Fresh high-frequency data from the National Information Center under the National Development and Reform Commission reveals encouraging trends for August, showing a solid consumption base, robust investment in new infrastructure, and resilient foreign trade. Notably, the value of winning bids for computing-power-related infrastructure projects surged by nearly 80% year-on-year during the month.
On the consumer front, momentum spans from bustling summer cultural tourism to vibrant street-level commerce, alongside upgrades in electronics and trade-in programs for home appliances, indicating warmth permeating everyday life. Offline consumption big data shows that total payment amounts in August grew 2.6% year-on-year, accelerating by 0.4 percentage points from July and marking a second consecutive month of improvement. Goods consumption and services spending rose 4.4% and 0.6% respectively, with both rates climbing by 0.4 and 0.2 percentage points month-on-month. Strong recoveries were particularly visible in electronics (up 12.2%), household appliances and audiovisual equipment (up 10.1%), food and beverages (up 8.9%), catering services (up 6.2%), and transportation services (up 5.1%).
Meanwhile, the physical commerce vitality index for small and medium-sized merchants, tracked by Shouqianba, reached 83.3 in August, up 1.7% from the prior month, with a holiday consumption activity index rising 2.9% month-on-month. The continued recovery among smaller vendors suggests that the scope of consumption revival is broadening and becoming more inclusive, injecting wider micro-level vitality into the economic cycle.
Turning to investment, while traditional infrastructure advances steadily, new infrastructure such as computing-power networks and frontier fields like artificial intelligence are attracting substantial capital. In August, the contract value for computing-related infrastructure projects jumped nearly 80% year-on-year. Capital investment data also indicates that spending in cutting-edge areas, including AI and humanoid robots, soared 101.6% compared with the same period last year. Xing Yuguan, an associate researcher at the Big Data Development Department of the National Information Center, noted that the optimization of investment structure reflects both the precision of policy guidance and the restoration of market confidence. When new infrastructure resonates with emerging industries, investment's supportive role in high-quality development shifts from quantitative accumulation to qualitative transformation.
In foreign trade, the loaded weight of cargo ships departing major ports in August grew 16.5% year-on-year, with container vessels up 23.4% and roll-on/roll-off ships surging 141.0%, indicating continued strong export momentum for automobiles. Amid a complex and shifting international environment, this trade stability is hard-won, benefiting from deep industrial chain and supply chain foundations as well as sustained efforts toward high-level opening-up. "Leveraging the advantages of a complete domestic industrial system, enterprises are expanding into global markets and diversifying their footprints, leading to a steady emergence of new growth points in foreign trade and demonstrating the strong resilience of the Chinese economy," Xing said.
On the industrial front, major eastern economic provinces posted steady growth while western regions accelerated their rise, with each area capitalizing on its unique resource advantages. In August, industrial park production heat indices in economic powerhouses such as Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Fujian maintained positive growth, while Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Guangxi recorded notable gains of 7.2%, 5.1%, 4.6%, and 4.4% year-on-year respectively. This pattern of multi-point support and tiered development not only expands room for industrial maneuvering but also fosters positive regional interaction.
Xing added that, viewed from a global perspective, China's economic performance in August conveys a precious sense of certainty. When external conditions are fraught with uncertainty, the consolidation of the consumer base, the heat of new infrastructure investment, and the resilience of foreign exports are not isolated pieces of good news. Together, they form a "stable anchor" built on policy strengths, scale advantages, and industrial chain capabilities, serving as solid ground for the Chinese economy to weather risks and continue advancing.