adjust economic structure and transform development patterns. We should also strive to consolidate the momentum of steadily progressing economic development and endeavor to promote a sustainable and sound development of the national economy.