[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Kim Hyunjung] Major economic indicators in China deteriorated in November, showing a clear trend of economic slowdown. This is interpreted as an effect of the final phase of epidemic control measures to respond to the spread of COVID-19, which restricted economic activities.
On the 15th, the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced that retail sales in China decreased by 5.9% year-on-year in November. This figure is significantly below the previous month's figure (-0.5%) and experts' forecast (-3.7%). On a cumulative basis from January to November, retail sales declined by 0.09% compared to the same period last year.
Production also showed sluggishness. Industrial production in November increased by only 2.2% year-on-year, falling short of experts' forecast (3.6%) and the previous month's figure (5.0%). On a cumulative basis from January to November, it increased by 3.8%. During the same period, fixed asset investment rose by 5.3%, which was below the previous month's figure (5.8%) and the forecast (5.6%).
In response to the sluggish economic trend, China plans to expand domestic demand. The day before, the State Council of China notified all provincial governments and departments nationwide of the "Domestic Demand Expansion Strategy Plan (2022?2035)" and stated, "The domestic demand expansion strategy is an inevitable choice to accelerate the establishment of a new development pattern."
Key tasks include modernizing supply capacity and system development, promoting urbanization such as rural development, advancing and upgrading traditional consumption like clothing and food, actively developing service consumption such as cultural tourism, expanding consumption of elderly care and childcare services, improving the quality of medical and educational services, and promoting mass sports consumption. Additionally, it called for focusing on integrated development of online and offline consumption, research and development (R&D) of services based on autonomous driving, unmanned delivery, online learning services, and sharing economy technologies. It also mentioned the need for tax reform, improvement of expenditure responsibility sharing between central and local governments, and equalization and redistribution of basic public services such as education, care, medical care, and housing security.
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