In the past half month, China’s economy has continued to show a steady and progressive trend, with positive signals emerging in multiple fields such as manufacturing, consumption, foreign trade and policy support. The latest economic data and a series of policy deployments have further consolidated the foundation for stable growth, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality amid complex domestic and international situations.
On April 30th, the National Bureau of Statistics released the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for April 2026. The manufacturing PMI stood at 50.3%, a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, remaining above the 50.0% boom-bust line, indicating that the manufacturing sector maintained a stable prosperity level. Among them, the production index rose 0.1 percentage points to 51.5%, reflecting accelerated manufacturing activities, while the new order index remained at 50.6%, showing that market demand continued to expand. Medium and small enterprises performed prominently, with their PMIs rising to 50.5% and 50.1% respectively, both above the critical point, indicating improved vitality of small and medium-sized market entities.
Consumption market continued to release vitality, becoming a key driving force for domestic demand growth. Since April, the “spring economy” has been in full swing, with the overlap of Qingming Festival and spring vacation boosting cultural and tourism consumption significantly. Scenic spots in Anhui, Ningxia and other regions have seen a sharp increase in tourist arrivals, and the pre-bookings for the May Day holiday in many hotels have exceeded 80.0%. Meanwhile, the trade-in program for consumer goods has achieved remarkable results, with sales reaching 502.94 billion yuan by April 12th, benefiting 69.777 million people, and sales of automobiles, home appliances and other categories remaining booming. New consumption scenarios such as immersive tourism and technological tourism have emerged, further enriching the consumption supply.
High-level opening-up has been continuously advanced, with various exhibitions showing strong attractiveness. As of April 27th, the first two phases of the 139th Canton Fair had attracted 245,000 overseas purchasers from 219 countries and regions, an increase of 2.2% year-on-year. The 6th China International Consumer Products Expo held in Hainan in mid-April gathered 3,413 consumer product brands from 67 countries and regions, with international exhibits accounting for 65.0% of the total, an increase of 20 percentage points from the previous session. These exhibitions have not only promoted trade exchanges but also reflected global confidence in China’s industrial chain resilience and innovation capacity.
Policy support has been further strengthened to stabilize economic growth. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting on April 28th, emphasizing greater efforts and more practical measures to do a good job in economic work, and deploying a series of key tasks including expanding domestic demand, accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system, and effectively preventing and resolving key risks. The meeting stressed the precise implementation of a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately loose monetary policy, maintaining ample liquidity and optimizing the structure of fiscal expenditure. In addition, the State Council issued an opinion on promoting the expansion and quality improvement of the service industry, providing policy guidance for the high-quality development of the service industry.
Industry insiders pointed out that in the past half month, China’s economy has maintained a stable operation trend, with positive changes in both supply and demand sides. Although there are still some challenges such as the slight decline in the non-manufacturing PMI, the overall economic resilience is prominent. With the continuous implementation of various policies and measures, China’s economy is expected to further release growth potential and lay a solid foundation for achieving a good start in the 14th Five-Year Plan period.