A look at China's Nov economic data

Major economic indicators remained relatively stable in the first 11 months, indicating the economy performed within a reasonable range despite weakening global growth momentum. Favorable conditions, such as the untapped potential of Chinese consumers, will continue in the next year.

China's economy can maintain steady and healthy development in 2019, although the November economic data indicates that downward pressure is piling up, the spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Mao Shengyong said that November retail sales growth and industrial output figures showed signs of increasing downward pressure on the economy, but added that China is on track to hit its 2018 economic growth target of about 6.5 percent.

"The stable economic development of this year has laid a relatively sound foundation for 2019," Mao said.

"This year has seen fluctuations in retail sales, but China boasts the world's largest group of middle-income consumers and still has big potential for consumption," Mao said.

China has released a string of policies, such as raising the threshold for personal income tax, to reduce the financial burden on individuals and to help unleash consumers' purchasing power and shore up consumption next year, he added.

1CPI dips

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.2 percent year-on-year in November, down from 2.5 percent in October, the NBS said.

In the Jan-Nov period, the CPI gained 2.1 percent from the previous year, well below the government's target ceiling of 3 percent for 2018.

The slower growth of prices last month may signal mild inflation in the coming months, analysts said.

2PPI up

China's producer price index, which measures factory-gate prices, was up 2.7 percent year-on-year in November, with the increase narrowing for the fifth consecutive month, according to the NBS.

For the first 11 months, producer prices at the factory gate rose 3.8 percent from the same period last year.

The PPI edged down 0.2 percent on a month-on-month basis in November compared with a 0.4 percent growth recorded the previous month.

3Manufacturing PMI narrows

The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index narrowed to 50 in November, the benchmark separating expansion from contraction, according to the NBS.

Analysts attributed the slide partly to downside risks escalating worldwide, but highlighted signs of new growth momentum.

The manufacturing PMI reading, which forecasts the economic health of the country's manufacturing sector, fell for a third straight month.

4Industrial output rises

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 5.4 percent year-on-year in November, the NBS said.

The growth rate was 0.5 percentage points lower than that recorded in October.

In the first 11 months, industrial output climbed 6.3 percent from one year earlier, with the pace of growth decelerating from 6.2 percent registered during the Jan-Oct period, according to the NBS.

5FAI picks up

Fixed-asset investment growth was 5.9 percent in the first 11 months, quickening by 0.2 percentage points compared with the first 10 months.

Private investment, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total FAI, expanded by a brisk 8.7 percent.

In breakdown, investment in high-tech and equipment manufacturing remained vigorous with 16.1 percent and 11.6 percent increases, respectively, in the first 11 months.

6Property investment up

China's real estate investment rose 9.7 percent in the first 11 months of 2018 compared with same period last year, the same percentage as the annual increase for the Jan-Oct period, the NBS said.

Funds raised by China's real estate developers in the first 11 months grew 7.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, and compared with a 7.7 percent increase in Jan-Oct, the NBS data showed.

7Retail sales up

China's retail sales of consumer goods grew 8.1 percent year-on-year to 3.53 trillion yuan in November, slightly slower than the 8.6 percent rise in October, according to the NBS.

The NBS attributed the mild slowdown to retreating car purchases and falling petroleum product prices, which dragged down the headline growth rate by 0.7 percentage points.

In the first 11 months, retail sales grew 9.1 percent to reach 34.51 trillion yuan.

8Trade up in first 11 months

China's foreign trade volume reached 2.83 trillion yuan in November, up 9.1 percent year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Exports jumped by 10.2 percent year-on-year to 1.57 trillion yuan in November, while imports grew by 7.8 percent to 1.26 trillion yuan.

In the first 11 months of the year, the foreign trade volume increased by 11.1 percent year-on-year to 27.88 trillion yuan.

9New yuan loans rise

China's new yuan-denominated loans stood at 1.25 trillion yuan in November, up from 697 billion yuan in October, central bank data showed.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8 percent year-on-year to 181.32 trillion yuan at the end of last month.

10Stable FDI inflows in first 11 months

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland stayed basically stable in the first 11 months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said. FDI in November fell 26.3 percent year-on-year to 92.1 billion yuan.

A total of 54,703 new overseas-funded companies were established during the period, up 77.5 percent year-on-year, MOC data showed. In November, the number of new overseas-funded enterprises increased 11.1 percent year-on-year to 5,158, according to the data.

11Fiscal revenue down

China's fiscal revenue rose 6.5 percent year-on-year to 17.23 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of 2018, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The country's fiscal revenue stood at 1.08 trillion yuan in November, with a 5.4 percent decline year-on-year.

The decline widened from a drop of 3.1 percent in October, the first fall this year.

12Employment situation better than expected

China's surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 4.8 percent in November, 0.1 percentage point lower than that in the previous month and November last year, according to the NBS.

The number of newly created jobs in urban areas reached 12.93 million for the Jan-Nov period, 130,000 more than the same period last year and surpassing the government's annual target of creating 11 million new urban jobs in 2018.

13Power use records stable growth

China's power consumption saw stable growth in November, according to the National Energy Administration.

Electricity use increased 6.3 percent year-on-year last month, slightly slower than the 6.7 percent in October.

In the first 11 months, power use totaled 6.22 trillion kilowatt hours, up 8.5 percent from 2017.

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