BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- While containing COVID-19, China is steadily reviving its economy. The following facts and figures indicate how the country is forging ahead in the economic sphere:
-- Chinese e-retailers are ramping up efforts to spur sales in the upcoming mid-year promotion season, with livestreaming shopping expected to be a fierce battlefield, which has boomed after the COVID-19 epidemic kept Chinese consumers indoors for months.
More than 4 million e-commerce livestreaming marketing activities were held in the first quarter of this year, according to data from the commerce ministry, attracting merchants, manufacturers and even government officials trying to promote local agricultural products.
The number of live streaming service users in China reached 560 million as of March, accounting for 62 percent of the country's total number of internet users.
-- China's platform economy has grown to over 2.39 trillion U.S. dollars as of early April despite the COVID-19 epidemic's negative impact, said the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
Even though travel, tourism and offline training industries were severely hit amid the epidemic, online economy including e-commerce, livestreaming, teleconference, online education and online medical care have seen headwind growth.
-- Business activities of China's manufacturing sector continued to pick up in May, although by a smaller margin than last month, senior statistician Zhao Qinghe with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector eased to 50.6 in May from 50.8 in April. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.
NBS's data also showed that the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 53.6 in May, up from 53.2 in April, showing signs of recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic. Enditem
