China's exports and imports returned to growth in January thanks to policies promoting steady trade, along with the country's growing demand for industrial materials and commodities.
The gradual recovery of the global economy, China's opening-up efforts and pro-trade policies, accelerating industrial upgrading and an improving corporate environment will lend steam to the country's trade growth this year, said Chu Shijia, head of the comprehensive department of the Ministry of Commerce.
China attracted 84.18 billion yuan ($12.41 billion) in foreign direct investment (FDI) in January 2019.
Foreign capital flowed to the country's tech industry, more than double compared with the same period in 2018, reaching 15.77 billion yuan.
China will keep its prudent monetary policy "neither too tight nor too loose" while maintaining market liquidity at a reasonable level in 2019, according to the annual Central Economic Work Conference held in December last year.
The number of new loans in January more than doubled from 1.08 trillion yuan in December, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).
Newly added social financing, a measurement of funds that individuals and non-financial firms receive from the financial system, stood at 4.64 trillion yuan in January, up 1.56 trillion yuan year-on-year.
A research report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) noted that, buoyed by supply-side structural reforms, the country's economy has registered a slower but stable performance with solid momentum for growth.
The report estimated year-on-year GDP growth will reach 6.3 percent in 2019.
1CPI up 1.7%
China's consumer price index, a key gauge of the prices for goods and services, rose 1.7 percent year-on-year in January, lower than the expected 1.9 percent, according to the NBS.
"The Spring Festival holiday in early February and the cold weather kept demand on an even keel in January," said Lin Shu, an analyst with China Merchant Securities.
2PPI up 0.1%
China's January producer price index, which measures price increases before they reach consumers, rose 0.1 percent from a year ago, lower than the expected 0.3 percent rise, data from NBS showed.
For the second month in a row, the index hit the lowest level since September 2016.
3PMI at 49.5
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) edged up to 49.5 in January from 49.4 in December, according to the NBS.
Despite the slight rise, it was the second consecutive month in which the PMI was below 50. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion while one below indicates contraction.
4Foreign trade up 8.7%
China's foreign trade rose 8.7 percent year-on-year in January to 2.73 trillion yuan, the General Administration of Customs said.
Exports rose 13.9 percent year-on-year to 1.5 trillion yuan last month, while imports grew 2.9 percent to 1.23 trillion yuan.
Private enterprises played a bigger role, accounting for 42.3 percent of total foreign trade, up three percentage points year-on-year.
5New yuan loans expand
China's new yuan-denominated loans stood at 3.23 trillion yuan in January 2019, up 328.4 billion yuan year-on-year, according to the PBOC.
The number of new loans more than doubled from 1.08 trillion yuan in December.
The M2, a broad measure of money supply covering cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8.4 percent year-on-year to 186.59 trillion yuan at the end of January.
6FDI up 4.8%
China recorded 4.8 percent yearly growth in FDI in January, its tech industry accounting for the most dramatic increase in foreign capital.
According to Ministry of Commerce data, China attracted 84.18 billion yuan in FDI in the first month of 2019, up 4.8 percent year-on-year.
