Editor's note
The "report card" of China's economy in the first quarter of 2024 has been revealed. What is the quality of this "report card" and what are the highlights? This issue of Think Tank Data will take you to see in detail the "new" meaning of the national economy in the first quarter.
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China's economy is moving towards a "new".
■China Economic Times reporter Hu Pan
The economic data for the first quarter has been released, which is full of "new" meaning, which is reflected in the following three aspects.
First, the development of emerging industries has accelerated, and new products have grown rapidly. According to the data, in the first quarter, the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 7.5% year-on-year, 2.6 percentage points faster than the fourth quarter of 2023, and the high-tech service industry continued to maintain a rapid growth trend, with the added value of information transmission, software and information technology services increasing by 13.7% year-on-year, an increase of 2.5 percentage points over the fourth quarter of 2023. At the same time, the output of new energy vehicles increased by 29.2% in the first quarter of this year on the basis of the rapid growth in previous years, the output growth rate of polysilicon and monocrystalline silicon related to photovoltaics is still as high as more than 50%, and the output of semiconductors and 3D printing equipment also maintained a high growth rate of more than double digits.
Second, new formats and models continue to emerge with strong growth. The development and application of big data, the Internet, and the Internet of Things are driving the transformation of production methods, and new formats and models continue to emerge, bringing new experiences to consumers while injecting new impetus into the quality and expansion of the industry. For example, online retail sales reflect the development of new business formats. According to the data, in the first quarter, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 2,805.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%, and continued to maintain a high growth rate on the basis of maintaining double-digit growth for many years.
Third, new investment and new infrastructure continue to show a good momentum of development. In the first quarter, investment in high-tech industries increased by 11.4 percent year-on-year, an increase of 1.1 percentage points over the whole of 2023, and investment in high-tech services increased by 12.7 percent year-on-year. In addition, a number of new infrastructure projects have been accelerated. According to the data, by the end of February 2024, the total number of 5G base stations in mainland China reached 3.509 million. At the same time, some new infrastructures such as eastern and western computing and optical fiber communication have been accelerated. In addition, in terms of the digital economy, in 2022, the added value of the core industries of the digital economy will be 11.4 trillion yuan, accounting for 9.4% of GDP.
The Central Economic Work Conference pointed out that it is necessary to promote industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation, especially to use disruptive technologies and cutting-edge technologies to give birth to new industries, new models, and new kinetic energy, and develop new quality productive forces. To develop new quality productive forces, scientific and technological innovation is the core driving force, and cultivating new industries is the key task. Strategic emerging industries and future industries are the key to building a modern industrial system and the main front for the development of new quality productive forces. In the next step, it is necessary to continue to accelerate the cultivation and development of new quality productive forces, and while doing a good job in the technological transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, we should also speed up the cultivation of emerging industries and future industries, expand and strengthen new quality productive forces, and let China's economy advance toward "new".
Observations
Source: National Bureau of Statistics, General Administration of Customs
China Economic Times reporter Hu Pan compiled and reported according to public information
Medium 1 Cartography
Chief Producer丨Wang Hui and Che Haigang
Producer丨Li Piguang, Wang Yu, Liu Weimin
Editor-in-Chief丨Mao Jinghui Editor丨Chen Shuhan