City's economy on path of steady recovery

Shanghai's economy continued to post steady recovery in July with a strong year-on-year growth in industrial output.

Total industrial output in the city jumped 12 percent year on year last month to 316.15 billion yuan (US$45.7 billion), according to data from the Shanghai Statistics Bureau. 

In the January to July period, industrial production topped 1.9 trillion yuan, down 4.1 percent from the same period last year but recovering compared with the 6.2 percent year-on-year decline in the first six months of 2020.

The industrial output of enterprises with annual revenue above 20 million yuan, meanwhile, added up to 296.11 billion yuan, an increase of 13 percent from the same month last year. Among them, state-owned enterprises contributed 106.25 billion yuan, accounting for 35.88 percent. Industrial production of private companies, those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, as well as foreign-controlled firms, was 55.84 billion yuan, 36.39 billion yuan and 90.69 billion yuan, respectively.

Automobile manufacturing surged 47.2 percent year on year in July, much faster than the 6.1 percent increase in June.

Meanwhile, information technology firms, the petrochemical and fine chemical manufacturing industry, the complete equipment manufacturing sector, and biomedical manufacturing, saw industrial output rising by 17.8 percent, 6 percent, 5.6 percent and 5.5 percent year on year respectively. In comparison, the growth paces of these four industries was 17.1 percent, 5.5 percent, 5.9 percent and 3.9 percent in June.

The fine steel manufacturing industry, however, edged down 0.3 percent from a year earlier, while the drop was a lot slower than the 7.5 percent slump last month.

Of note, the city's foreign trade in July extended year-on-year growth for the second month in a row, totaling 299.29 billion yuan, rising 1.3 percent from a year earlier and up 5 percent month on month, according to data from Shanghai Customs.

Among them, exports added up to 118.28 billion yuan last month, down 0.3 percent year on year but up 5.9 percent month on month, while imports topped 181.01 billion yuan, growing 2.3 percent from a year earlier and up 4.4 percent month on month. 

In the first seven months of this year, Shanghai achieved cumulative imports and exports of 1.88 trillion yuan, dipping 0.4 percent from the same period last year. Of this total, exports reached 760.55 billion yuan, up 0.6 percent year on year, while imports dropped 1 percent to total 1.12 trillion yuan, making the trade deficit narrow 4.3 percent to 359.58 billion yuan.

The European Union continued to be Shanghai's largest trading partner. From January to July, the city's imports and exports to the EU totaled 358.38 billion yuan, down 3.7 percent year on year, contributing 19.1 percent of the city's total value of imports and exports over the same period. 

In the same period, the city's total trade volume with the United States was 268.75 billion yuan, up 4.8 percent and accounting for 14.3 percent of the headline figure. Trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan, meanwhile, totaled 256.77 billion yuan and 212.08 billion yuan, respectively, up 1.4 percent and 2.7 percent year on year.

It was highlighted that mechanical and electrical products accounted for nearly 70 percent of Shanghai's total exports in January-July period, which reached 514.8 billion yuan, down 0.3 percent year on year and accounting for 67.7 percent of the city's total exports over the period. In addition, exports of automobiles as well as medical products and medicines were 8.61 billion yuan and 8.48 billion yuan, respectively, up 18.5 percent and 10.1 percent year on year.

Shanghai's overall fixed asset investment in the January-July period posted a year-on-year increase of 9 percent, compared with the 6.7 percent rise in the first half. 

Among them, industrial investment soared 15.1 percent in the first seven months, investment in the real estate sector rose 8.4 percent, and FAI in infrastructure edged up 5.2 percent.

FAI in the information transmission, software, and information technology service industry also jumped 39.5 percent, faster than the 21.8 percent rise in January-June, while that in the accommodation and catering sector skyrocketed 153.7 percent year on year.

In terms of retail sales of consumer products, the headline figure advanced 5.9 percent in the city to 129.72 billion yuan last month, compared with the 0.5 percent increase in June.