The contribution of high value-added industries such as biotech and new energy to China’s total economic inputs declined in January as labor, capital and technology inputs all slipped, a Caixin index showed Thursday.
The Caixin BBD New Economy Index (NEI) came in at 28.3 last month, indicating that monitored new economy industries accounted for 28.3% of China’s overall economic input activities. The gauge fell 1.4 points from 29.7 in December, marking the second straight monthly decline.
The NEI uses big data to track the size of China’s new economy sectors. It measures labor, capital and technology inputs in 10 emerging industries — including new energy, new-energy vehicles, and advanced equipment manufacturing — relative to those in all industries.
The dip last month stemmed from a drop in all three subindexes. The labor input subindex, which has a 40% weighting and measures employee income and the number of positions in the relevant industries, fell 1.3 points from December to 22.9 in January.
Meanwhile, the subindex for capital inputs, which has a 35% weighting, decreased by 1.4 points to 35.7.
The technology input subindex, which gauges the number of research personnel recruited by the tracked industries, as well as the number of inventions created and patents obtained, weakened 1.5 points to 26.4 last month. It makes up the remaining 25% of the NEI.
Launched in March 2016, the NEI defines a new economy industry as one that is technology- and human capital-intensive, but asset-light, experiences sustainable and rapid growth, and is deemed strategically important by the government.
Of the 10 tracked industries, the new information technology sector remained the largest contributor in January, accounting for 8.1 points of the reading. Scientific research and high-tech services ranked second, contributing 5.3 points.
The average monthly entry-level salary across the 10 industries was 14,022 yuan ($2,089) in January, down 58 yuan from December, according to data compiled from online career and recruitment websites.
Monthly NEI reports are written by Caixin Data Technology Co. Ltd. and Chinese big-data research firm BBD, in collaboration with the National School of Development at Peking University.
Contact reporter Zhang Ziyu (ziyuzhang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
Read more about Caixin’s economic indexes.
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