In April, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, all regions and various departments steadily promoted the overall planning of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development. Production demand continued to grow, employment prices were generally stable, emerging drivers were cultivated and strengthened, and the national economy continued to stabilize and resume development momentum.

Industrial production rose steadily, and equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing grew rapidly

In April, the national industrial added value above designated size increased by 9.8% year-on-year; the two-year average growth rate was 6.8%, which was 0.6 percentage points faster than that in March; and the month-on-month increase was 0.52%. Divided into three categories, the value added of the mining industry increased by 3.2% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 1.7%; the manufacturing industry increased by 10.3% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 7.6%; the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply industries increased by 10.3 year-on-year%, an average increase of 5.1% in two years. The added value of equipment manufacturing industry and high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 13.1% and 12.7% year-on-year respectively, and the two-year average growth rate was 11.2% and 11.6% respectively. In terms of product output, new energy vehicles, industrial robots, integrated circuits, and microcomputer equipment increased by 175.9%, 43.0%, 29.4%, and 13.5% respectively year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate exceeded 19%. 

In terms of economic types, the value added of state-owned holding companies increased by 8.6% year-on-year; joint-stock companies increased by 10.4% year-on-year; foreign, Hong Kong, China, Macao and Taiwan, China-invested enterprises increased by 8.4% year-on-year; private enterprises increased by 11.2% year-on-year. From January to April, the value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide increased by 20.3% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 7.0%. In April, the purchasing managers index of China's manufacturing industry was 51.1%, which was higher than the threshold for 14 consecutive months; the expectation index of enterprise production and operation activities was 58.3%.

From January to March, the national industrial enterprises above designated size achieved a total profit of 1,825.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.37 times, an average increase of 22.6% in two years; the profit rate of operating income of industrial enterprises above designated size was 6.64%, an increase of 2.76 from January to March 2020 percentage points.

The service industry maintains growth, and the business activity index of the service industry is in the expansion range

In April, the national service industry production index increased by 18.2% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 6.2%. From the perspective of major industries, the production indices of the eight sub-sectors all maintained growth year-on-year. From January to April, the service industry production index increased by 26.4% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 6.7%. From January to March, the operating income of service industry enterprises above designated size increased by 37.1% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 10.2%. Among them, the operating income of information transmission, software and information technology service industry, scientific research and technical service industry increased by 31.7% and 43.5% respectively year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 17.0% and 11.7% respectively. In April, the service industry business activity index was 54.4%, which was higher than the threshold for 14 consecutive months. From the perspective of the industry, the business activity index of railway transportation, air transportation, accommodation and other industries is higher than 65.0%; at the same time, the recovery of some industries that are more affected by the epidemic has accelerated significantly, accommodation, catering, ecological protection and environmental governance, culture, sports and entertainment, etc. The industry business activity index was 1.8-5.7 percentage points higher than last month. In terms of market expectations, the service industry business activity expectation index is 62.7%, which has been in the high level of above 60.0% for three consecutive months.

Market sales continued to recover, and online retail grew rapidly

In April, the total retail sales of consumer goods was 3,535.3 billion yuan, an increase of 17.7% year-on-year, and an average growth of 4.3% in two years; an increase of 0.32% month-on-month. 

According to the location of the business unit, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas was 2,888.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%, an average increase of 4.3% in two years; the retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas was 426.5 billion yuan, an increase of 17.8% year-on-year, and an average increase of 4.3% in two years. 

According to consumption types, retail sales of goods amounted to 2,977.6 billion yuan, an increase of 15.1% year-on-year, and an average growth rate of 4.8% in two years; catering revenue was 337.7 billion yuan, an increase of 46.4% year-on-year, and an average growth rate of 0.4% in two years. From the perspective of commodity categories, among the retail sales of commodities above designated size in April, 13 commodity categories grew by more than 10% year-on-year. From the two-year average growth rate, with the exception of home appliances, the retail sales of other commodity categories are all growing positively. Among them, the retail sales of 10 categories of commodities, including sports and entertainment products, gold and silver jewelry, and communication equipment, have grown at an average rate of more than 10% in two years. Online retail continues to increase. 

From January to April, the national online retail sales reached 3763.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.6%, and an average increase of 13.9% over the two years. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods was 3,077.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, and an average increase of 15.6% in two years; accounting for 22.2% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

Investment in fixed assets continued to recover, and investment in the primary industry, high-tech industry and social sectors grew rapidly

From January to April, the national investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 14,380.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.9%, and an average increase of 3.9% in two years; the month-on-month increase in April was 1.49%. In terms of sectors, infrastructure investment from January to April increased by 18.4% year-on-year, an average two-year growth of 2.4%; manufacturing investment increased by 23.8% year-on-year, an average two-year decrease of 0.4%; real estate development investment increased by 21.6% year-on-year, an average two-year increase 8.4%. 

