Beijing: Interpretation of Beijing's Economic Performance in the First Half of 2023

In the first half of the year, guided by Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics for the new era, Beijing adhered to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, making concerted efforts to ensure stable economic growth, employment, and prices, resulting in a sustained recovery and improvement in the economy and robust social welfare measures.

1. The city's economy has shown signs of recovery, with continued improvement in production demand.

In the first half of the year, the city's gross regional product (GRDP) grew by 5.5% compared to the same period last year (at constant prices), an increase of 2.4 percentage points from the first quarter.

In terms of production sectors, the decline in industrial output has significantly narrowed, with a decrease of 6.4 percentage points in value added by industries above designated size compared to the first quarter. Among the 37 major industrial sectors, 23 industries experienced growth, an increase of 5 from the first quarter, and 22 industries saw an improvement in growth rate compared to the first quarter, either by an increase or a narrower decline. The service industry has steadily recovered, with a 2 percentage point increase in the growth rate of value added in the service sector compared to the first quarter. Among the 14 service industry categories, 13 industries experienced growth, an increase of 1 from the first quarter, and 12 industries showed improvement compared to the first quarter.

In terms of demand, fixed asset investment in the city grew by double digits, with a 4 percentage point increase in growth rate compared to the first quarter. Market consumption has orderly recovered, with a 6.6 percentage point increase in the total consumption amount compared to the first quarter, and a 7.7 percentage point increase in the consumption of services. The growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods has shifted from a decline of 0.7% in the first quarter to a growth of 4.5%.

2. Strong support from advantageous industries, accelerated recovery of contact-oriented industries.

Advantageous industries have solidified their development resilience. In terms of industry, the automobile, power, and equipment manufacturing industries have played a leading role. In the first half of the year, the value added in the automobile manufacturing industry grew by 16.1%, benefiting from production recovery and a low base in the previous year, an increase of 14.1 percentage points from the first quarter. The value added in the electricity, heat production, and supply industry maintained double-digit growth. The five major equipment manufacturing industries grew by 15.3%, contributing 2.4 percentage points to the overall growth rate of industries above designated size. In terms of the service industry, the information transmission, software and information technology services, and financial sectors have continued to drive growth, contributing more than 70% to the growth of the service industry.

Contact-oriented service industries and consumption have further recovered. The value added in the accommodation and catering industry, transportation, warehousing and postal services, and the cultural, sports, and entertainment industries grew by 22.5%, 14.3%, and 4.3% respectively, with increases of 10.9, 7.4, and 0.7 percentage points, respectively, compared to the first quarter. In terms of service consumption, transportation, culture, and entertainment have shown rapid growth. In terms of total retail sales of consumer goods, demand for fashionable and travel-related items has accelerated, with the retail sales of gold, silver, jewelry, clothing, footwear, textile products, cosmetics, automobiles, petroleum, and related products all achieving double-digit growth. Leisure agriculture and rural tourism have continued to recover, with more than 10 million visitors and revenue of 1.74 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.6%, a 6.9% increase compared to the same period before the epidemic.

3. Emerging driving forces are active, and market vitality is gradually increasing.

Digital economy development is accelerating. In the first half of the year, the added value of Beijing's digital economy reached 918.05 billion yuan, an 8.7% increase compared to the same period last year, accounting for 44.5% of the city's GRDP, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. Among them, the added value of core industries in the digital economy reached 556.51 billion yuan, a growth of 10.9%, accounting for over 60% of the added value of the digital economy.

"Specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" enterprises show strong growth. In the first half of the year, the output value of large-scale specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative industrial enterprises grew by 4.7%, significantly higher than the average level of large-scale industrial enterprises. Their proportion of the total industrial output value above designated size reached 12.8%, an increase of 3.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year. From January to May, the operating income of large-scale specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative service enterprises grew by 8%, 2.8 percentage points higher than that of other large-scale service enterprises.

Newly established enterprises demonstrate vitality. In the first half of the year, the city saw the establishment of 151,000 new enterprises, an increase of nearly 30% compared to the same period last year, with over 40% of them being technology-based enterprises.

4. Continued effectiveness of policy measures, solid guarantees for people's livelihoods.

Efforts to improve people's well-being are being made. Fiscal expenditures have shifted towards areas that benefit the people, with health and education expenditures accounting for 24.3% of general public budget expenditures, an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous year. Investment in affordable housing has grown by more than 10%, with completed housing area increasing by 36.2%.

Solid measures are in place to ensure people's welfare. Consumer prices have risen moderately, with the city's consumer price index increasing by 0.7% year-on-year in the first half of the year. The overall employment situation is generally stable, with the urban surveyed unemployment rate falling slightly to 4.6% in June compared to May. Residents' income steadily increased, with per capita disposable income growing by 5%, 1.4 percentage points higher than in the first quarter. Waged income, which accounts for over 60% of the total, increased by 7%, an increase of 2 percentage points, while rural residents' income growth continued to outpace that of urban residents.

Overall, the city's economy has maintained a momentum of recovery and achieved steady progress in high-quality development in the first half of the year. In the next stage, it is important to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on Beijing, adhere to the development of the capital in the new era as the overarching principle, enhance the effectiveness of policies, unleash the potential of domestic demand, boost market confidence through multiple means, consolidate the foundation for economic recovery, and promote qualitative and quantitative growth in the economy.

Source: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics