Recently, various economic operation data were released in the first month of 2025, and many highlights released strong signals of continued economic recovery and positive improvement.
On February 9, consumers purchased goods from a supermarket in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Sun Zhongzhe)
Financial data ushered in a "good start", providing strong support for the start of the economy throughout the year.
Data released by the People's Bank of China on February 14 showed that in January, my country's RMB loans increased by 5.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 210 billion yuan year-on-year; the increase in social financing scale was 7.06 trillion yuan, an increase of 583.3 billion yuan year-on-year.
"Compared with the high base of the same period last year, the new loans in January this year are slightly higher, providing strong financial support for a stable start to the economy at the beginning of the year." Wen Bin, chief economist of China Minsheng Bank, said that since the beginning of the year, financial institutions have increased their credit supply to meet the effective financing needs of the real economy, and reflected the "moderately loose" monetary policy tone.
Experts said that my country is in a critical period of economic structure transformation, and macro-control ideas are also accelerating adjustment and optimization. Moderately loose monetary policy will create conditions for this, and support the expansion of domestic demand and increase the contribution of consumption to economic growth.
On January 31, tourists watched a dance drama created with the historical and cultural background of the Tang Dynasty at the Xi'an Datang City Scenic Area in Shaanxi Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shao Rui
The consumption highlights during the Spring Festival are full of vitality, and the demand for cultural and tourism consumption is rising.
The National Bureau of Statistics released data on February 9, showing that in January, affected by factors such as the Spring Festival holiday, the national consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.5% and 0.7% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively, both of which expanded compared with the previous month.
On February 9, consumers purchased vegetables in a supermarket in Qianxi City, Guizhou Province. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Fan Hui)
The rise in service and food prices are the main factors affecting the expansion of CPI growth.
From the service price, in January, the service price rose by 0.9% month-on-month, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the previous month, affecting the CPI increase by about 0.37 percentage points from the previous month, accounting for more than 50% of the total CPI increase; it rose by 1.1% year-on-year, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the previous month.
In the services, the demand for travel and entertainment consumption increased significantly during the Spring Festival, with the prices of air tickets and transportation rental fees, tourism, movies and performance tickets rising by 27.8%, 16.0%, 11.6% and 9.6% month-on-month respectively; affected by the return of migrant workers and the increase in service demand, the prices of housekeeping services and hair salons rose by 9.3% and 9.2% month-on-month respectively.
Consumers purchase electronic products at Suning.com Guangxi Sanqi Plaza Store. (Video screenshot)
"The mobile phone is more commonly used for consultation. Because mobile phones, tablets and smart bracelets are new subsidies." Liao Yongning, manager of Suning.com Guangxi Sanqi Plaza store, said.
"Since the beginning of the year, our health-preserving tea and coffee sales have also hit new highs. During this year's Spring Festival, the overall sales of our store have doubled compared with the 2024 Spring Festival." said Zhang Li, assistant manager of Darentang Healthy Life Library.
On January 28, tourists visited Tianjin Ancient Culture Street. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fanyue
The equipment manufacturing industry continues to expand, and corporate expectations rebound significantly.
The National Bureau of Statistics Service Industry Survey Center and the China Federation of Logistics and Procurement released data on January 27. Affected by factors such as the approaching Spring Festival holiday and the concentrated return of corporate employees, in January, the manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) was 49.1%, down 1.0 percentage points from the previous month. From the industry perspective, the two indexes in the industries such as metal products, special equipment, railway, ship, aerospace equipment, etc. are both higher than 51.5%, and are in the expansion range; from the perspective of production and demand, the production index of large enterprises and the new order index are 51.3% and 50.6%, respectively, and are continuing to be in the expansion range; from the perspective of key industries, the PMI of the equipment manufacturing industry is 50.2%, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, and is operating above the critical point for six consecutive months.
"We had a lot of orders at the beginning of this year. This year, compared with last year, we completed the orders for the first quarter of last year in January. The orders received in the first quarter were about 50 million, and now we are in full swing." Li Xianghong, executive deputy general manager of Chengli Group's new energy business department, said.
On February 13, workers were busy on the production line of a core automobile parts manufacturer in Fanchang Economic Development Zone, Wuhu City, Anhui Province. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Xiao Benxiang) Data shows that in January, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 50.2%, down 2.0 percentage points from the previous month, still higher than the critical point, and the non-manufacturing industry generally continued to expand.
Zhao Qinghe, senior statistician at the Service Industry Survey Center of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that in January, the expected index of production and operation activities was 55.3%, up 2.0 percentage points from the previous month, and rose to a higher prosperity range, indicating that most manufacturing companies have increased their confidence in market development after the holiday.
On February 13, workers were carrying out wire bundling operations (drone photos) in the production workshop of a cable company in Lique Town, Guangrao County, Dongying City, Shandong Province. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Liu Yunjie)
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