The sales area of commercial housing nationwide was 503.05 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 48.1%, an average increase of 9.3% in two years; the sales of commercial housing was 5,360.9 billion yuan, an increase of 68.2% year-on-year, and an average increase of 17.0% in two years. In terms of industries, investment in the primary industry increased by 35.5% year-on-year and an average increase of 15.2% in two years; investment in the secondary industry increased by 21.7% year-on-year, an average increase of 0.8% in two years; investment in the tertiary industry increased by 18.7% year-on-year, an average increase of 5.0% in two years %. Private investment increased by 21.0% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 2.9%. 

Investment in high-tech industries increased by 28.8% year-on-year, with an average increase of 11.8% in two years; among them, investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech service industries increased by 34.2% and 18.1% year-on-year, respectively, and the two-year average growth rate was 13.7% and 7.8% respectively. In the high-tech manufacturing industry, the investment in the medical equipment and instrumentation manufacturing industry and the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry increased by 40.3% and 33.1% year-on-year respectively, and the two-year average growth rate was 13.4% and 13.8% respectively. In the high-tech service industry, the inspection and testing service industry, The investment in e-commerce service industry increased by 46.1% and 39.1% respectively year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 17.6% and 32.2% respectively. Investment in the social sector increased by 26.3% year-on-year, with an average growth rate of 10.6% in the two years; investment in health and education increased by 46.5% and 22.1% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 23.9% and 12.1%.

Goods import and export growth is good, and the trade structure continues to improve

In April, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 3,149.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.6%. Among them, exports were 1,712.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.2%; imports were 1,436.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.2%. Imports and exports were offset, and the trade surplus was 276.5 billion yuan. 

From January to April, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 11,123.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.5%. Among them, exports were 6,325.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.8%; imports were 5,288.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.7%. The trade structure continued to improve. From January to April, exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 36.3% year-on-year, accounting for 59.9% of total exports. General trade imports and exports accounted for 61.6% of total imports and exports, an increase of 1.8 percentage points over the same period last year. The import and export of private enterprises accounted for 47.2% of the total import and export, an increase of 4.1 percentage points from the same period last year.

The urban surveyed unemployment rate dropped, and the employment situation was generally stable

From January to April, 4.37 million new jobs were created in cities and towns across the country. In April, the nationwide surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.1%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from March and a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the same period last year. The unemployment rate of the local household registration population survey was 5.1%, and the unemployment rate of the foreign household registration population survey was 5.1%. The unemployment rates of the population aged 16-24 and population aged 25-59 were 13.6% and 4.6% respectively. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.2%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from March. The average weekly working hours of employees in enterprises across the country is 46.4 hours.

Consumer prices were generally stable, and factory prices for industrial producers rose year-on-year

In April, the national consumer prices rose by 0.9% year-on-year, an increase of 0.5 percentage points over March; and a month-on-month decrease of 0.3%. In terms of categories, food, tobacco and alcohol prices rose by 0.1% year-on-year, clothing rose by 0.2%, housing rose by 0.4%, daily necessities and services rose by 0.4%, transportation and communications rose by 4.9%, education, culture and entertainment rose by 1.3%, and health care rose by 0.1%. Other supplies and services fell 1.3%. In food, tobacco and alcohol prices, pork fell by 21.4%, fresh vegetables fell by 1.3%, grain rose by 1.1%, and fresh fruits rose by 2.7%. After deducting food and energy prices, the core CPI rose by 0.7%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from March. From January to April, the national consumer prices rose by 0.2% year-on-year.

In April, the national factory prices for industrial producers rose by 6.8% year-on-year, an increase of 2.4 percentage points over March; the month-on-month increase was 0.9%. In terms of major industries, oil and natural gas extraction, ferrous metal mining and dressing, ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry, non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry rose 85.8%, 38.3%, 30.0%, and 26.9% year-on-year; The communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing industries, and the automobile manufacturing industries fell 1.4% and 0.8% year-on-year respectively. The purchase price of industrial producers rose by 9.0% year-on-year, an increase of 3.8 percentage points from March; it was up by 1.3% month-on-month. From January to April, the factory price of industrial producers and the purchase price of industrial producers increased by 3.3% and 4.3% respectively year-on-year.

On the whole, our country's economic performance in April was stably strengthened and stabilized and improved. At the same time, we must also note that the global epidemic situation is still complicated, and the recovery of the world economy is very uneven; the foundation for domestic economic recovery is not yet solid, and some new situations and problems have emerged in development. In the next stage, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference, the National "Two Sessions" and the "Government Work Report", consolidate the foundation for economic recovery growth, maintain economic operations within a reasonable range, and focus on promoting high-quality development, strive to build a new development pattern, and promote the sustained and healthy development of the economy and society.