China's economy shows fresh signs of recovery in October

BEIJING - The Chinese economy maintained its recovery momentum in October with major economic indicators showing fresh signs of stabilization, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Tuesday.

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 5 percent year-on-year in October, 0.2 percentage points more than that in the third quarter, the data showed.

Backed by steady economic recovery, the country's employment situation has remained stable with the surveyed urban unemployment rate standing at 5.5 percent in October, flat from the September level.

During the first ten months of 2022, the country's fixed-asset investment went up 5.8 percent year-on-year, with investment in infrastructure and manufacturing gaining 8.7 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods edged up 0.6 percent year-on-year during this period, with online retail sales climbing 4.9 percent year-on-year, the data showed.

"The Chinese economy has withstood the impact of challenges -- both from home and abroad -- that have exceeded expectations, and continued to sustain a recovery trend in October," NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a media conference.

Tuesday's data also provided a fresh signal that the country has accelerated its pace in terms of the upgrading of industrial structure and the nurturing of new growth engines.

During the January-October period, the value-added output of major high-tech manufacturing firms increased 8.7 percent year on year, and investment in high-tech industries surged 23.6 percent.

As the country has stepped up efforts to promote the green and low-carbon shift, the output of new energy vehicles and solar cells increased by 108.4 percent and 35.6 percent year-on-year, respectively, Fu noted.

"However, the global situation is becoming more complex and grim, and the foundation for domestic economic recovery is not yet solid," Fu said, stressing the need to implement the country's pro-growth policies and effectively coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development.

Among these measures, China released a circular last week on further optimizing the COVID-19 response, announcing 20 prevention and control measures, such as cutting the COVID-19 quarantine period for close contacts and inbound travelers, among others.

Prior to this, a State Council executive meeting held last month detailed efforts aimed at devotion to key projects and urged the swift refund of newly added value-added tax credits in manufacturing.

Looking ahead, despite the lingering challenges coming from abroad, China's economy is expected to rebound with its pro-growth policies gradually taking effect, Fu said.

"The short-term headwinds will not change the sustained growth prospects of the economy," Fu noted.

In particular, Fu expected that domestic demand will gradually expand amid the country's efforts to expedite the construction of major projects to shore up investment, citing the 23.1 percent year-on-year increase in the total planned investment in newly started projects during the first ten months of the year.