China's July Industrial Output Up 4.5% Year on Year; Jan-Jul Growth at 5.3%

On August 17, the National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that the national economy operated generally stably in the first seven months of the year, continuing the trend of shifting toward new drivers and improved structure. In the January-July period, the value-added output of industrial enterprises above the designated size increased by 5.3% year on year. In July, the value-added output of such enterprises rose 4.5% year on year and 0.11% month on month.

By major category, in July, the value-added output of mining fell 4.2% year on year, manufacturing grew 5.5%, and the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water increased 5.0%. In the first seven months, the value-added output of the equipment manufacturing industry grew 9.7% year on year, and that of high-tech manufacturing rose 13.8%, outpacing the overall industrial growth by 4.4 and 8.5 percentage points, respectively. In the January-June period, industrial enterprises above the designated size achieved total profits of 3,948.0 billion yuan, up 18.7% year on year.

In the first seven months, the services production index rose 4.7% year on year. By sector, the production indices for information transmission, software and information technology services; leasing and business services; financial services; and transportation, warehousing and postal services increased by 10.6%, 9.5%, 6.3% and 5.1%, respectively. In July, the services production index grew 4.3% year on year. In the January-June period, the operating revenue of services enterprises above the designated size increased 5.9% year on year.

In the first seven months, total retail sales of consumer goods reached 28,774.4 billion yuan, up 1.2% year on year. In July, retail sales totaled 3,902.2 billion yuan, up 0.6% year on year and 0.06% month on month. By location, urban retail sales were 24,928.5 billion yuan, up 1.1%, while rural retail sales were 3,845.9 billion yuan, up 2.4%. By consumption type, goods retail sales were 25,492.2 billion yuan, up 1.1%, and catering revenue was 3,282.2 billion yuan, up 2.6%. In the first seven months, online retail sales of goods and services nationwide reached 11,721.4 billion yuan, up 4.8% year on year. Total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased 2.6% year on year, with service retail sales up 5.0% and goods retail sales up 1.1%.

In the first seven months, fixed-asset investment (excluding rural households) totaled 26,032.8 billion yuan, down 6.7% year on year; excluding real estate development, fixed-asset investment fell 3.7%. By sector, infrastructure investment declined 3.6%, manufacturing investment fell 1.7%, and real estate development investment dropped 19.2%. The sales area of newly built commercial housing nationwide was 450.21 million square meters, down 11.8% year on year; the sales value of newly built commercial housing was 4,271.8 billion yuan, down 13.1%. Investment in high-tech industries increased 5.0% year on year, with investment in information services, aircraft and spacecraft manufacturing, and electronic and communication equipment manufacturing rising 19.2%, 12.3% and 7.1%, respectively.

In the first seven months, total imports and exports of goods were 30,126.4 billion yuan, up 17.3% year on year. In July, total goods trade reached 4,658.0 billion yuan, up 19.2% year on year. In the first seven months, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9% year on year. In July, the CPI rose 0.5% year on year and fell 0.1% month on month. In the first seven months, the producer price index for industrial products rose 1.8% year on year, with July up 3.5% year on year and down 0.7% month on month. The average surveyed urban unemployment rate in the first seven months was 5.2%, unchanged from the January-June period and the same period of 2025. In July, the surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.

In July, the value-added output of the digital products manufacturing industry above the designated size increased 17.3% year on year, accelerating by 3.5 percentage points from the previous month. By industry, the value-added output of electronic components and equipment manufacturing, intelligent equipment manufacturing, and computer manufacturing grew 24.7%, 15.1% and 10.9%, respectively. By product, output of smart bracelets, monitors, and hard disk storage devices increased 100.0%, 21.3% and 12.1%, respectively; output of 3D printing equipment, industrial automatic regulating instruments and control systems, and industrial control computers and systems rose 65.7%, 41.2% and 30.3%, respectively. Preliminary estimates show that in the first seven months, new drivers such as high-tech manufacturing and digital products manufacturing contributed about half of the growth in industrial value-added output above the designated size, up about 3 percentage points from the first half of the year.