Chinese economy off to robust start in 2025 as growth gains momentum

The Chinese economy has maintained good growth momentum, starting the year on a steady note with sound industrial performances and impactful macro policies, official data revealed on Monday.

During January and February 2025, most key indicators saw solid increases, employment remained generally stable, and new quality productive forces continued to grow, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Given the economy's sound performance in the first two months, China has more favorable conditions to achieve its full-year growth target of around 5 percent for 2025, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said at a press conference.

A good start

In the first two months of 2025, China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, increased 5.9 percent year over year. In February, industrial output grew 0.51 percent from January.

The country's fixed-asset investment totaled 5.2619 trillion yuan (about $734 billion) during the January-February period. It increased 4.1 percent year over year and was 0.9 percentage points higher than the full-year growth rate of 2024.

Investment in infrastructure construction rose 5.6 percent from a year ago during the two months, and manufacturing investment increased 9 percent.

The services sector also registered accelerated growth in the period, with its official production index growing 5.6 percent year over year at a rate 0.4 percentage points faster than the 2024 whole-year growth rate.

Retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of a country's consumption strength, climbed 4 percent year over year in the first two months of 2025 to over 8.37 trillion yuan, according to the NBS data.

The country's overall employment landscape has remained stable, with the average surveyed urban unemployment rate standing at 5.3 percent, level with the January-February period of last year.

Fu attributed the upbeat momentum to the synergistic effects of existing and incremental policies, highlighting the implementation of a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately loose monetary policy this year.

Favorable growth conditions

The country's sound economic performance in the first two months has laid a good foundation for success in meeting its annual growth target, given that the synergistic effects of macro policies have gained momentum, that reform and opening up have been deepened comprehensively, and that confidence has strengthened, Fu said.

Looking ahead, China possesses multiple favorable conditions to maintain stable, healthy economic development, the spokesperson added.

Highlighting its solid industrial foundations and strengthened new growth drivers, Fu said that China is the only country in the world with all industrial categories listed in the United Nations Industrial Classification, and its manufacturing scale has led globally for 15 consecutive years, with "Made in China" products meeting both domestic and global demand.

China's integration of advanced manufacturing and production services is progressing rapidly, and policies focusing on the improvement of livelihoods have created favorable conditions for consumer services, Fu noted.

Breakthroughs in the field of artificial intelligence have amplified opportunities for industrial upgrading, the spokesperson said.

In terms of the market and consumption, Fu said that China's market offers immense growth potential, with a population of over 1.4 billion and a per capita GDP exceeding $13,000. The expansion of new types of consumption, such as spending in the green and digital sectors, as well as service consumption in areas such as elderly care and childcare, will become a significant driving force for consumption growth.

Reform and opening up remain the lifeblood of China's progress, according to the spokesperson. Over 300 reform initiatives put forward at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in July last year will stimulate productivity further and inject vitality into the economy.

The incremental policy packages that China unveiled last year have revitalized market confidence and spurred market vitality, Fu said, adding that 2025 marks the final year of China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and that work to achieve the national growth target of around 5 percent requires arduous efforts.

Fu stressed the importance of seizing the current opportunities in economic recovery, enhancing the implementation of various macroeconomic policies, and deepening comprehensive reform further, among other efforts, to achieve the country's economic and social development goals.