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Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Briefs on the Business Performance of the First Quarter
2015-04-28 21:09

On April 16, the Ministry of Commerce held the regular press conference, and the Spokesman Shen Danyang briefed the business performance of the first quarter. Following is the full context:

Market performance and features

The domestic consumer market remained stable since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter, the retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB7.1 trillion, up 10.6% year on year, and the actual growth was 10.8% with the price factor excluded, 1.4 and 0.1 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce, the sales of 5,000 major enterprises in the first quarter were up 4.6%, 1.1 percentage points slower than that of the same period last year. The main features are as follows:

1. The online retail remained as a strong momentum. According to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, the retail sales of online goods in the first quarter increased 41%, accounting for 8.9% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, contributing 27.1% to the growth of the total retail sales of consumer goods and driving it to increase 2.9 percentage points. According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce, the sales of online shops of the 5,000 major retail enterprises were up 39.7%, 14.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period of last year.

2. Consumption for communication products was still hot. The user structure of mobile phones speeded up its upgrading, and the net increase of 4G users in the first quarter was estimated to be over 60 million. In January-February, the business of telecommunication service was up 21.6% year on year, and the sales of communication equipment of units above designated size in the first quarter were up 38.5% year on year, 23.3 percentage points higher than that of the same period of last year.

3. Catering consumption picked up steadily. Affected by the market adjustment and transformation of enterprises, public catering consumption has become the mainstream of the market, and catering market picked up. The statistics of National Bureau of Statistics showed that, in the first quarter, the catering revenue was up 11.3% year on year, 1.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period of last year. Among that, the revenue of units above designated size was up 5.5%, 4.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period of last year.

4. Consumption for housing and transportation increased steadily. With the popularization of intelligent household electrical appliance and the increase of demands for upgrading housing and accommodation, the consumption for housing and transportation grew rapidly. In the first quarter, sales of household electrical appliance, building materials and furniture of units above designated size were up 13.7%, 15.8% and 15.4% respectively, 4.5, 3.6 and 1.2 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. According to the statistics of China Automotive Industry Association, sales of passenger vehicles in the first quarter was up 9% year on year; sales of new energy automobiles enjoyed a rapid growth, reaching 2.8 times.

5. Consumer prices witnessed a low-price running. In the first quarter, CPI was up 1.2% year on year, 1.1 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year. Among which, CPI in March was up 1.4%, the same as that of February. According to the monitoring by the Ministry of Commerce, in 36 large and medium-sized cities, prices of agro-foodstuff in the first quarter were down 1.3% year on year, among which, that the price of March was down 1.0%, 0.3 percentage points higher than that of February. In the first quarter, prices of mutton, pork and vegetable were down 6.5%, 5.8% and 5.2% respectively, while the prices of eggs and fruits were up 8.6% and 5.3% respectively.

II. Foreign Trade

According to the Customs statistics, China’s total import and export in the first quarter of 2015 reached RMB 5.54 trillion, down 6% year on year (the same below) . The export was RMB 3.15 trillion, up 4.9%, and import RMB 2.39 trillion, down 17.3%. The trade surplus was RMB 755.3 billion, up 6.1 times. In terms of the U.S. dollar, the total import and export reached US$ 904.2 billion, down 6.3% year on year, among which, the export was US$ 513.9 billion, up 4.7%, and the import US$ 390.2 billion, down 17.6%. The trade surplus was US$ 123.7 billion, up 6.1 times. The main characteristics of the foreign trade in the first quarter are as follows:

1. The export growth fluctuated and import decreased largely. Affected by the declining of the world trade, China’s export in the first quarter maintained a growing momentum, but 3.7 percentage points slower than that of the fourth quarter of 2014. Affected by the Spring Festival, export growth fluctuated, with that of January down 3.2%, February up 48.9%, and March down 14.6%. Encumbered by the import price falling down 9.8% and weak domestic demands, the national import decreased, 15.7 percentage points higher than that of the last quarter, among which the price of March was down 12.3%, 7.6 percentage points slower than that of the first two months.

2. Export to the U.S. enjoyed a rapid growth, and import from countries with abundant resources witnessed a large decline. China’s export to the U.S. was up 11.5%, driving the overall export up 1.9 percentage points. China’s export to EU was up 2.8%, and export to Japan and Hong Kong down 11.5% and 10.1% respectively. Imports from South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India and Australia were down 48.1%, 37.3%, 32.4%, 29% and 26.9% respectively, dragging the overall import down 4.5 percentage points.

