The province's economy got off to a good start in the first quarter

　Supply continues to grow, demand is stable, people's livelihood continues to improve, and vitality is released at an accelerated pace

　　The province's economy got off to a good start in the first quarter

　　On April 19, the Information Office of the Provincial Government held a press conference on Hebei's economic operation in the first quarter of 2024, and the Provincial Bureau of Statistics released the report card of Hebei's economic operation in the first quarter.

　　"Since the beginning of this year, all localities and departments in the province have fully implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council and the work arrangements of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, and continued to promote the effective improvement of the quality and reasonable growth of the economy. Zhou Guohua, deputy director and spokesman of the Provincial Bureau of Statistics, said.

　　The three industries grew in an all-round way, and the year-on-year growth rate of industrial added value above designated size was 2 percentage points faster than that of the whole country

　　In Zhou Guohua's view, the overall economic operation of the province in the first quarter showed four main characteristics: "continuous growth in supply, stable demand pull, continuous improvement in people's livelihood, and accelerated release of vitality".

　　In the first quarter, the three industries in our province grew in an all-round way. In terms of agricultural production, the growth of winter wheat is at a good level all year round, and the output of major agricultural products has achieved steady growth, except for a few products such as pork. In terms of industrial production, in the first quarter, the year-on-year growth rate of the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size in the province was 2 percentage points faster than that of the whole country. Among the 40 industry categories in industrial statistics, 22 industries achieved growth, with an increase of 55.0%. The service industry continued to maintain recovery growth, and the added value of the two knowledge-intensive industries, information transmission software and information technology services, and scientific research and technical services, increased by 8.0 percent and 6.7 percent year-on-year respectively, and the growth rate accelerated over the same period last year.

　　On the demand side, the "troika" of investment, consumption, and import and export has made comprehensive efforts. In the first quarter, the growth rate of fixed asset investment in the province was 2.2 percentage points faster than that of the whole country. The consumer goods market continued to recover, contact consumption such as catering grew rapidly, and the consumption of key commodities such as automobiles and petroleum played a significant role. In terms of import and export, from January to February, the province's import and export increased by 14.7% year-on-year (RMB), 6 percentage points faster than the national level. Among them, exports increased by 20.7 percent, 10.4 percentage points faster than the national level.

　　In the first quarter, our province vigorously implemented the policy of stabilizing employment, and 227,000 new jobs were created in urban areas in the province, an increase of 5,000 over the same period last year.

　　Judging from the data, in the first quarter of this year, new hot spots in our province's kinetic energy and market continued to heat up, and the vitality was released at an accelerated pace. The development of new kinetic energy has been accelerated, and the province has accelerated the development of new quality productive forces according to local conditions, and the growth rate of the added value of strategic emerging industries is 1.2 percentage points faster than that of industries above the designated size. The vitality of the market continued to increase, and the level of prosperity rebounded. China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.8% in March, returning to expansion territory, and in the first quarter, road passenger turnover increased by 45%, airport passenger throughput increased by 37.2%, and electricity consumption increased by 9.31%.

　　The construction of large projects has played a significant driving role, and major projects have become a strong support for the growth of investment in the province

　　In the first quarter, the province's investment in fixed assets increased by 6.7% year-on-year, 0.4 percentage points faster than that of the previous year, of which the investment in construction projects increased by 10.8%.

　　Zhou Guohua pointed out that since the beginning of this year, the province has focused on expanding effective investment, strengthening the overall implementation of key projects and factor guarantees, and steadily and orderly promoting the construction of affordable housing, the construction of "flat and emergency" public infrastructure and the transformation of urban villages.

　　Industrial investment is growing rapidly. The province has accelerated the construction of industrial projects, built a modern industrial system, and continued to add new momentum to the high-quality development of the industrial economy. In the first quarter, the province's industrial investment increased by 18.1% year-on-year, 14.8 percentage points faster than the same period last year, and 11.0 percentage points faster than the previous year, driving the province's investment growth by 5.4 percentage points. Among them, investment in mining increased by 25.4 percent, investment in manufacturing increased by 4.2 percent, and investment in the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water increased by 87.1 percent.

　　The proportion of investment in high-tech industries has increased steadily. The province focuses on "forging new quality productivity and generating new momentum for development", actively cultivating emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, advanced manufacturing, and electronic information, and enhancing new momentum for economic development. In the first quarter, the province's investment in high-tech industries increased by 45.1 percent year-on-year, 38.4 percentage points faster than the total investment, and the proportion of investment increased by 1.2 percentage points over the previous year. Investment in high-tech manufacturing increased by 91.6 percent. Among them, the investment in the manufacturing of electronic and communication equipment increased by 2.5 times, and the investment in the manufacturing of computer and office equipment increased by 73.3%. Investment in high-tech services increased by 9.0 percent. Among them, the investment in R&D and design services increased by 1.4 times, and the investment in information services increased by 71.8%.

　　The construction of large projects has played a significant driving role. In order to expand effective investment, since the beginning of the year, the province has strengthened the construction of major projects, and major projects have become a strong support for the growth of investment in the province. In the first quarter, there were 4,074 projects under construction with more than 100 million yuan in the province, an increase of 943 year-on-year, and the completed investment increased by 27.8%, driving the growth of all investment by 17.2 percentage points. There were 761 projects under construction of more than 1 billion yuan, an increase of 193 year-on-year, and the completed investment increased by 40.8%, driving the growth of all investment by 13.5 percentage points. There were 212 projects under construction of more than 3 billion yuan, an increase of 38 year-on-year, and the completed investment increased by 58.2%, driving the growth of total investment by 9.7 percentage points. There were 42 projects under construction of more than 10 billion yuan, an increase of 4 year-on-year, and the completed investment increased by 65.3%, driving the growth of all investment by 4.1 percentage points.

　　Consumption hotspots are heating up, and the consumer demand for some upgraded goods is being released quickly

　　In the first quarter, all departments at all levels in the province actively carried out the "Consumption Promotion Year" activities, implemented a series of measures to promote consumption, and gradually released the potential demand for consumption. According to the data, in the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods in the province reached 366.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%.

　　Consumption hotspots are heating up. Online consumption is growing rapidly. Online retail sales of physical goods increased by 12.4% year-on-year, 4.3 percentage points faster than that of the previous year. The cultural tourism market continues to be hot. The province has received tourists and achieved double-digit growth in tourism revenue, of which Beijing and Tianjin tourists accounted for 14.4%, and the brand influence of "so close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

　　The consumption of some upgraded goods has been expanded. The retail sales of cosmetics, gold, silver and jewelry, sports and entertainment goods, household appliances and audio-visual equipment of units above designated size increased by 12.0 percent, 15.5 percent, 14.3 percent and 27.7 percent year-on-year respectively, and the above four categories of goods accounted for 11.4 percent of the retail sales of consumer goods above designated size, driving the retail sales of consumer goods above designated size to increase by 2.1 percentage points.

　　A steady increase in income is one of the strengths of household consumption. Wang Tingzhang, deputy head and spokesman of the Hebei Survey Corps of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that in the first quarter, the income of residents in our province continued to recover from growth, and the per capita disposable income of all residents in Hebei was 8,729 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.7% over the same period last year, and a real increase of 5.6% after deducting price factors. In terms of permanent residence, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 11,465 yuan, up 4.9 percent year-on-year, and the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 5,748 yuan, up 6.8 percent year-on-year. In terms of the income structure of all residents, wage income, net operating income, net property income, and net transfer income increased by 7.6 percent, 3.0 percent, 0.7 percent, and 3.7 percent respectively.

Source: Hebei Daily