Li Xiaochao

Spokesman

National Bureau of Statistics of China

15 April 2010

In the first quarter of 2010, all regions and departments effectively implemented the policies and measures set by the Central Party Committee and the State Council and firmly carried out the packages of policies on dealing with the international financial crisis, the momentum of national economic recovery has further expanded, which has laid a good foundation for reaching the targets set for the whole year.

According to the preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in the first quarter of this year was 8,057.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.9 percent, which was 5.7 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year. The value added of the primary industry was 513.9 billion yuan, up by 3.8 percent; that of the secondary industry was 3,907.2 billion yuan, up by 14.5 percent; and that of the tertiary industry was 3,636.6 billion yuan, up by 10.2 percent.

1. The agricultural production was good with increased acreage of grain crops. The expected planting area for grain would reach 109.46 million hectares, an increase of 470 thousand hectares over that in the previous year. The proportion of first and second grade seedlings of winter wheat accounted for 82.9 percent of the total, which was 3.9 percentage points higher than last winter’s estimation. In the first quarter of this year, the total output of pork, beef and mutton reached 21.04 million tons, a year-on-year growth of 4.7 percent, and the output of meat was 14.27 million tons, up by 5.2 percent in particular.

2. Industrial production picked up with a substantial increase in economic efficiency of enterprises. In the first quarter of this year, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 19.6 percent year-on-year, or 14.5 percentage points higher than that in the first quarter of 2009. An analysis on different types of enterprises showed that the value added growth of the state-owned and state holding enterprises went up by 19.9 percent; collective enterprises by 13.0 percent; share-holding enterprises by 20.8 percent; and 18.8 percent growth for enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan provinces. The year-on-year growth of heavy industry was 22.1 percent, and 14.1 percent for the light industry. All the 39 industrial divisions registered year-on-year growth. In terms of different areas, the growth in eastern, central and western regions was 18.3 percent, 23.1 percent and 20.2 percent respectively. The production and sales of industrial products went on well. In the first quarter of this year, the sales ratio of industrial products was 97.5 percent, or 0.5 percentage point higher than that in the previous year.

In the first two months of this year, the profits made by industrial enterprises above designated size stood at 486.7 billion yuan, up by 119.7 percent year-on-year. Among the 39 industrial divisions, 35 divisions registered year-on-year increase in profits, 2 divisions reversed from loss-making to profits, and the rest 1 division witnessed reduction of losses.

3. Investment in fixed assets increased rapidly and that in real estate continued to accelerate. In the first quarter of this year, the investment in fixed assets of the country was 3,532.0 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 25.6 percent, or a drop of 3.2 percentage points as compared with the growth in the same period last year. Of this total, the investment in urban areas reached 2,979.3 billion yuan, up by 26.4 percent, or a drop of 2.2 percentage points; that in rural areas was 552.8 billion yuan, up by 21.0 percent, or a drop of 8.4 percentage points. Of the total investment in fixed assets in urban areas, that in the primary industry, the secondary industry and the tertiary industry went up by 9.7 percent, 22.4 percent and 30.0 percent respectively. The investment in eastern, central and western regions grew by 24.4 percent, 26.2 percent and 30.0 percent respectively. In the first quarter of this year, the investment in real estate development was 659.4 billion yuan, up by 35.1 percent year-on-year, or a rise of 31 percentage points.

4. Sales on domestic markets enjoyed steady and fast growth and the new areas for consumption increased rapidly. In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,637.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 17.9 percent, which was 2.9 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year. The retail sales in cities reached 3,057.1 billion yuan, up by 18.4 percent, and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 580.3 billion yuan, up by 15.4 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of catering industry was 407.7 billion yuan, up by 16.7 percent; that of retail sales of commodities, 3,229.7 billion yuan, up by 18.1 percent. In particular, the retail sales by businesses above designated size reached 1,287.7 billion yuan, up by 29.6 percent. Rapid growth was registered in emerging areas for consumption: the sales of motor vehicles rose by 39.8 percent; that of furniture went up by 37.6 percent, and that of household appliances and audio-video equipment grew by 29.6 percent.

5. The year-on-year consumer prices went up while producer prices for manufactured goods increased rapidly. In the first quarter of this year, the consumer prices went up by 2.2 percent. The price rose by 2.1 percent in cities and that in rural areas by 2.4 percent. Grouped by commodity categories, four out of the eight witnessed growth and the rest four saw drops in prices. The prices for food rose by 5.1 percent; prices for tobacco, liquor and articles up by 1.6 percent; health care and personal articles up by 2.4 percent; housing, up by 2.9 percent; prices for clothing down by 0.9 percent; household facilities, articles and maintenance services down by 0.9 percent; transportation and communication down by 0.1 percent; and recreation, education, culture articles and services down by 0.1 percent. In terms of month-on-month change, in March this year, the consumer prices dropped by 0.7 percent. In the first quarter of this year, the producer prices for manufactured goods went up by 5.2 percent year-on-year. In March, it was up 0.5 percent month-on-month. In the first quarter, the year-on-year growth of purchasing prices for raw materials, fuels and power was 9.9 percent.