3. The dominant status of the general trade was further promoted, while import and export of processing trade had a negative growth. The import of general trade reached RMB 3.0672 trillion, down 5.7%, accounting for 55.3% of the total import and export, 0.2 percentage point higher year on year, among that, export was up 12.2%, driving the national export up 6.2 percentage points. The import and export of processing trade reached RMB 1.7416 trillion, down 6.5%, with export and import down 5.9% and 7.7% respectively. The import and export of other trade was RMB 734.5 billion, down 5.9%.

4. The export of mechanical and electrical products was better than the entirety, and import prices of major bulk commodities fell down. Export of mechanical and electrical products was RMB 1.8182 trillion, up 6.4%, 1.5 percentage points higher than the overall export, driving the national export up 3.6 percentage points, among that, growth rate of part of high-end manufactured products like ships and metal-working machines was over 20%. Export of seven kinds of labor intensive products like textile and garment reached RMB 629.2 billion, up 6.1%. In the same period, the import prices of crude oil, iron ore, refined oil, liquefied petroleum gas, soybean, copper ore and copper products were down 46.8%, 45%, 38.7%, 21%, 18.6%, 13.9% and 13.2% respectively, dragging the overall import price down 10.5 percentage points. Import of new high-tech products reached RMB 739.9 billion, up 0.7%.

5. The proportion of Central and Western China increased, and regional development was more harmonized. Import and export of Central and Western China reached RMB 868.7 billion, up 2.6%, accounting for 15.7% of the total import and export, up 1.3 percentage points year on year. Among that, export of Central and Western China was up 15.7%, contributing 53.3% to the national export. Import and export of Eastern China was RMB 4.6744 trillion, down 7.3%.

6. The private enterprises became the major driving force of export, and state-owned enterprises declined largely. The import and export of private enterprises reached RMB 1.9329 trillion, down 5.9%, among which, export up 12.5%, contributing 102.7% to the growth of export. Import and export of state-owned enterprises was RMB 967.5 billion, down 14.1%, 8.1 percentage points higher than the entirety. Import and export of foreign invested enterprises was RMB 2.6428 trillion, down 2.7%.

III. Foreign Investment in China

In January-March of 2015, a total of 5,861 newly-established foreign-invested enterprises were approved, up 22.4% year on year; The actually utilized FDI registered 214.57 billion RMB (equivalent to US$34.88 billion), up 11.3% year on year (excluding the data of banking, securities and insurance) . In March, 2,030 newly-established foreign-funded enterprises were approved, up 0.4% year on year; the utilized FDI amounted to 76.38 billionRMB (equivalent to US$12.4 billion), up 2.2% year on year. The characteristics of foreign investment in China in January-March are as follows:

1. Actually utilized FDI in service sector sustained a growth. In January-March, utilized FDI in service sector stood at US$21.59 billion, up 24.1% year on year, taking up 61.9% among the national total, of which the financial service sector, distribution service sector and transportation service sector stood out with US$5.44 billion, US$1.89 billion and US$1.02 billion respectively. The actually utilized FDI in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery registered US$500 million yuan, up 14.8% year on year, taking up 1.4% of the national total. Utilized FDI in manufacturing reached US$11.22 billion), down 3.6% year on year, taking up 32.2% of the national total, of which communication equipment, computer and other electronic equipment manufacturing stood out with US$2.33 billion, US$1.08 billion and US$1.02 billion respectively.

2.Investment from major countries and regions maintained a steady growth. In January-March, the actual input of FDI from the top 10 countries and regions (Hong Kong, the ROK, Taiwan Province, Singapore, Japan, the U.S., Germany, the UK, France and Saudi Arabia) totaled US$33.29 billion, taking up 95.4% of the national actually utilized FDI, up 12.8% year on year. Among others, investment from the UK, France and Saudi Arabia registered US$370 million, US$370 million and US$240 million respectively, up 40%, 258.7% and 776.7% respectively; investment from Japan and the U.S. reached US$1.06 billion and US$620 million, down 12.3% and 40.4% year on year; investment from 28 EU countries registered US$2.02 billion, up 30.5% year on year and investment from ASEAN countries came to US$1.35 billion, down 31.2% year on year.

3. Actually utilized FDI in eastern China maintained a rapid growth. In January-March of 2015, the actually utilized FDI in eastern China registered US$29.78 billion, up 18.8% year on year; that in central China and western China registered US$2.67 billion and US$2.43 billion, down 26% and 15.2% year on year respectively.

