Ningbo’s Economic Growth Bodes Well for Firm Recovery in Jan-Feb 2022: Official Data
Ningbo Port handled 4.975 million TEUs in the January-February.
Official data shows a sound momentum in Ningbo’s economic operations. Amid of the contribution of macroeconomic policy and market entities, the key economic indicators have suggested an increase in Ningbo’s supply and demand, and most other indicators shore up growth compared to last December as well as the average growth over the past two years. This is according the report of economic operations in the Jan-Feb period released by Ningbo Municipal Statistics Bureau.
Industry was the main driver boosting engine of the economy. In the first two months of 2022, Ningbo’s value-added industrial output of industrial enterprises above the designated size stood at 80.71 billion yuan – up 8.7% year on year – and the growth rate went up 5.8 percentage points from last December. Among 35 major industry departments of the city, 27 achieved positive growth in value-added industrial output. These included the artificial intelligence industry, equipment manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing and strategic emerging manufacturing, where added values increased by 10.9%, 10.7%, 10.0% and 8.8% respectively. Meanwhile, the sales volume of the industry reached 341.56 billion yuan – up 14.3% year on year – and an export delivery value 63 billion yuan, 12.8%.
The services maintained stability with steady progress in efficient investment. In the January-February period, merchandise sales of Ningbo enterprises above designated size and the like rose by 9.4% year on year. The total freight volume was 110 million tons with an increase of 8.7%, and the cargo throughput of Ningbo Zhoushan Port 198.726 million tons (up 2.8%), to which Ningbo Port contributed 102.107 million tons (up 2.1%). The container throughput of Ningbo Zhoushan Port grew by 1.1% to 5.254 million TEUs while Ningbo Port handled 4.975 million TEUs with an increase of 2.0%.
In this period, Ningbo’s fixed asset investment gained 15.1% year on year, 6.9 percentage points higher than the two-year average growth rate in 2021. In particular, investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, high-tech industry, and transportation jumped by 16.2%, 26.4%, 15.6%, and 22.7%, respectively.
The consumer market boded well for recovery. In January and February, Ningbo’s total retail sales of consumer goods reached 72.17 billion yuan with a year-on-year increase of 6.8%, 10.4 and 2.4 percentage points higher than that of last December and the two-year average growth rate in 2021 respectively.
Imports and exports grew rapidly, notably in private enterprises. In these two months, Ningbo’s total self-operated foreign trade imports and exports raked in 205.33 billion yuan, up 19.6% year on year, 4.2 and 5.7 percentage points higher than that of last December and the two-year average growth rate in 2021 respectively. Specifically, the export gained 21.3% to 135.12 billion yuan while the import rose 16.5% to 70.21 billion yuan. The import and export of private enterprises climbed by 20.8%, accounting for 70.5% of the total. Exports of mechanical and electrical goods rose by 21%, occupying 57.7% of all exports.
According to the data on commodity prices, Ningbo’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 1.3% year on year in this period. The growth increased by 1.2% year on year and 0.7% month on month during February. The ex-factory price index of industrial producers was 108.4, and the purchase price index was 119.6 in these two months. In February the former climbed by 8.4% year on year, and the latter 19.5%.