Beijing - The Chinese economy maintained its recovery in May with continued progress in transformation and upgrading, an official said Thursday.

This photo taken on March 1, 2023 shows an intelligent production base of the Great Wall Motors (GWM) in Yongchuan District of Chongqing, southwest China. (Photo/Huang Wei, Xinhua)

Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, made the remarks at a press conference.

He cautioned that the foundation for the recovery is not solid, citing a complex and grim international environment and great pressure on domestic structural adjustment.

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China's job market remains stable in May

Beijing - China's job market remained stable in May, with the surveyed urban unemployment rate standing at 5.2 percent, unchanged from the April level, official data showed Thursday.

The unemployment rate among those aged between 25 and 59, the majority of the labor market, declined to 4.1 percent last month from 4.2 percent in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities came in at 5.5 percent in May, also unchanged from the previous month, the data showed.

"The employment situation is generally improving," NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference.

The ongoing economic recovery, especially the sound momentum in the service sector, as well as the supportive measures of the government that are gradually taking effect, have helped boost the job market, Fu said.

He, however, cautioned that the pressure on total job supply and structural issues should not be overlooked, noting that employment pressure remains high for the youth, and there is a shortage of highly-skilled workers.

China has more than 96 million youths aged between 16 and 24 by May, and over 33 million of them have entered the labor market, according to Fu. Of these young job seekers, over 26 million have found jobs while some 6 million are still looking for work.

"With the economy continuing to improve, there will be solid support for the employment situation to remain generally stable," the spokesperson said.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate is calculated based on the number of unemployed people who have participated in the employment survey in urban areas, including migrant workers in cities.

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China's fixed-asset investment logs stable expansion in January-May

Beijing - China's fixed-asset investment registered stable growth in the first five months of the year amid gradual recovery, displaying bright spots in high-tech manufacturing and service sectors.

The country's fixed-asset investment totaled 18.88 trillion yuan (about 2.64 trillion U.S. dollars) from January to May, up 4 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The data revealed that in May alone, China's fixed-asset investment rose 0.11 percent from the previous month.

During the January-May period, investment in infrastructure construction reported robust increase of 7.5 percent year on year. Manufacturing investment also continued the momentum of expansion, up by 6 percent.

Investment in China's high-tech industry maintained strong expansion in the same period amid the country's efforts to promote industrial transformation and upgrading. Thursday's data showed that investment in the high-tech industry increased by 12.8 percent year on year.

In breakdown, investment in high-tech manufacturing rose 12.8 percent year on year, within which the investment in medical equipment manufacturing and instrumentation jumped 18.8 percent and that for electronic and communication equipment soared 16.1 percent.

The period also saw investment in China's high-tech services up 13 percent from the same period of 2022. Specifically, investment in services related to the application of scientific and technological achievements soared 47.4 percent, while that for professional technical services surged 40.6 percent.

In recent years, China has implemented an in-depth innovation-driven development strategy by expanding investment in innovation and actively cultivating new industries and business forms, said NBS Spokesperson Fu Linghui, adding that "the strengthened new growth momentum has increasingly shored up the country's economic development."

Fu noted that since the beginning of this year, China's manufacturing industry has made constant progress in improving quality and intelligence, and in promoting green development, which has continuously released the vitality of innovation and development.

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China's retail sales rally, consolidating economic recovery

Beijing - China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, continued to see robust growth in May, providing a boost to the country's overall economic recovery.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods surged 12.7 percent year on year in May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.

In the January-May period, the country's retail sales of consumer goods increased 9.3 percent year on year to 18.76 trillion yuan (about 2.62 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the NBS.

"With the consumption scenarios expanding and residents' consuming propensity increasing, service-related consumption achieved rapid growth," NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference.

From January to May, the growth rate of the box office revenue across China topped 40 percent year on year, while that of the revenue in the catering sector registered 22.6 percent.

During the five-day May Day holiday, tourism revenue reached 148.06 billion yuan, surging 128.9 percent from last year.

The trend of consumption upgrading extended, with the retail sales of gold, silver and jewelry, as well as communication equipment in May all exceeding 20 percent.

Online retail sales remained a bright spot. In the first five months, online sales of physical goods gained 11.8 percent year on year, and the growth rate was 1.4 percentage points higher than that in the January-April period.

Fu attributed the expansion in consumption to the generally improved employment situation this year, which will increase the income of urban and rural residents and strengthen their spending power, and policies to promote consumption, as well as the accelerated development of new consumption models.

Noting that the contribution rate of final consumption to the country's economic growth reached 66.6 percent, Fu said consumption is a strong driving force to consolidate economic recovery.

The consumption growth in China, however, still faces several constraints, said Fu, adding that there is room for the improvement of consumption power and people's willingness to spend money.

Efforts should be made to stabilize growth, employment and prices in the next stage and better implement consumption promotion measures, he said.

China will expand domestic demand in 2023, prioritizing the recovery and expansion of consumption, according to this year's government work report.

Fu noted that the country will take measures to expand traditional consumption and accelerate the cultivation of new consumption, as part of efforts to promote the sustained healthy development of the economy.

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China's industrial output up 3.5 pct in May

Beijing - China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 3.5 percent year on year in May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.

The growth rate was 2.1 percentage points lower than that of April.

China's industrial production overcame the adverse factors of weak market demand and falling prices, and maintained the recovery momentum in May, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference.

A breakdown of the figure by industries showed that the manufacturing sector's output increased by 4.1 percent year on year during the period, while the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water rose 4.8 percent.

By ownership, state-controlled enterprises saw an increase of 4.4 percent in output, while the private sector's output grew by 0.7 percent, according to the NBS.

In terms of product types, the production of solar cells and new energy vehicles surged 53.1 percent and 43.6 percent year on year, respectively.

The country's industrial output rose 3.6 percent year on year from January to May.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars).

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China's home prices see slower growth in May

Beijing - China's housing market reported narrowed growth last month, official data showed Thursday.

In May, 46 out of 70 large and medium-sized cities saw month-on-month increases in new home prices, down from 62 in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou -- went up 0.1 percent in May, down 0.3 percentage points from that in April.

In 31 second-tier cities, prices of new homes gained 0.2 percent, shrinking from the 0.4-percent increase a month earlier. Prices of new housing in 35 third-tier cities came in flat.