BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's business news from the past week:
-- CPI, PPI
China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.7 percent year on year in July, picking up from the 2.5-percent growth in June.
The country's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 2.4 percent year on year in July, narrowing from the 3-percent drop in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
-- NEW YUAN LOANS, M2
China's new yuan-denominated loans hit 992.7 billion yuan (about 142.4 billion U.S. dollars) in July, down 63.1 billion yuan compared with the same month of last year.
The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 10.7 percent year on year to 212.55 trillion yuan at the end of July, said the People's Bank of China, or the central bank.
-- FDI
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 15.8 percent year on year to 63.47 billion yuan in July, the fourth consecutive month for the country to witness positive growth in FDI.
The performance of FDI inflow in the January-July period was better than expected, reversing a losing streak in the first half, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
-- INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 4.8 percent year on year in July, NBS data showed.
On a month-on-month basis, industrial output rose 0.98 percent.
In the first seven months, industrial output went down 0.4 percent year on year, with the rate narrowing 0.9 percentage points from the first half.
-- HOUSING MARKET
China's housing market remained generally stable in July, with slower month-on-month growth in home prices in major cities, NBS data showed.
New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen -- rose by 0.5 percent month on month in July, down 0.1 percentage points from a month earlier.
On a monthly basis, new home prices edged up 0.5 percent in 31 second-tier cities, and rose 0.8 percent in 35 third-tier cities.
-- FIXED-ASSET INVESTMENT
China's fixed-asset investment went down 1.6 percent year on year during the January-July period, narrowing from the 3.1-percent decline in the first half of the year.
In the first seven months, total investment amounted to 32.92 trillion yuan, NBS data showed.
The country's investment in property development rose 3.4 percent year on year in the first seven months of 2020, widening from the 1.9-percent increase in the first half. Total property investment in the period stood at 7.53 trillion yuan.
-- EMPLOYMENT
China's surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 5.7 percent in July, remaining flat with that of June.
A total of 6.71 million new urban jobs were created in the first seven months of 2020, down 1.96 million from the same period of last year, said the NBS. Enditem
