The State Council Information Office (SCIO) holds a press conference on China's economic performance in May on June 14. [Photo/China SCIO]
Chinese economy remains on the stable growth trajectory, official data showed on June 14.
Market sales grew at fast pace and online retailing maintained strong momentum, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
In the first five months, the online retail sales reached 2466.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 32.5 percent, 0.5 percentage higher than the first four months.
In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 2945.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 10.7 percent, according to the data.
In the first five months, the value-added industrial output grew at 6.5 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the official data.
The 6.5 percent increase accelerated from the 6 percent increase in the same month last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
In the first five months, industrial output rose 6.7 percent year on year.
Industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.9 million U.S. dollars).
Ownership analysis showed that industrial output of state-holding enterprises was up 6.2 percent in May, while output of share-holding enterprises grew 6.8 percent. Meanwhile, industrial output of enterprises funded by overseas investors increased 5.9 percent.
In a breakdown, manufacturing output expanded 6.9 percent year on year in May, while mining output growth rose 0.5 percent year on year.
Fixed-asset investment (FAI) in the first five months grew at 8.6 percent year-on-year, which is 0.3 percentage points slower than the previous four months.
FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.
In the primary industry, fixed-asset investment jumped the fastest, up 16.9 percent year on year. Fixed-asset investment in the service industry jumped 11.6 percent and that in the secondary industry grew 3.6 percent.
Infrastructure investment expanded 20.9 percent in the first five months, slowing down from the growth rate in the first four months.
By regions, investment in western China expanded at the fastest rate, while that in the northeast continued to decline.
China is trying to shift its economy toward a growth model driven by consumer spending, innovation and services, while weaning it off over-reliance on exports and investment.
Other indicators released by the NBS, including industrial production and retail sales, pointed to stabilization in China's economy.
Growth of China's property development investment slowed for the first time since November as the market showed signs of cooling.
Investment in property development expanded 8.8 percent year on year during the January-May period, down from 9.3 percent in the first four months, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Housing sales measured by floor areas rose 14.3 percent for January-May, but the pace of growth decelerated from the 15.7 percent increase in the first four months and 19.5 percent in the first quarter.
Growth of housing sales value also eased to 18.6 percent in the first five months from 20.1 percent for January-May.
The data adds to the evidence that China's property market boom is running out of steam. Early this month, major property developers reported falling sales in May, both in terms of floor areas and sales value.
Signs of the property market cooling came after the government's increasingly stringent cooling measures to quash potential asset bubbles.
Rocketing housing prices, especially in major cities, had fueled concerns about asset bubbles. Since the end of 2016, dozens of local governments have passed or expanded their restrictions on house purchases and increased the minimum down payment required for a mortgage.
The market was also cooled by relatively tightened liquidity conditions as China moved to contain leverage in the financial system.
Liquidity pressure and intensified financial supervision forced financial institutions to tighten loan application reviews, rein in mortgage loans and lift mortgage interest rates.
