by+Li+Yili
Performance of Domestic Market
The domestic consumer market has remained steady since the beginning of the year, playing an important role in stabilizing economic growth. The retail sales of consumer goods in JanuaryNovember reached 23.7 trillion yuan, up 12% year on year, 1 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year. The sales of 5,000 major retail enterprises monitored by the Ministry of Commerce were up 6.4% year on year, 2.6 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year. The retail sales of consumer goods in November reached 2.3 trillion yuan, up 11.7% year on year, picking up after a 5-month drop, 0.2 percentage points higher than that of last month, and up 11.2% with price factors excluded, the highest of the year. Following are the main characteristics of the consumer market in JanuaryNovember.
Consumption for popular service heated up. China has entered into the stage of upgrading from commodity consumption to service consumption, and from basic consumption to developmental consumption. Consumption demands for popular service continued to increase. With the transformation of the catering industry, popular catering has become the main stream. Estimates show that the revenue of catering enterprises under the designated size in January-November increased 13.2%. Demand for cultural tourism was exuberant. The film box office of the whole year was expected to surpass 30 billion yuan, up 38%. The total income of tourism of the whole year was expected to reach 3.3 trillion yuan, up 14.6%.
Sales of communication, culture and sports products accelerated. In January-November, the sales of communication equipment, culture and stationeries, sports and entertainment products of 5,000 key retail enterprises were 3.2, 6.2 and 5.9 percentage points higher than that of the same period of last year respectively. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the retail sales of communication equipment of units above the designated size were up 29.7%. And the growth of the sales of household appliances and furniture of 5,000 key retail enterprises in JanuaryNovember was 4.2 and 0.7 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year respectively. According to the statistics of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the sales of passenger vehicles in January-November were up 9.2%, 5.9 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year.
Green and healthy consumption enjoyed a good development. The consumption concept of energy conservation and environment protection has enjoyed a popular support, which bolstered the development of green and healthy consumption. Driven by policies, the sales of new energy automobile sped up, with 53,000 in JanuaryNovember, and 15,000 in the latest two months. Related statistics showed that, in January-October, the sales of air cleaners and water purifying plants were up 66% and 72.1% respectively year on year, the market share of energy conservation television sets, green refrigerators and inverter air conditioners obviously increased, and the popularity of LED lighting accelerated.
Consumer prices were steady but fell down. CPI in the first 11 months was up 2%, 0.6 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year, and that of November was up 1.4%, 1.6 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year. According to the Ministry of Commerce, in 36 large and medium-sized cities, prices of agro-foodstuff went up 0.8% year on year in January-November, and that of November went down 1.9%, 7.8 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year, showing a negative growth for three consecutive months. In terms of varieties, prices of rapeseed oil, mutton and pork were down 3.2%, 3.3% and 8.2% respectively; and that of milk, egg and fruit increased 8.8%, 11.2% and 11.6% respectively.
Development of new type businesses and traditional businesses divided. Online retail continued to maintain a high-speed growth. According to the statistics of 5,000 key retail enterprises monitored by the Ministry of Commerce, the online shopping in JanuaryNovember was up 33.3%. Online retail sales of units above designated size were up 55.9%. Growth of traditional business fell obviously. In JanuaryNovember, sales of special stores, su- permarkets and department stores were up 6%, 5.5% and 4.2% respectively, 1.4, 2.8 and 6.4 percentage points slower than that of the same period of last year respectively.
(Source: Ministry of Commerce Website)
Foreign Trade
According to Customs figures, Chinas total import and export in November reached 2.2681 trillion yuan, down 0.3%. Export was 1.3014 trillion yuan, up 4.9%, and import 966.6 billion yuan, down 6.5%. Trade surplus was 334.8 billion yuan, up 60.5%. In terms of the U.S. dollar, the total import and export reached US$ 368.85 billion, down 0.5% year on year (the same below), among which, export was US$ 211.66 billion, up 4.7%, and import US$ 157.19 billion, down 6.7%. Trade surplus was US$ 54.47 billion, up 61.4%.
Export maintained a steady growth. In November, the export of mechanical and electrical products reached US$ 122.7 billion, and that of high-tech products reached US$ 65.5 billion, up 3.9% and 2.5% year on year, among which export of mobile phones and color TV sets was up 12.8% and 7.8% respectively. Products that enjoyed a large growth included: mineral fertilizers and chemical fertilizers with an export of US$ 1.23 billion, up 91.2% year on year; precious metal or jewelry with precious metal with an export of US$ 4.68 billion, up 77.4% year on year; steel with an export of US$ 6.65 billion, up 55.8% year on year; and toys with an export of US$ 1.18 billion, up 20.2% year on year.
Export to part of emerging markets enjoyed a rapid growth. In November, export to India, ASEAN and South Africa was up 24.5%, 14.3% and 7% respectively, accounting for 15.2% of the national total export, and contributing 45.2% to the export. Both Import and Export with U.S. and Hong Kong were up 2.2%, and that with the EU remained the same as last year, with the growth 4.4, 20.4 and 6.1 percentage points slower than that of last month respectively. Import and export with Japan went down 6.7%, showing a negative growth for four consecutive months.
The central region maintained a rapid growth. In November, import and export of the central region reached US$ 31.9 billion, up 15%, maintaining a double digit rate for four consecutive months. Import and export of the eastern region reached US$ 308.8 billion, down 1.9%. Import and export of the western region reached US$ 28.1 billion, down 1.6%, the lowest since June, 2013.
Processing trade enjoyed a slight growth and other kinds of trade fell down. In November, import and export of processing trade reached US$ 130.4 billion, up 2.5%. Import and export of other kinds of trade reached US$ 46.3 billion, down 7.5%, 15.9 percentage points slower than that of last month. Import and export of general trade reached US$ 192.1 billion, down 0.6%.
(Source: Ministry of Commerce Website)
Textile Industry
According to the statistics from Nation Commercial Information Center of China (CNCIC), the selected 100 key large-scale retail enterprises of apparel made a year-on-year growth in value of retail sales in November of 2014, with an increase of 0.7 percentage point over the same period of last year and rising by 3.4 percentage points over that of October. (Growth of each month refers to Picture 1)
And in November, the selected 100 key large-scale retail enterprises of apparel enjoyed an increase of 6.0% in retail sales volume over the same period of last year, which has been the highest since September of 2013, growing by 6.4 percentage points over last month and 5.5 percentage points over the same period of last year. (Growth of each month refers to Picture 2)
In terms of the im/export, China imported yarn, fabrics & made-ups of 1,603,710,000 dollars from overseas market, while the export value was 9,546,311,000 dollars, nearly six times of the import value and higher than the average value of the first 11 months, for the aggregate export value was 102,392,521,000 dollars. The import value of textiles reduced while the export grew by 5.3% over the same period of last year. The same situation happened to export of apparel and accessories, which enjoyed a year-on-year growth of 6%, with 14,798,243,000 dollars in November and aggregate value of 170,368,101,000 dollars from January to November. (Specific data refers to the table)