CBN丨Chinese economy records steady recovery in November

2024年12月16日 20:58 21世纪经济报道 21财经APP 李莹亮

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

China’s economy remains on trajectory of steady recovery in November;
Home prices decline narrows in China’s major cities.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

China's economy continued to recover steadily in November thanks to the synergy created by existing supportive policies and the incremental roll-out of new stimulus, with manufacturing and service sectors witnessing accelerated growth, together with an improvement in public expectations, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

Output of industries above a designated level grew by 5.4 percent year-on-year in November, a 0.1 percentage point higher than last month. Output of high-tech manufacturing sector increased 7.8 percent year-on-year, 2.4 percentage points higher than the output growth of all industries.

Productions of new energy vehicles, industrial robots, integrated circuits grew 51.1 percent, 29.3 percent, 8.7 percent year-on-year in November, respectively.

Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, grew 3 percent year-on-year to nearly 4.38 trillion yuan in November, among which products eligible for "trade-in" policy saw good sales performance.

In the first 11 months, fixed-asset investment, a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment, saw a 3.3 percent yearly growth to 46.6 trillion yuan.

In the January-November period, average surveyed urban jobless rate stood at 5.1 percent, down 0.1 percentage point compared with same period last year.

Officials expect China to achieve its 2024 economic goals, given major economic indicators have rebounded significantly in the fourth quarter, according to Fu Linghui, the spokesperson of the statistics bureau said on Monday. More efforts are needed to promote China's economic recovery in 2025 to boost household income and defuse risk, as a rising tide of trade protectionism renders the external environment more complex, he added.

Meanwhile, the decline in the prices of commercial residential homes in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities narrowed on a year-on-year basis in November, NBS data showed on Monday.

In the four first-tier cities, new home prices dropped 4.3 percent year on year, a decline narrowing 0.3 percentage points from October. However, Shanghai, China's economic hub, saw a 5 percent increase in new home prices last month.

Second-hand home prices in the first-tier cities went down 8 percent last month, 1.6 percentage points narrower than the decline in October.

For the 31 second-tier and 35 third-tier cities across the country, data also showed narrower drops in both new and second-hand home prices in November, according to the NBS.

The Chinese government issued a document on Monday that outlines measures to modernize the nation's retail industry over the next five years. According to the document, the country seeks to initially form a modern retail system that features enriched supplies and high-quality services, and that is smart, convenient and green by 2029. To modernize the industry, upgrade and transformation efforts targeting department stores, shopping centers, supermarkets, and community business hubs will be made, according to the document jointly issued by seven government departments including the Ministry of Commerce.

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

The Guangzhou Futures Exchange will introduce polysilicon futures and options to provide more risk management tools for price fluctuations to the Chinese photovoltaic industry. Polysilicon futures and options will be listed on Dec. 26 and Dec. 27, respectively, becoming the third product after industrial silicon and lithium carbonate to join the GFEX.

Next on industry and company news

The tech giant Huawei Technologies is to complete the spinoff of its intelligent automotive business unit to become an independent company, Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd., by Jan. 1, media reported, citing sources close to the auto BU.
The BYD Seal has made history as the first Chinese car to be among the 10 nominees for the 2024-2025 Japan Car of the Year. Launched in Japan this year, the Seal has gained significant attention and was praised for its sleek design, powerful performance, and advanced smart features.
The box office sales of China's moviegoing season ringing in the New Year have reached about 1.63 billion yuan, with pre-sales included, as of Sunday, according to the film data platform Beacon. The top three of the movies are Her Story, Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Our Dinosaur Diary, and Brave New World.

Switching gears to financial news

Foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland in actual use climbed 6 percent in November from the same period last year, the Ministry of Commerce said Saturday. From January to November, the actual use of FDI stood at 749.7 billion yuan, down 27.9 percent year on year, which narrowed by 1.9 percentage points compared to January to October.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

Chinese stocks fell on Monday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite down 0.2 percent and the Shenzhen Component shedding 1.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also closed 0.9 percent lower, and the TECH index dropped 1.45 percent.