On July 15, the National Bureau of Statistics released preliminary GDP results for Q2 and the first half of 2026. Data showed H1 GDP at 69.5704 trillion yuan, up 4.7% year-on-year at constant prices.
Quarter-on-quarter, Q2 GDP grew 0.9%. By industry, primary sector value-added was 3.3038 trillion yuan, up 3.8%; secondary sector was 25.0473 trillion yuan, up 3.9%; tertiary sector was 41.3709 trillion yuan, up 5.2%.
In industrial production, above-scale industrial value-added grew 5.4% year-on-year in H1. Mining grew 3.6%, manufacturing 5.6%, and electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply 5.5%. Output of 3D printing equipment, lithium-ion batteries, and industrial robots grew 48.5%, 39.3%, and 28.0% respectively, as new quality productive forces accelerated.
In consumer markets, total retail sales of consumer goods and services grew 2.7% year-on-year, with service retail up 5.3% and goods retail up 1.1%. June retail sales turned positive at 1.0% after declining the previous month.
In foreign trade, total goods imports and exports reached 25.4686 trillion yuan, up 16.9%. Exports were 14.7314 trillion yuan, up 13.4%; imports were 10.7372 trillion yuan, up 22.1%. Trade with Belt and Road partner countries grew 14.8%.
On employment, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2% in H1, unchanged year-on-year and down 0.1 percentage points from Q1. From January to May, 5.56 million new urban jobs were created.
On prices, CPI rose 1.0% year-on-year in H1, with core CPI up 1.2%. PPI turned positive at 1.5%.
On income, per capita disposable income nationwide was 22,981 yuan, up 5.2% nominally. Urban residents' per capita disposable income was 30,126 yuan; rural residents' was 12,699 yuan, with the urban-rural ratio narrowing to 2.37.