CPI

In August, the consumer price index (CPI) was 1.3 percent higher than that in the same period last year, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The CPI rose 1.3 percent in urban areas and gained 1.4 percent in rural areas year on year. On a monthly basis, the CPI inched up 0.3 percent from July. From January to August, the CPI rose 1.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

By category, the price of food increased 1.4 percent while that of non-food products went up 1.3 percent from a year ago. Prices of consumer goods and services grew 1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, year on year (see graphs 1 and 2).

Retail Sales

In August, retail sales of consumer goods stood at 607.7 billion yuan, up 13.7 percent over the year-earlier period, according to the NBS. In the first eight months, the total sales volume amounted to 4.85 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.5 percent.

By region, retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas peaked at 408.2 billion yuan in August, rising 14.3 percent over a year ago, and those in rural areas registered a growth of 12.8 percent to 194.7 billion yuan.

By sector, the sales volume of the wholesale and retail sector ticked up 13.7 percent to 509.8 billion yuan, that of the accommodation and catering sector gained 16.8 percent to 82.7 billion yuan, and that of other sectors totaled 15.2 billion yuan, climbing 2.4 percent compared with the same period last year.

Retail sales of food, clothing and commodities for daily use rose 17.2 percent, 18.5 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively, year on year (see graph 3).

Industrial Growth

In August, all state-owned enterprises and non-public enterprises with annual sales revenue exceeding 5 million yuan (enterprises above the designated size) completed 735.6 billion yuan in added value, edging up 15.7 percent year on year, said the NBS (see graphs 4 and 5).

The sales ratio of industrial products arrived at 98.74 percent, 0.67 percentage point higher than the rate a year ago. Their export delivery value amounted to 505.3 billion yuan, up 23.9 percent compared with the same period last year.

From January to August, the added value of enterprises above the designated size totaled 5.44 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.3 percent.

Fixed Assets Investment

From January to August, the aggregate fixed assets investment in urban areas was 5.26 trillion yuan, shooting up 29.1 percent compared with the same period last year, said the NBS (see graph 6). State-owned and state-holding enterprises and the real estate development sector completed investment of 2.47 trillion yuan and 1.11 trillion yuan, respectively, increasing 18.4 percent and 24 percent year on year.

The investment in projects budged by the state treasury was 568.2 billion yuan, a rise of 29.4 percent over the year-earlier period, and that in local projects stood at 4.69 trillion yuan, surging 29.1 percent year on year.

By industry, the investment in primary, secondary and tertiary industries reached 54.8 billion yuan, 2.29 trillion yuan and 2.92 trillion yuan, respectively, shooting up 38.2 percent, 32 percent and 26.8 percent year on year.

During the January-August period, the investment made by domestic enterprises reached 4.65 trillion yuan, edging up 29.8 percent compared with the same period last year. The investment made by enterprises with capital from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and by foreign-funded enterprises stood at 243.4 billion yuan and 339.5 billion yuan, respectively, up 16.5 percent and 24.8 percent year on year.

At the end of August, 207,714 projects each valued at 500,000 yuan or above were under construction, 30,863 more than the number in the same period last year. The planned investment totaled 17.99 trillion yuan, ticking up 23.5 percent year on year. Of the total, the number of newly started projects was 131,086, which was 17,297 more than a year ago, with the total planned investment of 4.45 trillion yuan, growing 11.4 percent from a year ago.

In the first eight months, the paid-in capital totaled 6.04 trillion yuan, a rise of 30.1 percent over the year-earlier period. Of this, domestic loans, foreign investment and self-collected funds rose by 29.8 percent, 18.6 percent and 33.4 percent, respectively, year on year.

Accommodation and Catering

From January to August, retail sales of the accommodation and catering industry reached 653.76 billion yuan, an increase of 88.49 billion yuan over the same period last year, said the Ministry of Commerce. The sector's retail sales accounted for 13.5 percent of the nation's total retail sales of consumer goods, contributing 2.1 percentage points to the overall growth of retail sales of consumer goods. The industry's year-on-year sales growth, 15.7 percent, was 2.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth of retail sales of consumer goods.

In August alone, retail sales of the industry were 82.7 billion yuan, edging up 16.8 percent over a year ago. The year-on-year increase of the industry was 3 percentage points higher than the overall growth of the total retail sales of consumer goods during this month.

In the first eight months, the sector saw the approval of 693 foreign-funded enterprises, a drop of 6.6 percent from the same period last year. The commitment and paid-in capital stood at $1.77 billion and $450 million, respectively, up 13.3 percent and 25 percent year on year.

Creative Industry Expo

The First China Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo will be held in Beijing on December 10-14. Covering a total floor space of 40,000 square meters with 11 exhibition areas, the expo is aimed at "introducing to the world excellent products of China's cultural and creative industry to attract both domestic and foreign capital and technologies for cooperation in this industry."

Ten specialty exhibition areas will cater to the cultural and creative industry's companies and achievements in radio, film and television, publication and copyright trade, art performance, cartoons, flash, games and software, advertising, conferences and exhibitions, tourism resorts and product design, industrial design, fashion design, architectural design, paintings and calligraphy, handicrafts and sculpture.