Opinion

"Three New" Economy Shows Vibrant Dynamism

The value-added output of the "three new" economy, referring to new industries, new business formats and new business models, reached nearly 25.79 trillion yuan (about 3.8 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up 6.2 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Their share of GDP rose to 18.39 percent in 2025, marking a 0.38 percentage point increase from the previous year. China has consistently kept the focus of economic development on the real economy and steadily promoted the transition from old drivers of growth to new ones, leaving sufficient room for the "three new" economy to grow. This has enabled it to maintain stable growth amid structural adjustments and inject sustained vitality into high-quality development.

Within the "three new" economy, the added value of the primary industry reached 986.5 billion yuan, accounting for 3.8 percent of the total. The secondary industry contributed 10.63 trillion yuan, accounting for 41.2 percent. The tertiary industry reached 14.17 trillion yuan, accounting for 55 percent.

The "three new" economy has enabled more new technologies to quickly find application directions, accelerated the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into actual productive forces, and driven collaborative innovation across the upstream and downstream of industrial chains, pushing the entire industrial system toward intelligent, green, and integrated transformation. From the perspective of employment, the "three new" economy has created new job opportunities, given rise to a large number of new forms of flexible employment, broadened income channels for workers, further activated the domestic consumer market, and provided new growth points for expanding domestic demand. In addition, the steady growth of the "three new" economy has also helped buffer cyclical fluctuations and stabilize the overall economy, further consolidating the achievements of sustained economic transformation and upgrading and enhancing the resilience and potential of economic development.

Policy

1. China launched its first-ever selection of "carbon-efficiency leaders" for key industries, according to a notice jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and two other government agencies. The move is aimed at facilitating energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades among industrial enterprises, while advancing the green and low-carbon transition of key industries.

2. China has released its 15th Five-Year Plan for the postal industry, outlining 10 major tasks including improving services and accelerating the development of a modern delivery and logistics network. Jointly issued by the State Post Bureau and several other government agencies, the blueprint also sets specific quantitative targets for 2030. In 2030, the postal industry's total business revenue is expected to reach 2.4 trillion yuan (about 353.47 billion U.S. dollars), with overall delivery volume hitting 290 billion pieces.

3. The 15th Five-Year Plan for the construction of a new-type power system, released on August 3, proposed that by 2030, China will basically form a green and low-carbon power supply pattern, providing a solid energy guarantee for economic and social development.

Data

1. The National Council for Social Security Fund stated in its report that China's local social security fund posted an investment return of 5.76 percent in 2025, earning 142.07 billion yuan.

2. The China Water Conservation Report 2025 from the Ministry of Water Resources stated that water use per 10,000 yuan of the country's GDP fell 4.5 percent year on year, at comparable prices, to 42.4 cubic meters. Water use per 10,000 yuan of industrial value added declined 7.2 percent to 22.9 cubic meters.

3. China's financial leasing sector expanded its asset base to 5.23 trillion yuan by the end of 2025, a 7.89-percent increase from a year earlier, with 64 companies operating in the industry, according to an industry development report released by the China Banking Association.

4. China's esports industry pulled in 13.115 billion yuan in revenue during the first half of the year, up 2.78 percent from the same period last year.

5. In the first half of this year, China's electronic information manufacturing sector above the designated size recorded a 14.8 percent year-on-year increase in value-added output, with cumulative export delivery value up 7.8 percent year on year and operating revenue reaching 9.41 trillion yuan, indicating solid overall growth, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

6. China's software sector generated 7.72 trillion yuan in revenue in the first six months, up 9.5 percent year on year, while software exports rose 11.4 percent year on year to 33.79 billion U.S. dollars, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed. IT services continued their double-digit expansion, accounting for 68.5 percent of total industry revenue.

7. China's gross ocean product reached 5.5 trillion yuan in the first half of 2026, up 5.1 percent year on year, outpacing the country's overall GDP growth, according to data released by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

8. China's market regulators carried out 2.29 million food safety inspections nationwide in the first half of 2026, with staple foods, including rice, flour, oil, meat, eggs, and milk, posting a pass rate of 99.51 percent, up 0.17 percentage points from a year earlier, the State Administration for Market Regulation said.

9. China's services trade expanded 8.3 percent year on year in the first half of 2026, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce. The total value of service imports and exports reached nearly 3.78 trillion yuan from January to June this year. Among them, exports stood at 1.50 trillion yuan, up 17.6 percent, while imports reached 2.28 trillion yuan, up 2.9 percent.

10. Hainan's offshore duty-free sales continued to gain momentum in the first seven months this year, with total sales reaching 21.6 billion yuan, up 17.9 percent year on year, as the number of shoppers grew 11.9 percent year on year to 3.11 million and items purchased rose 6.9 percent year on year to 17.65 million, customs data showed. The duty-free market is cementing its role as a key engine of consumption growth.

(Source: Economic Daily)