China's Q1 fiscal revenue up 9.3%
English.news.cn 2014-04-17 19:36:4
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BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's fiscal revenue climbed 9.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2014 to reach 3.5 trillion yuan (568.71 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Thursday.
Central government revenue stood at 1.55 trillion yuan, up 6.4 percent year on year. Local government revenue stood at 1.95 trillion yuan, up 11.8 percent from the same period last year, the MOF said.
However, last month saw a year-on-year decline of 1.4 percent in central fiscal revenue as a result of slowing economic growth and increasing export tax rebates, according to the MOF.
The country's fiscal expenditure in the first three months rose 12.6 percent from the same period last year to 3.04 trillion yuan, the ministry said.
From January to March, double-digit expenditure growth was realized in agriculture, forestry, water conservancy, social security, employment, medical care and education.
China's consumption to continue booming: MOC
English.news.cn 2014-04-17
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BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A Ministry of Commerce spokesman has predicted that multiple factors will drive China's consumption growth this year, after new data showed surging retail sales in the country.
People's rising income coupled with the new consumption power emerging amid China's urbanization and industrialization processes will both support consumption growth, Shen Danyang said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
Government data released on Wednesday showed that the average per capita disposable income of both urban and rural residents grew 8.6 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2014.
Meanwhile, rising consumption of healthcare, travel, entertainment and information products as well as booming online shopping will further the trend, Shen said.
"We are basically optimistic in our view of the overall consumption market for this year," the spokesman said.
His remarks came after official data showed on Wednesday that the country's retail sales grew 12 percent year on year to 6.21 trillion yuan (1.01 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter.
Shen said that the growth was boosted by the rapid expansion of online shopping, robust consumption in the catering sector, as well as purchases of electronic gadgets and travel packages.
The government data showed retail sales in rural areas rose 12.8 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year. Retail sales in urban areas climbed 11.8 percent in the same period.
China's industrial production picks up in March
English.news.cn 2014-04-16
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BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial value added expanded by 8.8 percent in March from an average growth of 8.6 percent in the Jan-Feb period, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.
The value added of state-owned enterprises saw a 4.6-percent growth year on year in March, while that of joint stock companies expanded by 10.1 percent, according to the NBS data.
Last month, the value added of the manufacturing sector grew by 9.9 percent, while that of the mining industry grew by 2.9 percent.
The NBS said that industrial value added in March grew by 8.6, 7.9 and 10.4 percent in east, central and west China, respectively.
However, industrial value added in the first quarter slowed by 0.8 percentage points from the same period last year to a 8.7-percent growth, according to the official figures.
"March industrial production growth rose as expected, but we believe the rebound will be temporary," said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist with Japan's Nomura Securities.
Lu Zhengwei, chief economist at the Industrial Bank, attributed the sluggishness in industrial enterprises in the first quarter mainly to over-valued Renminbi.
"Reform in the exchange rate mechanism remains one of the priorities," said Lu.
China uses industrial value added to measure business activities of designated large enterprises each with an annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan (3.26 million U.S. dollars).
The total profits of such enterprises reached 779.3 billion yuan in the Jan-Feb period, up 9.4 percent year on year. The growth rate was lower than that for the whole of 2013, which stood at 12.2 percent. But it was notably higher than that for December.
Official data showed that the purchasing managers' index for the country's manufacturing sector rose to 50.3 percent in March, up from 50.2 percent in February. An improving reading indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector.
Along with slowed industrial production growth, the service sector continued to grow in the first three months and make a larger contribution to
GDP growth.
NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun said the trend indicated that the Chinese economy is shifting from an industry-led growth to a service-led one.
"We should adopt a new perspective to see the changes in the Chinese economy," said Sheng.