STATISTICAL COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON THE 2024 NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT[1] （CHAPTER 5-7）

STATISTICAL COMMUNIQU? OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

ON THE 2024 NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT^[1] （CHAPTER 5-7）

National Bureau of Statistics of China

February 28, 2025

V. Domestic Trade

In 2024, the total retail sales of consumer goods[38] reached 48,334.5 billion yuan, up by 3.5 percent over the previous year. An analysis on different areas showed that the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas stood at 41,781.3 billion yuan, up by 3.4 percent, and that in rural areas reached 6,553.1 billion yuan, up by 4.3 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the retail sales of goods were 42,716.5 billion yuan, up by 3.2 percent, and the income of catering industry was 5,618.0 billion yuan, up by 5.3 percent. The retail sales of services[39] increased by 6.2 percent over the previous year.

Figure 14: Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods and Growth Rates 2020-2024

Of the total retail sales of goods by enterprises above the designated size, the retail sales for grain, oil and food went up by 9.9 percent over the previous year; beverage up by 2.1 percent; tobacco and liquor up by 5.7 percent; clothes, shoes, hats and textiles up by 0.3 percent; cosmetics down by 1.1 percent; gold, silver and jewelry down by 3.1 percent; daily necessities up by 3.0 percent; sports and recreational articles up by 11.1 percent; household appliances and audio-video equipment up by 12.3 percent; traditional Chinese and western medicines up by 3.1 percent; cultural and office appliances down by 0.3 percent; furniture up by 3.6 percent; communication equipment up by 9.9 percent; petroleum and petroleum products up by 0.3 percent; motor vehicles down by 0.5 percent; and building and decoration materials down by 2.0 percent. Grouped by retail forms, among all the retail enterprises above the designated size, the retail sales of convenience stores increased by 4.7 percent over the previous year, specialty stores grew by 4.2 percent, supermarkets increased by 2.7 percent, department stores down by 2.4 percent, and brand stores down by 0.4 percent.

In 2024, the online retail sales of physical goods[40] were 12,787.8 billion yuan, up by 6.5 percent over the previous year, accounting for 26.5 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

VI. Investment in Fixed Assets

The total investment in fixed assets of the country in 2024 was 52,091.6 billion yuan, up by 3.1 percent over the previous year[41]. The investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 51,437.4 billion yuan, up by 3.2 percent, among which the investment in purchase of equipment and instruments increased by 15.7 percent. Of the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households), by region[42], the investment in eastern region was up by 1.3 percent, central region up by 5.0 percent, western region up by 2.4 percent, and northeastern region up by 4.2 percent.

Of the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households), the investment in the primary industry was 954.3 billion yuan, up by 2.6 percent over the previous year; that in the secondary industry was 17,906.4 billion yuan, up by 12.0 percent; and that in the tertiary industry was 32,576.7 billion yuan, down by 1.1 percent. The investment in infrastructure[43] increased by 4.4 percent. The investment in social sector[44] went down by 2.5 percent. The private investment[45] was 25,757.4 billion yuan, down by 0.1 percent; the private project investment increased by 6.0 percent with the investment in real estate development deducted. By sectors, the private investment in manufacturing increased by 10.8 percent and in infrastructure increased by 5.8 percent.

Figure 15: Shares of Investment in Fixed Assets (Excluding Rural Households) of the Three Industries in 2024

Table 7: Growth Rates of Investment in Fixed Assets (Excluding Rural Households) by Sectors in 2024

Table 8: Newly Increased Production and Operation Capacity through Fixed Assets Investment in 2024

In 2024, the investment in real estate development was 10,028.0 billion yuan, down by 10.6 percent over the previous year[47]. Of this total, the investment in residential buildings reached 7,604.0 billion yuan, a decrease of 10.5 percent, that in office buildings was 416.0 billion yuan, down by 9.0 percent, and that in buildings for commercial business was 694.4 billion yuan, down by 13.9 percent. In 2024, the floor space of newly-built commercial buildings sold[48] was 973.85 million square meters. The floor space of second-hand housing online transactions[49] reached 718.12 million square meters. The floor space of newly-built commercial buildings for sale was 753.27 million square meters at the end of 2024, among which the floor space of the commercial residential buildings for sale was 390.88 million square meters.

Table 9: Main Indicators for Real Estate Development and Sales and Growth Rates in 2024

In 2024, 1.80 million units of government-subsidized housing for sale, government-subsidized rental housing and public rental housing were started to be built or made available; 1.89 million units of resettlement housing for urban village renovation were started to be built or made available, 79 thousand units of dilapidated housing in urban areas were started to be renovated; 58 thousand old urban residential communities were newly started to be renovated, benefiting 9.66 million households; renovation on dilapidated housing and for earthquake resistance of housing in rural areas were started for 239 thousand households, targeting key groups such as low-income rural population.???

