BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's business news from the past week:
INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 35.1 percent year on year in the first two months of 2021, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
The Jan.-Feb. output represented a 16.9-percent growth compared with the level in the same period of 2019, as well as annual average growth of 8.1 percent in the past two years.
On a monthly basis, China's industrial output increased 0.69 percent in February.
RETAIL SALES
China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption growth, went up 33.8 percent year on year to exceed 6.97 trillion yuan (about 1.07 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first two months of 2021, NBS data showed.
The Jan.-Feb. figure represents a 6.4-percent growth compared with the level in the same period of 2019, as well as an annual average growth of 3.2 percent in the past two years.
Excluding auto consumption, retail sales went up 30.4 percent year on year in the Jan.-Feb. period to reach 6.3 trillion yuan.
INVESTMENT
China's fixed-asset investment (FAI) surged 35 percent year on year in the first two months of 2021, data from the NBS showed.
The FAI amounted to 4.52 trillion yuan in the Jan.-Feb. period, up 3.5 percent from the same period in 2019, according to the NBS.
On a monthly basis, the country's FAI climbed 2.43 percent in February.
HOME PRICES
China continued to see a generally stable housing market in February, with home prices in 70 major cities showing mild month-on-month increases, official data showed.
New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.5 percent month on month in February, compared with a 0.6-percent increase registered in January, according to the NBS.
A total of 31 second-tier cities saw a month-on-month increase of 0.4 percent in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month rise of 0.3 percent in new home prices last month.
ODI
China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) went down 7.9 percent year on year in the first two months of 2021, official data showed.
The ODI amounted to 99.38 billion yuan in the period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
FISCAL REVENUE
China's fiscal revenue surged 18.7 percent year on year in the first two months of 2021, bouncing back from a 3.9-percent decline registered last year, official data showed Thursday.
The country's fiscal revenue totaled 4.18 trillion yuan during the January-February period, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance. Enditem