Employees work on the battery production line of Jiangsu Yongda Power Co., Ltd. in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, on March 26, 2024.
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BEIJING – China’s economy ended the first quarter on a “strong” note, according to a business survey released by China Beige Book on Thursday.
“The economy clearly improved in March due to improved industrial activity and strong retail spending,” said Shehzad H. Kazi, chief operating officer of US-based research firm China Beige Book.
Official statistics on China’s retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment in January and February exceeded expectations across the board. Typically, figures for the first two months of the year are reported together to take into account his week-long Lunar New Year holiday, which follows the agricultural calendar.
China Beige Book announced that it surveyed 1,436 companies, broadly divided into state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises, from March 1st to March 23rd.
“The China Beige Book’s March statistics show the economy is poised to finish the first quarter strongly,” the report said. “Revenue growth accelerated compared to last month and margins also increased due to higher prices.”
The Office for National Statistics is scheduled to release first quarter data on April 16th.
Earlier this month, China announced a target for growth of around 5% this year. Some analysts said this was an ambitious goal given the current level of government stimulus announced.
China Beige Book revealed that companies canceled borrowing due to rising interest rates, but there were also signs of a pause in lending.
“Market observers have largely missed the significant policy easing that we have been tracking over the past year, and some financial institutions may now be putting their foot on the brakes,” the report said. Ta.
employment improves
“Employment recorded the longest period of improvement since the end of 2020,” the report said, noting that employment growth accelerated in all sectors except services.
According to the report, retail spending increased in all subsectors except luxury goods.
According to the report, in the real estate sector, sales in the residential sector continued to decline, but sales in the commercial sector and the construction sector improved significantly.
According to the report, in the manufacturing industry, production and domestic orders increased from February, but export orders decreased.
According to official data, real estate investment in the first two months of this year fell 9% from a year ago. During this period, investment in infrastructure increased by 6.3% and manufacturing by 9.4%.
