Industrial sector leads growth in Q1

High-tech manufacturing particularly influential, drives quality of output

China’s industrial output significantly boosted the economy in the first quarter of 2024, with value-added industrial output up 6.1 percent year-on-year, according to data released Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The surge in industrial output helped push China’s GDP growth to 5.3 percent in the first quarter, surpassing expectations. The sector contributed 37.3 percent of the GDP growth, driving nearly two percentage points of overall GDP increase.

The industrial sector showed particular strength in China’s economic recovery, with overall industrial added value increasing by 6 percent in the first quarter, up 3.1 percentage points from a year earlier, and an improvement of 0.8 percentage points from the fourth quarter in 2023, showing a rebounding and improving trend, Sheng Laiyun, deputy director of the NBS, told a press conference on Tuesday.

Experts noted that market demand improvements, macroeconomic policy support and better inventory and operational conditions in industrial firms all played critical roles. The high-tech manufacturing sub-sector was particularly influential, driving forward both the quality and quantity of industrial output.

As enterprises boosted their inventory and expanded production in response to rising market demand, the operating rate among industrial firms increased. High-tech and equipment manufacturing companies experienced robust expansion, analysts noted.

Among major industrial categories, output of the manufacturing sector grew by 6.7 percent, with emerging technology manufacturing emerging as a highlight. According to the NBS, production of charging poles grew by 41.7 percent, production of 3D printing equipment saw 40.6 percent growth, and electronic component production increased by 39.5 percent.

With the development of new quality productive forces, China has seen rapid growth in high-tech manufacturing and the industrial sector, and emerging industries are expected to bring growth to the economy while optimizing the existing manufacturing industry, said Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University.

The rapid growth of China’s industrial sector is attributed to the development of new quality productive forces and comprehensive industrial chains.

Growth has been supported by strengthening business confidence, a revival in both domestic and international demand, and proactive government policies aimed at revitalizing industrial growth, Sheng of NBS noted.

Enterprises of different ownerships also showed fast growth in the sector, with private enterprises seeing a 5.4 percent increase in added value.