Photo: Xinhua

China's retail sales continue to recover, climbing by 5 percent in November; industrial output also continues to grow, both in line with expectations, showing strong growth momentum as the world's second-largest economy emerges from the impact of COVID-19.

In November, social retail sales climbed 5 percent year-on-year, up from 4.3 percent in October; industrial added value surged 7 percent in November, faster than 6.9 percent growth in October, data from the National Statistics Bureau (NBS) showed on Tuesday.

Retail sales from January to November reached 35.14 trillion yuan ($5.36 trillion), down 4.8 percent compared to last year due to the impacts of COVID-19, NBS data showed.

China's urban fixed asset investment from January to November increased by 2.6 percent year-on-year, up from 1.8 percent from January to October.

China's economy will hopefully grow faster in the fourth quarter compared to the third as manufacturing and demands rebound. In fact, China might become the only major economy in the world to achieve positive economic growth in the next phase, said Fu Linghui, spokesperson of NBS on Tuesday.

The country's employment situation also continues to improve - China's national urban/town surveyed unemployment rate dropped for four consecutive months to 5.2 percent in November as the country's economy rebounds. From January to November, 10.99 million people found jobs, exceeding the annual employment target by 122.1 percent, according to NBS data.

Specifically, online retail sales reached 10.53 trillion yuan from January to November, a year-on-year increase of 11.5 percent, with a growth rate 0.6 percent higher than that from January to October.

Analysts expect China's retail sales will continue to grow in the next stage, with the country's efforts in reform and stabilization of the pandemic situation take effect.

There are foundations and conditions for consumption to continue to pick up: Employment is expanding, which is conducive to residents' incomes; and corporate efficiency is also improving, Fu said, adding that some recent policies to promote consumption growth will also offer additional help.

According to Fu, although China's economy has been rebounding continuously in the face of the pandemic, the coronavirus has staged a strong comeback in some overseas countries in the autumn and winter months, and the world economy is still wrestling with the pandemic and economic recovery amid a lot of uncertainties. 

"China's economy is still in the middle of a recovery process with new and old problems intertwined, and we need to add strength to consolidate the basis for economic stability and sustainable growth," Fu said.

Global Times