IV. China’s Investment and Economic Cooperation Overseas

Direct investment Overseas. In the first quarter, Chinese investors made direct investment in 2,331 enterprises in 142 countries and regions around the world, with a combined investment of 158.09 billion RMB (equivalent to US$25.79 billion)(note: US$1=6.1300 RMB), up 29.6% year on year. Among others, equity and other investment amounted to RMB132.35 billion (equivalent to US$21.59 billion), taking up 83.7% of the total, and earnings that were reinvested reached 25.74 billion RMB (equivalent to US$4.2 billion), accounting for 16.3%. In March, direct investment overseas registered RMB 51.43 billion (equivalent to US$8.39 billion), up 0.4% year on year. As of the end of March, China’s total non-financial direct investment overseas amounted to RMB 4.12 trillion (equivalent to US$672.1 billion).

In the first quarter, there were 19countries and regions each with a direct investment above US$100 million, mainly from China’s Hong Kong, Netherlands, Cayman Islands, the U.S., the British Virgin Islands, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia.

In the first quarter, the Chinese mainland’s investment in the seven major economies of Hong Kong, the ASEAN, the EU, Australia, the U.S., Russia and Japan totaled US$19.98 billion, taking up 77.5% of the national total foreign direct investment over the same period time. The investment in the EU (mainly the CNPC made an investment of US$2.885 billion in the Netherlands) registered US$3.54 billion, 8 times last year’s US$440 million over the same period. The investment in Hong Kong, the ASEAN, the U.S. and Russia grew by 44.4%, 51.4%, 37.4% and 14.3% respectively; the investment in Australia and Japan decreased by 66.3% and 16.7% respectively.

Contracted projects overseas. In the first quarter, the turnover of China’s contracted projects overseas amounted to RMB 194.69 billion (equivalent to US$31.76 billion), up 17.6% year on year. The value of newly-signed contracts was RMB279.47 billion (equivalent to US$45.59 billion), up 29.7% year on year. The turnover completed in March reached US$10.89 billion, down 2% year on year. The value of newly-signed contracts in March totaled US$16.22 billion, with an increase of 13.6% year on year.

In the first quarter, there were 161 projects each with a newly-signed contract value of more than US$50 million (an increase of 19 compared with 142 over the same period of last year), adding up to US$37.07 billion, accounting for 81.3% of the total newly-signed contracts. There were 105 projects each with a value of more than US$100 million, an increase of 28. In March, there were 54 projects each with a newly-signed contract value of more than US$50 million (a decrease of 16 compared with 70 over the same period of last year), adding up to US$12.69 billion( an increase of US$1.97 billion over the same period of last year) and accounting for 78.2% of the total newly-signed contract value in the month. There were 33 projects each with a value of more than US$100 million in March, a decrease of 3 year on year.

In March, the contracted projects with a large newly-signed contract value were the Angola SIYOI recycled power plant construction and installation project (with a contract value of US$990 million) undertaken by China Machinery Engineering Corporation and the Mali’s water conservancy for 100,000 hectares of farmlands project (with a contract value of US$880 million) undertaken by China Gezhouba Group Co., Ltd.

At the end of March, the newly-signed contract value registered US$1.40717 trillion with a turnover of US$966.91 billion.

Labor service cooperation overseas. In the first quarter, labor service personnel dispatched overseas reached 121,000, an increase of 8,000 over the same period of last year, up 7.1% year on year. Labor service personnel sent overseas for contracted projects were 60,000 and those for labor service cooperation were 61,000. In March, the labor service personnel dispatched overseas amounted to 51,000, an increase of 2,000 over the same period of last year. By the end of March, the labor service personnel dispatched overseas were 983,000, an increase of 91,000 over the same period of last year.

By the end of March, the labor service personnel dispatched overseas accumulated to 7.6 million.

Overseas trade and economic cooperative zones. In the first quarter of 2015, 14 enterprises which establish cooperative zones newly added US$34.88 million of investment, among which US$ 21.21 million were invested in the infrastructure construction. Enterprises in the zones newly added US130 million of investment with a total output value of US$820 million. The taxes turned over to host governments were US$36 million.

By the end of March, 14 enterprises under construction have completed US$1.66 billion of investment, among which US$1.3 billion were invested in the infrastructure construction. Enterprises in the zones added up to 409 with an accumulative investment value of US$4.34 billion and a total output value of US$18.46 billion. The taxes turned over to host governments reached US$760 million and 43,000 jobs were created for local areas, among which 40,000 employees were hired from local regions and the third country. 9 enterprises which passed the confirmation examination accumulatively completed US$1.37 billion of investment, among which US$1.08 billion were invested in the infrastructure construction. Enterprises in the zones reached 309 with an accumulative investment value of US$3.77 billion and a total output value of US$ 17.9 billion. The taxes turned over to host governments were US$720 million and 34,000 jobs were created for local areas, among which 31,000 employees were from local regions and the third party.

