National Bureau of Statistics · Full chronicle and history

According to the Associated Press, data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on October 31 showed that the manufacturing PMI for October fell from 50.1 in September to 49.3, the new export orders index dropped from 50.0 to 48.7, and the production index fell from 51.7 to 49.8, indicating that factory activity has shifted from expansion to contraction.

On October 19, the National Bureau of Statistics released data on residents' income and consumption expenditure for the first three quarters of 2026: the national per capita disposable income was 34,230 yuan, up 5.3% year on year; per capita consumption expenditure was 22,354 yuan, up 3.6% year on year, lower than the income growth rate.

On October 19, Mao Shengyong, spokesperson and deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics, introduced economic data for the first three quarters, saying that employment was generally stable and releasing the national average weekly working hours for enterprise employees at 48.3 hours.

On October 14, the National Bureau of Statistics released September data: the PPI rose 5.0% year-on-year, the largest increase since June 2022; the CPI rose only 0.9%, below market expectations, driven mainly by higher gasoline prices; the core CPI rose 1.0% year-on-year, unchanged from August. Reuters noted that weak domestic demand limits companies' ability to pass on costs.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officially released economic data for September and the third quarter, showing exports hitting a record high in a single month, PPI rising 5% year-on-year, and new aggregate financing of 3.55 trillion yuan, presenting a recovery narrative; however, at the micro level, new household loans stood at zero, and profits of mid- and downstream firms were severely eroded by the scissors gap.

At the September 15 press conference of the State Council Information Office, the National Bureau of Statistics announced that the average urban surveyed unemployment rate for January to August nationwide was 5.2%, with the August monthly rate at 5.3% and a month‑on‑month increase of 0.1 percentage point. The authorities described the employment situation as overall stable, prompting netizens to mock and question statistical rules such as the exclusion of flexible employment from unemployment counts.

The National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that national fixed-asset investment fell 7.2% year on year from January to August, while real estate development investment fell 19.9% year on year.

On September 15, the National Bureau of Statistics announced that from January to August, national fixed-asset investment fell 7.2% year-on-year, private investment fell 10.1%, state-controlled investment fell 3.6%, and infrastructure investment fell 4.0%.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on September 15 showed that in August this year, the average weekly working hours of enterprise employees nationwide were 48.2 hours, far exceeding the 35 hours that Pang Donglai plans to implement.

China's National Bureau of Statistics released fixed-asset investment data for January to August. Investment nationwide fell 7.2% year-on-year, while in the Northeast region fixed-asset investment dropped 25.5%, with Liaoning down nearly 30% in the first half of the year.

On August 17, 2026, China's National Bureau of Statistics rarely broke its long-standing convention of releasing data in the morning, postponing the July national economic data to 3 p.m., after the A-share market closed, sparking market concerns that the data was under pressure.

On August 8, 2026, China's National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that the Consumer Price Index for July rose 0.5% year-on-year and the Producer Price Index rose 3.5% year-on-year, both below market expectations, indicating insufficient momentum for domestic demand recovery.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) released good news claiming that profits of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 18.7% year-on-year in the first half of the year, but actual performance showed severe industrial divergence, with the majority of profits swallowed by a few upstream industries.

On July 15, 2026, China's National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that national GDP grew 4.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, while growth in the second quarter slowed to 4.3%, falling short of the full-year target, with real estate investment down 18% year-on-year.

In the first half of the year, national real estate development investment fell 18% year-on-year, further widening from the previous -15.2%; new residential construction starts fell 23.4%, sales fell 13.6%, and funds received by real estate developers fell 10.2%.

China announced that GDP grew 4.3% in the second quarter. Nominal growth exceeded real growth for the first time in 13 quarters, mainly driven by price increases upstream.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China released June price data, showing CPI rose 1% year-on-year and PPI fell 4.1% year-on-year, expanding the scissors gap to 3.1 percentage points.

Wang Shunyong, deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said on July 5 that new growth drivers contributed more than 40% to economic growth in the first half of the year, increasingly shouldering the burden of China's economy; this claim contrasts with data showing a contraction in the construction and real estate sectors and has drawn skepticism.

On June 15, 2026, officially released data showed that China's total retail sales of consumer goods fell 0.6% year on year in May, the first negative year-on-year growth in this consumption indicator since the adjustment of epidemic prevention and control measures ended.

On June 16, 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics released data on changes in commercial residential property sales prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities. In May, new commercial housing prices fell 0.20% month-on-month, while existing home prices fell 0.26% month-on-month, with the declines widening further.

The National Bureau of Statistics of the Chinese Communist Party released data for January to April, showing a year-on-year increase of 18.2% in total profits, but profits in the real estate chain—such as non-metallic minerals and ferrous metal smelting—plunged sharply, showing extreme divergence.

On April 13, 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics relayed its opinions on the 2025 routine statistical supervision of Jiangxi Province, stating that data falsification among some enterprises (projects) in the cities and counties surveyed on the ground in Jiangxi remains relatively serious, and that rectification following the follow-up inspection was not solid enough.

On August 15, 2023, a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics announced the suspension of the release of urban survey unemployment rates by age group. Previously, the youth unemployment rate for the 16-24 age group had reached a record high of 21.3% in June. The data resumed publication in January 2024 using a new statistical methodology.