China's economic recovery was "better than expected" in the
January-February period this year, as retail sales, industrial output
and investment all unexpectedly picked up pace, official data showed on
Tuesday.
The
country's industrial output went up by 7.5 percent in the period as
compared with the figure from a year ago, according to data from the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The figure is also up from a gain
of 4.3 percent in December last year, beating Reuters' forecast of a
3.9-percent surge.
NBS
spokesperson Fu Linghui attributed the growth in industrial production
to four factors: improvement of energy supply, supportive policies for
key sectors at local level, strong exports and consumption driven by
holidays and major events – the Spring Festival and the Beijing Olympic
and Paralympic Winter Games.
However, Fu cautioned about costs pressures facing producers as prices
of global commodities are highly volatile due to geopolitical conflicts.
The
price increase in upstream industries will have adverse effects on the
operation of downstream industries and small and micro enterprises, he
said, adding that the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in some places will
also affect industrial growth.
Fu
said measures will be carried out to increase supply and stabilize
prices to help enterprises control production costs.
Retail sales grew by 6.7 percent year on year in the first two months of
this year, up from an increase of 1.7 percent in December 2021 as well
as the prediction of a 3-percent rise by Reuters.
The
sales improved significantly due to the consumption growth during the
Spring Festival and the Beijing 2022 Games, Fu said.
Fixed-asset investment rose by 12.2 percent on an annual basis in the
January-February period, the highest since July 2021, crossing the
5-percent increase expected by Reuters.
The
surveyed jobless rate stood at 5.5 percent in February, rising from 5.3
percent in January. In the first two months of year, China created 1.63
million new urban jobs, according to the NBS.
"The
national economy sustained steady recovery, the production demand grew
fast, employment and prices were generally stable, new driving forces
continued to develop, and high-quality development made new progress,"
Fu said.
With
rich experience and set of measures from the anti-pandemic fight, Fu
expressed his confidence that the impact on the economic recovery will
be put under control.
"Overall, the momentum of January-February recovery remained relatively
well, though we must acknowledge that external environment is still
complicated and severe, and the Chinese economy faces many risks and
challenges," said Fu.
China has set an economic growth target of around 5.5 percent this year,
Premier Li Keqiang confirmed last week. The economy grew by 8.1 percent
in 2021.
Source: CGTN |