V. The Service Import and Export Situation in the First Two Months of 2015

In the first two months of 2015, the service import and export in China continued the growth trend of last year. The total volume of foreign trade exceeded hundreds of billions US dollars, reached US$100.5 billion and continued to maintain a double-digit growth. The followings are specific features:

1. The gross maintained a rapid development and the growth of import was higher than that of export. In January-February, the service import and export increased 13.6% compared with the same period last year, among which the growth speed of import and export of financial service, construction service and culture and entertainment service ranked in the top 3. The service export was US$35.7 billion with an increase of 5.4% year on year; the service import reached US$64.8 billion with an increase of 18.8% year on year and the import amplification was 13.4 percentage points higher than that of export.

2. Tourism accounted for almost 50% and the import of transportation service appeared to go down. In January-February, the total amount of tourism import and export reached US$45.26 billion, with an increase of 42% year on year, accounting for 45% of the total amount of service import and export and ranking in the first among all kinds of service. The import and export of transportation service was US$18.8 billion, with a decline of 10.7%, mainly because of the decline of transportation import. The decreasing amplitude of the import of transportation service in the first two months reached 18.2% while the export increased 9.6%.

3. High value-added service export accounting for a higher proportion maintained growth and the import declined obviously. Computer service and insurance service in the high value-added service maintained rapid growth and the amplification in January and February were 10.8% and 20.2% respectively. The usage charge of intellectual property reached 1.9 times high-speed growth. Professional management and consultation service export accounting for a higher proportion slightly dropped 0.3% and financial service and technological service decreased 42.9% and 10.2% respectively. In January-February, the decreasing amplitude of the import of computer service and insurance service exceeded 20%, dropping 23.4 and 67.6% year on year respectively. The financial service realized 2.3 times high-speed growth.

4. Traditional service became the main source of deficit and the surplus of high value-added service was large. In January-February, the trade deficit of service in China was US$29.1 billion, among which the deficit of tourism and transportation service was US$35.34 billion, becoming the main source of trade deficit of service. The surpluses of professional management and consultation service and telecommunication, computer and information service were US$2.88 billion and US$2.06 billion respectively.

VI. Service Outsourcing

In the first quarter of 2015, the contract value of service outsourcing signed by Chinese enterprises was US$27.03 billion with an increase of 10% year on year and the executed contract value was US$18.55 billion, with an increase of 12.6% year on year. The contract value of offshore service outsourcing totaled US$16.73 billion, with an increase of 3.7% and the executed contract value was US$12.19 billion, with an increase of 8.8%. The followings are two features:

Firstly, “Internet Plus” promotes the rapid development of onshore service outsourcing. The government work report proposes to formulate the action plan of “Internet Plus”, promotes the combination of Internet, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things and modern manufacturing industry and drives the rapid development of onshore service outsourcing. In the first quarter, the contract value of onshore service outsourcing undertaken by China was US$8.43 billion, with an increase of 22.2% and the executed contract value was US$5.26 billion, with an increase of 20.3%. Secondly, the cooperation with countries along the line of the “Belt and Road Initiative” was further deepened. Countries along the line of the “Belt and Road Initiative” actively respond to this strategy, strengthen the project cooperation of service outsourcing with China and promote the project construction of interconnectivity. In the first quarter, the contract value and the executed contract value of service outsourcing from countries along the line of the “Belt and Road Initiative” were US$3.33 billion and US$2.01 billion, with an increase of 30% and 8.1% year on year respectively.

VII. Preparations for the First China-Latin America Infrastructure Cooperation Forum

In recent years, the infrastructure cooperation has become one of the most promising industries in the China-Latin America cooperation. In order to promote the mutual beneficial cooperation between China and Latin America and Caribbean nations in the infrastructure field, China proposed to establish the China-Latin America Infrastructure Cooperation Forum during the First Ministerial Conference of China-Latin America Forum held in the January 2015. This Forum is annually hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and organized by China International Contractors Association and held at the same time and in the same place with the International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum. The First China-Latin America Infrastructure Cooperation Forum is scheduled to take place on June 4-5 in Macao.

At present, the preparation work goes smoothly. Government departments from Latin America and Caribbean nations, financial institutions and entrepreneurs will conduct in-depth discussions with the Chinese counterparts on such hot issues as how to promote and deepen bilateral mutual beneficial cooperation, how to realize the docking and complementary advantages in the relevant industries of China-Latin America infrastructure construction and how to accelerate the integrated construction of infrastructure in Latin America areas.

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