China’s Real Economy Steady and Improving: May Shows Growth in Multiple Sectors with Innovation Gaining Momentum

According to the latest VAT invoice data from the State Taxation Administration of China, the real economy continued to strengthen in May, with sales revenue in multiple sectors showing growth.

In May, manufacturing sales accounted for 30.1% of China’s total business sales, providing significant support for economic growth. Notably, the equipment manufacturing sector saw a 7.5% year-on-year increase in sales revenue, with particular growth in railway, shipbuilding, aerospace equipment, as well as computer and communication equipment, and electrical machinery manufacturing—growing by 15.1%, 13.1%, and 8.6% respectively.

At the same time, innovation momentum continued to build. The sales revenue of China’s high-tech industries rose by 15% year-on-year in May, maintaining a rapid growth trend. The core sectors of the digital economy saw a 11.2% year-on-year increase in sales revenue, while enterprise spending on digital technology grew by 10.9%, reflecting the deepening integration of digital and real economies. China's breakthroughs in artificial intelligence applications have accelerated the commercialization of intelligent products. In May, sales revenue in the manufacturing of industrial robots and special operation robots rose by 13.2% and 28.3% year-on-year, respectively, highlighting the advancement of the “AI+” initiative and the accelerating commercialization of embodied intelligence.

Additionally, the private economy showed positive growth. In May, private enterprises’ sales revenue grew 0.9 percentage points faster than the national average, accounting for 72.3% of total national sales revenue. Among these, the sales revenue growth of private enterprises in manufacturing and high-tech industries exceeded that of their counterparts in state-owned enterprises by 1.3 and 0.7 percentage points, respectively.