The national economy got off to a strong start in January–February, with a good beginning.

(March 16, 2026)

National Bureau of Statistics

In January-February, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, various regions and departments earnestly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the general tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability, implemented more proactive macro policies, increased counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustments, continuously expanded domestic demand, optimized supply, improved increments, revitalized stock, accelerated production supply growth, market demand steadily increased, employment and prices remained generally stable, new quality productivity grew and strengthened, economic operation started strongly, achieving a good start.

I. Industrial production accelerated, with good growth momentum in equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing

In January-February, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide increased by 6.3% year-on-year, accelerating by 1.1 percentage points compared to December of the previous year. Among the three major categories, the added value of the mining industry increased by 6.1% year-on-year, manufacturing increased by 6.6%, and the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas, and water increased by 4.7%. The added value of equipment manufacturing increased by 9.3% year-on-year, and high-tech manufacturing increased by 13.1%, faster than the total added value of industrial enterprises above designated size by 3.0 and 6.8 percentage points respectively. By economic type, the added value of state-controlled enterprises increased by 4.2% year-on-year; joint-stock enterprises increased by 6.9%, foreign and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan-invested enterprises increased by 4.0%; private enterprises increased by 7.4%. By product, the output of 3D printing equipment, lithium-ion batteries, and industrial robot products increased by 54.1%, 42.6%, and 31.1% year-on-year respectively. From a month-on-month perspective, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 0.83% in February compared to the previous month. In February, the manufacturing purchasing manager index was 49.0%; the enterprise production and operation activity expectation index was 53.2%, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous month.

II. Service industry grows rapidly, modern service industry develops quickly

In January-February, the national service industry production index increased by 5.2% year-on-year, accelerating by 0.2 percentage points compared to December of the previous year. By industry, the production index of information transmission, software and information technology services, leasing and business services, financial industry, transportation, warehousing and postal industry, accommodation and catering industry increased by 10.1%, 8.2%, 7.0%, 6.3%, and 5.4% respectively. In February, the business activity index of the service industry was 49.7%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month; the business activity expectation index of the service industry was 55.8%. Among them, the business activity index of industries such as accommodation, catering, culture, sports, and entertainment was above 60.0%, indicating a high level of prosperity.

III. Market sales growth rate rebounds, service retail grows rapidly

In January-February, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 86,079 billion yuan, an increase of 2.8% year-on-year, accelerating by 1.9 percentage points compared to December of the previous year. By location of operating units, urban retail sales of consumer goods were 74,449 billion yuan, an increase of 2.7%; rural retail sales of consumer goods were 11,630 billion yuan, an increase of 3.2%. By consumption type, retail sales of goods were 75,815 billion yuan, an increase of 2.5%; catering revenue was 10,264 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8%. Sales of basic living and some upgraded goods grew rapidly. Retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, textiles, grain, oil, food, communication equipment, and gold, silver, and jewelry in units above designated size increased by 10.4%, 10.2%, 17.8%, and 13.0% year-on-year respectively. From a month-on-month perspective, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 0.81% in February compared to the previous month. In January-February, service retail sales increased by 5.6% year-on-year, accelerating by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous year. Among them, retail sales of communication information services, tourism consulting and rental services, and cultural and leisure services grew rapidly. In January-February, the national online retail sales of goods and services reached 32,546 billion yuan, an increase of 9.2% year-on-year. Among them, online retail sales of goods were 20,812 billion yuan, an increase of 10.3%, accounting for 24.2% of the total retail sales of consumer goods; online retail sales of services were 11,734 billion yuan, an increase of 7.3%.

