Bloomberg:

Can the NBS provide the contribution rates that final consumption expenditure, net exports and total capital formation made to economic growth in the second quarter? Thank you.

Sheng Laiyun:

Let me brief you on some key data. In the first half of the year, the three drivers of economic growth contributed as follows: final consumption expenditure contributed 52% to economic growth, gross capital formation contributed 16.8%, and net exports of goods and services contributed 31.2%. Breaking this down for the second quarter specifically: final consumption expenditure contributed 52.3% to economic growth, slightly higher than in the first quarter. Meanwhile, gross capital formation contributed 24.7%, while net exports of goods and services contributed 23%. These figures clearly show that domestic demand, especially consumption, remains the primary driver of GDP growth. Thank you.

Economic Daily:

According to the released data, investment growth rates fluctuated during the first half of the year. What factors caused this volatility? How do you assess the investment outlook for the second half of the year? Thank you.

Sheng Laiyun:

Thanks for your questions. Investment growth did fluctuate in the first half of the year. Regarding investment trends, I'd like to share several key points.

First, while nominal investment growth slowed in the first half of the year, fixed-asset investment showed generally stable real growth after price adjustments, and the investment mix also improved. The newly released data shows that fixed asset investment in the first half of the year totaled 24.9 trillion yuan, a nominal increase of 2.8%. However, as you know, prices for production materials, especially construction materials, have dropped significantly since the beginning of this year. When adjusted for these price changes, fixed-asset investment shows a real growth rate of 5.3%. While this is down 0.3 percentage point from the same period last year, it's up 0.5 percentage point from last year's full-year real growth rate. Therefore, the decline in investment growth is not as steep as the nominal growth rate suggests. It's largely stable. Considering price factors, the actual volume of investment activity is quite robust. In addition, the investment mix is also improving. In the first half of the year, manufacturing investment increased 7.5%, accounting for 25.2% of fixed-asset investment, up 1.1 percentage points compared with the same period last year. High-tech services investment also climbed 8.6%, well above the growth rate of fixed-asset investment. These indicators confirm the ongoing improvement in the investment mix.

Second, the fluctuation and slight decline in investment growth reflect both immediate factors and deeper underlying issues. The immediate factors include the complex and volatile external environment, downward price pressures, and heightened business competition, leading market participants to adopt more conservative investment approaches. Looking at deeper factors, China's new development stage has triggered changes in its development approach and a handoff from old to new driving forces. Investment in traditional industries is relatively saturated, requiring capacity reduction in some areas. For example, real estate investment continued to decline in the first half of this year. The adjustment of these traditional sectors will increase pressure on investment growth in the short term. We therefore need to view investment growth changes comprehensively.

Third, the potential for fixed-asset investment is still very large at this stage, so it is important to encourage private investment enthusiasm. The slowdown in investment growth does not mean that investment opportunities are shrinking. There is enormous potential for investment in high-quality development, including new quality productive forces, urban renewal and transformation, and addressing gaps in public services — all areas that require effective investment. Therefore, we should better align with the requirements of high-quality development, optimize investment allocation, improve the investment environment, fully mobilize private investment enthusiasm, and continue to promote healthy investment development. Thank you.