【Macroeconomics】In the first half of 2025, China’s GDP totaled 66,053.6 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.3%.

In the first half of the year, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all 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, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implemented the new development philosophy, accelerated the establishment of a new development pattern, coordinated domestic economic work with international economic and trade struggles, and effectively carried out more proactive and effective macro policies. As a result, the national economy withstood pressure and rose to challenges, with overall economic performance remaining stable and showing steady improvement. Production and demand grew steadily, the employment situation remained generally stable, residents’ incomes continued to rise, new growth drivers expanded and strengthened, high-quality development achieved new progress, and the overall social situation remained stable.

 

On July 15, the National Bureau of Statistics released economic data for the first half of the year.
In the first half of the year, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all 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, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implemented the new development philosophy, accelerated the establishment of a new development pattern, coordinated domestic economic work with international economic and trade struggles, and effectively carried out more proactive and effective macro policies. As a result, the national economy withstood pressure and rose to challenges, with overall economic performance remaining stable and showing steady improvement. Production and demand grew steadily, the employment situation remained generally stable, residents’ incomes continued to rise, new growth drivers expanded and strengthened, high-quality development achieved new progress, and the overall social situation remained stable.

Preliminary calculations show that China’s GDP for the first half of the year totaled 66,053.6 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.3% at constant prices. By sector, the value added of the primary industry was 3,117.2 billion yuan, up 3.7% year-on-year; the value added of the secondary industry was 23,905 billion yuan, up 5.3%; and the value added of the tertiary industry was 39,031.4 billion yuan, up 5.5%. By quarter, GDP grew by 5.4% year-on-year in the first quarter and by 5.2% in the second quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP rose by 1.1% in the second quarter.

 

From January to June, China’s crude steel production totaled 514.83 million tons, down 3.0% year-on-year; pig iron production reached 434.68 million tons, down 0.8% year-on-year; and steel product output amounted to 734.38 million tons, up 4.6% year-on-year. Industrial production grew relatively rapidly, with equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing showing strong growth momentum. In the first half of the year, the value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide increased by 6.4% year-on-year.

Looking at the three major categories, in June, the value-added of the mining industry increased by 6.1% year-on-year, that of the manufacturing industry rose by 7.4%, and that of the electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply industry grew by 1.8%. By sector, in June, the value-added of 36 out of 41 major industrial sectors maintained year-on-year growth. Among these, coal mining and washing increased by 6.5%; oil and natural gas extraction rose by 3.6%; agricultural and sideline food processing grew by 8.2%; the manufacture of liquor, beverages, and refined tea expanded by 3.4%; the textile industry increased by 2.5%; the manufacture of chemical raw materials and chemical products rose by 7.5%; the non-metallic mineral products industry declined by 0.1%; the ferrous metal smelting and rolling industry grew by 4.1%; the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling industry surged by 9.2%; the general equipment manufacturing industry expanded by 7.8%; the special equipment manufacturing industry grew by 4.6%; the automobile manufacturing industry increased by 11.4%; the railway, shipbuilding, aerospace, and other transportation equipment manufacturing industry rose by 10.1%; the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry expanded by 11.4%; the computer, communications, and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry grew by 11.0%; and the electricity, heat production, and supply industry increased by 1.6%.
By economic type, the value added of state-controlled enterprises increased by 4.2% year-on-year; joint-stock enterprises grew by 6.9%, while enterprises with foreign and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan investments rose by 4.3%; and private enterprises expanded by 6.7%. By product, the output of 3D printing equipment, new-energy vehicles, and industrial robots increased by 43.1%, 36.2%, and 35.6% respectively, compared to the same period last year. In June, the value added of industrial enterprises above designated size rose by 6.8% year-on-year and by 0.50% month-on-month.

 

In June, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 49.7%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month; the index of enterprises’ expectations for production and business activities stood at 52.0%. From January to May, the total profits of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide reached 2,720.4 billion yuan, down 1.1% year-on-year.