China’s economy gains new growth and deep scars over past 5 years: NBS census

But the “census”, conducted once every five years by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), also found many economic bright spots, including a resilient manufacturing sector, and rapid growth in the hi-tech sector and the digital economy, which helped to offset the fall in traditional growth drivers.

“Judging from the census results, the Chinese economy has withstood multiple internal and external risk tests over the past five years and has generally maintained a stable and progressive development trend,” NBS head Kang Yi said in Beijing on Thursday.

Kang also noted many positive changes in terms of the economy’s scale, structure, innovation, security and environmental sustainability.

“The Chinese economy has shown a solid foundation, strong resilience and huge potential,” he said.

The bureau’s survey covered all businesses involved in the country’s secondary and tertiary industries, ranging from manufacturing and electricity generation, to financing and real estate.