China's economy grows steadily in July as high-tech sector accelerates

China's economy maintained stable and progressive growth in July, with industrial production and domestic demand showing resilience, official data released Friday showed.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed that industrial output expanded by 5.7 percent year-on-year in July, with equipment manufacturing up 8.4 percent and high-tech manufacturing surging 9.3 percent, underscoring the country's push to cultivate advanced productive forces.

On the consumption front, retail sales rose 3.7 percent year-on-year to 3.88 trillion yuan ($540 billion) in July, reflecting steady domestic demand. In the first seven months of the year, total retail sales reached 28.4 trillion yuan, up 4.8 percent from the same period last year.

E-commerce remained a key driver, with online retail sales jumping 9.2 percent in January-July, of which physical goods sales accounted for 24.9 percent of total retail consumption.

Fixed-asset investment (excluding rural households) grew 1.6 percent in the first seven months, but when excluding real estate development, the figure rises to 5.3 percent, signaling continued structural adjustments in the property sector.

Inflation remained subdued, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) flat year-on-year in July but up 0.4 percent month-on-month. For the January-July period, CPI saw a slight decline of 0.1 percent, indicating stable price levels.

The latest figures follow China's better-than-expected 5.3 percent GDP growth in the first half of 2025, reinforcing its position as a stabilizing force in the global economy.

"The national economy has sustained a steady recovery, with new growth drivers gaining momentum and high-quality development making new progress," the NBS said in a statement.