VII. Foreign Economic Relations

The total value of imports and exports of goods in 2024 reached 43,846.8 billion yuan, up by 5.0 percent over that of the previous year. Of this total, the value of goods exported was 25,454.5 billion yuan, up by 7.1 percent; the value of goods imported was 18,392.3 billion yuan, up by 2.3 percent. The surplus of trade in goods reached 7,062.3 billion yuan. The total value of imports and exports between China and countries along the Belt and Road[50] was 22,068.5 billion yuan, an increase of 6.4 percent over that of the previous year. Of this total, the value of exports was 12,209.5 billion yuan, up by 9.6 percent; the value of imports was 9,858.9 billion yuan, up by 2.7 percent. The total value of imports and exports between China and other Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries[51] was 13,164.5 billion yuan, up by 4.5 percent over that of the previous year. The total value of imports and exports by private enterprises was 24,332.9 billion yuan, up by 8.8 percent over that of the previous year, accounting for 55.5 percent of the total value of imports and exports. Of this total, the value of exports was 16,471.7 billion yuan, up by 9.4 percent.

Figure 16: Total Value of Imports and Exports of Goods 2020-2024

Table 10: Total Value and Growth Rates of Imports and Exports of Goods in 2024

Table 11: Volume and Value of Main Export Commodities and the Growth Rates in 2024

Table 12: Volume and Value of Main Import Commodities and the Growth Rates in 2024

Table 13: Imports and Exports of Goods with Major Countries and Regions, Growth Rates and Proportions in 2024

The total value of imports and exports of services in 2024 was 7,523.8 billion yuan, up by 14.4 percent over that of the previous year. The export value of services was 3,175.6 billion yuan, up by 18.2 percent. The import value of services was 4,348.2 billion yuan, up by 11.8 percent. The trade deficit in imports and exports of services was 1,172.7 billion yuan.

The year 2024 witnessed the new establishment of 59,080 foreign-invested enterprises, up by 9.9 percent over that of the previous year, and the foreign investment actually utilized totaled 826.3 billion yuan, down by 27.1 percent, or 116.2 billion US dollars, down by 28.8 percent. Specifically, a total of 17,172 enterprises were newly established with investment from countries along the Belt and Road (including investment in China via free ports), up by 23.8 percent; and the direct foreign investment in China reached 114.7 billion yuan, down by 6.2 percent, or 16.1 billion US dollars, down by 8.4 percent. The foreign investment actually utilized by high technology industry reached 286.4 billion yuan, down by 32.3 percent, or 40.3 billion US dollars, down by 34.0 percent.

Table 14: Total Value of Foreign Direct Investment and the Growth Rates in 2024

In 2024, the non-financial outbound direct investment reached 1,024.5 billion yuan, up by 11.7 percent over that of the previous year, or 143.8 billion US dollars, up by 10.5 percent. Of this total, the investment to countries along the Belt and Road reached 239.9 billion yuan, up by 6.5 percent, or 33.7 billion US dollars, up by 5.4 percent.

Table 15: Total Value and Growth Rates of Non-financial Outbound Direct Investment in 2024

In 2024, the accomplished business revenue through contracted overseas engineering projects was 1,182.0 billion yuan, up by 4.2 percent over that of the previous year, or 166.0 billion US dollars, up by 3.1 percent. Specifically, the accomplished business revenue from countries along the Belt and Road was 138.8 billion US dollars, up by 3.4 percent, accounting for 83.6 percent of the accomplished business revenue through contracted overseas engineering projects. The number of labor forces sent abroad through overseas labor contracts was 0.41 million.

Source:

[38] The data of the total retail sales of consumer goods were revised in accordance with the results of the Fifth National Economic Census.

[39] The retail sales of services refer to the total value of services directly provided by enterprises (establishments, self-employed units) to individuals and other units for non-production and non-operating purposes in the form of transactions. It aims to reflect the value of services with the nature of consumption sold by service providers in monetary terms, including the retail sales of services in transportation, accommodation, catering, education, health, sports, entertainment and other fields.

[40] See Note 19.

[41] Due to the methodology reform of investment statistics, the revision of data based on the results of the Fifth National Economic Census, the statistical law enforcement and other factors, the growth rates of relevant indicators of investment in fixed assets in 2024 were calculated on a comparable basis.

[42] See Note 20.

[43] Investment in infrastructure includes investment in railway transportation, highway transportation, waterway transportation, civil aviation transportation, pipeline transportation, multi-modal transportation and forwarding agency, loading, unloading and delivery, postal service, telecommunication, radio, TV and satellite transmission, internet and related services, management of water conservancy, ecological conservation and environmental governance, and management of public facilities.

[44] Investment in social sector includes investment in education, health and social services, culture, sports and entertainment.

[45] Private investment refers to investment in the construction or purchase of fixed assets in the country by domestic collective, private and individual-owned survey units or their holding units (including absolute holding and relative holding).

[46] The investment in real estate includes the investment in real estate development, construction of buildings for own use, property management, intermediary services and other real estate investment.

[47] The historical data of indicators such as real estate development and sales of newly-built commercial buildings were revised in accordance with the results of the Fifth National Economic Census. The growth rates of 2024 were calculated on a comparable basis.

[48] The floor space of newly-built commercial buildings sold refers to the total contract floor space of newly-built commercial buildings sold by real estate development enterprises within the reporting period.

[49] The floor space of second-hand housing online transactions refers to the total contract floor space of second-hand housing online transactions in urban areas within the reporting period.

[50] The Belt and Road refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

[51] Other Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

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