BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's business news from the past week:
GDP
China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 12.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2021 as recovery continues to firm, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.
The figure puts average H1 growth for the past two years at 5.3 percent, 0.3 percentage points faster than the two-year average of Q1 growth from the 2019 level, according to the NBS.
In the second quarter, the country's GDP grew 7.9 percent year on year, the data showed. On a quarterly basis, the economy increased 1.3 percent in Q2.
RETAIL SALES
China's retail sales of consumer goods jumped 23 percent year on year in H1.
The two-year average growth stood at 4.4 percent, 0.2 percentage points faster than that in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, retail sales went up 13.9 percent year on year, bringing the average growth for the past two years to 4.6 percent.
INVESTMENT
China's fixed-asset investment went up 12.6 percent year on year in H1, compared with the 15.4-percent increase in the first five months.
Total fixed-asset investment came in at 25.59 trillion yuan (about 3.96 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first half, according to the NBS.
INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 15.9 percent year on year in the first half of this year.
The figure puts average H1 growth for the past two years at 7 percent, 0.2 percentage points faster than the two-year average of Q1 growth from the 2019 level.
HOME PRICES
New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.7 percent month on month in June, according to NBS data.
The growth rate was flat with the expansion seen in May. Prices of second-hand homes in the four cities gained 0.7 percent last month, up 0.1 percentage points from the growth in May. Enditem