China's economy gains new momentum

China’s economy has gathered new momentum amid stable growth and improved industrial structure with the effects shown from supply-side reforms over the past five years, the head of the National Bureau of Statistics said on a briefing today.

Features of “the new normal” have been more significant as average GDP growth reached 7.2 percent over the past five years, the quickest among major economies in the world, said Ning Jizhe, director of the NBS.

Economic structure has improved with consumption and service industries contributing to more than 50 percent of growth, overtaking investment and manufacturing industries to become the main drivers.

Economic momentum has also shifted to new industries, new commercial types and new business models.

"New industries" refer to high technology industries and emerging industries, "new commercial types" include shared-economy and online sales, and "new business models" are increasingly created by traditional retailers, Ning said.

NBS data showed new industries, new commercial types, and new business models contributed to 14.8 percent of total GDP in 2015.

“Characteristics of China’s "new normal" economic development have been more significant, whether from the perspective of change of speed, improvement of structure, or shift of momentum,” said Ning. “The new characteristics not only support China’s economy, but also bring new jobs and income to the mass public.”

NBS data showed China’s unemployment rate was 4.83 percent in September, the lowest since 2012.

More than 13 million new jobs were created each year between 2013 to 2016, and the unemployment rate has been stable at around 5 percent.

Disposable income was 23,821 yuan (US$3,612) per capita in 2016, up 7,311 yuan from 2012.

The actual per annum increase was 7.4 percent, above China’s GDP growth during the same period.

Energy efficiency also improved in the past five years as energy consumption per GDP unit decreased nearly 18 percent from 2012.

China’s economy has also been more open, with higher quality foreign trade and the use of foreign direct investment.

China’s imports and exports amount to more than 11 percent of global trade last year, and the use of foreign direct investment in high technology services industries hiked 86.1 percent year-on-year.