NDRC: China maintains a steady economic performance in H1

China maintained a steady economic performance in the first half of the year, with good momentum showed in various industries and reforms being carried out smoothly, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Tuesday.

Steady industry growth

China's power generation climbed 3.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, according to Meng Wei, a spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission.

In June alone, power generation rose 2.8 percent from one year earlier, up 2.6 percentage points from May, according to NDRC.

China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 5.0 percent year-on-year for the first half of 2019, to 3.4 trillion kilowatt-hours.
Specifically, power use by residents increased by 9.6 percent, and that by the tertiary industry 9.4 percent.

China's natural gas apparent consumption saw steady growth in this year first six months amid the country's efforts to fight against air pollution, with the apparent consumption rising 10.8 percent year-on-year to 149.3 billion cubic meters. The volume of raw coal production reached 1.76 billion tons, up 2.6 percent year-on-year.

China's top economic planner has approved 94 fixed-asset investment (FAI) projects with combined investment totaling 471.5 billion yuan (about 68.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, mainly in energy, high-tech and transportation industries.

Price level basically stable

In general, China's overall price level has remained stable. The increase in producer price index (PPI) has narrowed, and the rise in consumer prices has moderated.

The consumer price index (CPI), in the first half year, rose 2.2 percent year-on-year and the PPI rose 0.3 percent year-on-year.

The food prices index surged 4.7 percent in the first half year, with fruit, vegetables and meat prices among the highest, rising by 16.1 percent, 9.2 percent and 6.6 percent. respectively.

The increase in PPI was significantly lower than the same period last year. Specially, paper and paper products industry, chemical fiber manufacturing, chemical raw materials and manufacturing, and electrical machinery all witnessed a price decline in the first half year.

Prices of major commodities have generally maintained a stable increase since the beginning of the year.