IV. Fixed asset investment turns from decline to increase, infrastructure investment grows rapidly

In January-February, national fixed asset investment (excluding farmers) reached 52,721 billion yuan, an increase of 1.8% year-on-year, compared to a decline of 3.8% for the entire previous year; excluding real estate development investment, national fixed asset investment increased by 5.2%. By field, infrastructure investment increased by 11.4% year-on-year, manufacturing investment increased by 3.1%, and real estate development investment decreased by 11.1%. The sales area of newly built commercial housing nationwide was 92.93 million square meters, a decrease of 13.5% year-on-year; the sales amount of newly built commercial housing was 8,186 billion yuan, a decrease of 20.2%. By industry, investment in the primary industry increased by 17.4% year-on-year, investment in the secondary industry increased by 5.4%, and investment in the tertiary industry decreased by 0.4%. Private investment decreased by 2.6% year-on-year, with the decline narrowing by 3.8 percentage points compared to the entire previous year; excluding real estate development investment, private investment increased by 1.0%. Investment in high-tech industries increased by 5.1% year-on-year, with investment in aerospace and equipment manufacturing, research and design services, and information services increasing by 20.2%, 20.6%, and 16.5% respectively. From a month-on-month perspective, fixed asset investment (excluding farmers) increased by 0.39% in February compared to the previous month.

V. Rapid growth in goods import and export, trade structure continues to optimize

In January-February, the total import and export of goods reached 77,321 billion yuan, an increase of 18.3% year-on-year, accelerating by 13.4 percentage points compared to December of the previous year. Among them, exports were 46,178 billion yuan, an increase of 19.2%; imports were 31,143 billion yuan, an increase of 17.1%. General trade import and export increased by 13.5% year-on-year. Import and export to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 20.0%. Private enterprises' import and export increased by 22.8%. Export of mechanical and electrical products increased by 24.3%.

VI. Employment situation remains generally stable, urban surveyed unemployment rate remains unchanged year-on-year

In January-February, the average urban surveyed unemployment rate nationwide was 5.3%, unchanged from the same period last year. In February, the national urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.3%, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. The surveyed unemployment rate for local registered labor force was 5.4%; the surveyed unemployment rate for non-local registered labor force was 5.0%, including 5.2% for non-local agricultural registered labor force. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.1%. The average weekly working hours of employed persons in enterprises nationwide was 48.1 hours.

VII. Consumer price increase expands, industrial producer price decline narrows

In January-February, the national consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.8% year-on-year, with a 0.2% increase in January and a 1.3% increase in February. By category, in January-February, prices for food, tobacco, alcohol, and dining out increased by 0.6% year-on-year, clothing prices increased by 1.9%, housing prices decreased by 0.1%, prices for daily necessities and services increased by 2.7%, transportation and communication prices decreased by 2.1%, education, culture, and entertainment prices increased by 1.0%, healthcare prices increased by 1.8%, and prices for other goods and services increased by 14.3%. Among food, tobacco, alcohol, and dining out prices, pork prices decreased by 11.2%, grain prices decreased by 0.2%, fresh fruit prices increased by 4.5%, and fresh vegetable prices increased by 8.8%. The core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, increased by 1.3% year-on-year. From a month-on-month perspective, in January, the national consumer price index increased by 0.2%, and in February, it increased by 1.0%.

In January-February, the national industrial producer ex-factory price decreased by 1.2% year-on-year. By month, it decreased by 1.4% year-on-year in January, with a month-on-month increase of 0.4%; in February, it decreased by 0.9% year-on-year, with a month-on-month increase of 0.4%. In January-February, the national industrial producer purchase price decreased by 1.1% year-on-year.

Overall, in January-February, major economic indicators rebounded significantly, and the national economy started well. However, it should also be noted that the impact of changes in the external environment is deepening, geopolitical risks continue to rise, and there are still many old problems and new challenges in domestic economic development and transformation, with some enterprises facing operational difficulties. In the next stage, we must adhere to Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as guidance, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party and the spirit of the plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, earnestly implement the deployments of the Central Economic Work Conference and the National People's Congress, fully and accurately implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, focus on promoting high-quality development, adhere to the general tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability, implement more proactive macro policies, develop new quality productivity according to local conditions, focus on stabilizing employment, enterprises, markets, and expectations, and promote effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth of the economy.