China enters fast lane of economic recovery as retail sales pick up

BEIJING - China has released its first batch of key economic data for 2023 showing a stable improvement across the board as the economy has entered a fast lane of recovery following the downgrade of the Covid-19 management in January, building a solid foundation for achieving the full-year GDP growth target of around five percent.

"In the first two months, the Chinese economy steadily recovered with rising production demand, stable employment and consumer prices and improved market expectations," Fu Linghui, a spokesperson with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), told a press conference.

According to data released by the NBS, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 2.4 percent year-on-year in January and February, or 1.1 percentage points faster than that of December 2022, reflecting the accelerated recovery of industrial production and improved business expectations. Meanwhile, the country's fixed-asset investment grew steadily by 5.5 percent year-on-year to reach $776 billion in the first two months. Specifically, investment in real estate development declined by 5.7 percent year-on-year, which has narrowed compared with 10 percent yearon-year fall in 2022, according to the NBS.

Another highlight is the improvement and rebound in domestic consumption. The total retail sales of consumer goods reached $1.12 trillion, up by 3.5 percent year-on-year, reversing a downward trend in December, NBS data showed. "The national retail sales excluding car consumption rose five percent year-on-year, indicating that the country's consumption has gained notable momentum along with rebound in consumer expectations and the steady resumption of offline services," Zhou Maohua, an economist at Everbright Bank, told the Global Times.

"The confidence in China's housing market is gradually being regained too," Zhou said, noting that