According to data released by the China Light Industry Federation, in the first two months of this year, China's light industry enterprises above designated size achieved a revenue of 3.26 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%. Realized a profit of 197.38 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.9%. The profit margin of operating revenue was 6.1%, an increase of 1.1 percentage points year-on-year, and the profitability level continued to improve.
In the first two months, with the continuous release of macroeconomic combination policy effects, the endogenous momentum of the economy continued to recover, and the development momentum of consumer goods manufacturing industry tended to strengthen. The light industry has seen a rapid recovery in production, continuous improvement in profitability, steady growth in the domestic consumer market, an increase in light industry exports, a rapid recovery in industry investment, stable market expectations for major light industries, and a continued upward trend in the light industry economy.
In the first two months, the added value of light industry above designated size increased by 6.7% year-on-year, an increase of 4.9 percentage points compared to the end of last year. Among the 91 major light industrial products counted by the National Bureau of Statistics, 75 products achieved growth, with a growth rate of 82.4%.
With the continuous improvement of domestic consumer demand and the gradual enhancement of market vitality, the market for light industrial consumer goods is steadily growing. In the first two months, the retail sales of 11 categories of light industry commodities reached 1295.5 billion yuan, accounting for 15.9% of the total retail sales of consumer goods in society, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. Online consumption continues to grow, with the online retail sales of physical goods reaching 1820.6 billion yuan, an increase of 14.4%, accounting for 22.4% of the total retail sales of consumer goods in society; In the online retail sales of physical goods, food and consumer goods increased by 26.1% and 10.8% respectively.
From the perspective of export delivery value, in the first two months, the export delivery value of light industry enterprises above designated size decreased by 3.7% year-on-year last year and increased by 3.5%. The export delivery value of industries such as papermaking, household appliances, lighting, plastics, furniture, toys, etc. has maintained double-digit growth.
Although light industry production achieved rapid growth in the first two months, the overall recovery level is weaker than that of large-scale industries and manufacturing. In the first two months, the growth rate of added value in light industry was 0.3 percentage points lower than that of regular industries during the same period, and 1.0 percentage point lower than that of manufacturing industry.
"Light industry products have strong consumer attributes. Driven by the support of rigid demand and the continuous release of new consumer demand, and supported by policies to stabilize growth and promote consumption, the performance of the consumer market will continue to stabilize and improve. China's light industry system is complete, with strong supporting capabilities and a high degree of marketization. With the continuous manifestation of the effects of policies and measures to stabilize the economy, expand domestic demand, and promote consumption, the foundation for China's economic stabilization and improvement will continue to be consolidated, and the advantages of light industry with good resilience, stable development, and great potential will continue to emerge." Zhang Chonghe said.
Data shows that in 2023, the number of household appliances in major categories such as refrigerators and washing machines in China exceeded 3 billion. As the demand for durable consumer goods enters a concentrated release period, exchanging old for new can leverage consumers to convert potential demand into real demand, driving the growth of the light industry economy.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that this year, we will focus on key cutting-edge fields such as biomanufacturing and smart homes, and proactively layout future industries such as high-performance fibers to promote the high-quality development of light industry.