By Li Panpan

(JW Insights) July 18 -- China's semiconductor d equipment manufacturing industry increased by 30.9% year-on-year in the first six months of 2023, according to the latest data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS's spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press briefing on July 17 that China's GDP grew by 5.5% year-on-year, significantly faster than the 3% of last year and also faster than the 4.5% in the first quarter. “In the complex and severe external environment, China's economic growth rate is significantly faster than that of the world's major developed economies, demonstrating the strong resilience of China's economic development,” he added.

The added value of the equipment manufacturing industry increased by 6.5% year-on-year in the first six months in China, 2.7 percentage points higher than the growth rate of industries above the designated size, and contributed 53.9% to the growth of all industries above the designated size, which strongly supported the recovery of industrial production, said Fu.

Among them, the added value of the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing and automobile manufacturing increased by 15.7% and 13.1%, respectively, year-on-year.

The electronic components and electromechanical assembly equipment manufacturing were up by 46.5% year-on-year in the year's first half.

Products related to the clean energy industry grew rapidly in the period as well. The output of new energy vehicles, lithium-ion power batteries, charging piles, photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, and hydroelectric generators increased by 35%, 46.4%, 53.1%, 54.5%, 48.1%, and 32.3%, respectively, year-on-year in the six months.

Production of intelligent and new material products has increased. The manufacturing of smart consumer equipment increased by 12%, of which intelligent vehicle equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles increased by 36.3% and 12.5%, respectively, in the first half.

The output of ultra-clear glass, polysilicon, and monocrystalline silicon for the solar industry was up by 89.1%, 86.4%, and 54.1%, respectively during the time, according to the latest NBS data.