The contribution of high value-added industries such as biomedicine to China’s total economic inputs rose last month, as expansions in labor and technology inputs offset a contraction in capital inputs, a Caixin index showed.
The Caixin BBD New Economy Index (NEI) came in at 31.2 in September, up 1.3 points from August, reflecting that new economy industries accounted for 31.2% of China’s overall economic inputs.
The NEI uses big data to track the size of China’s emerging industries, measuring their labor, capital and technology inputs relative to those used in all industries.
The subindex for capital inputs, which has a 35% weighting in the index, dropped 0.8 points month-on-month to 43.3.
The gauge for technology inputs climbed 2.9 points to 31.3. It has a 25% weighting and measures the number of research personnel recruited by the tracked industries, as well as the number of inventions created and patents obtained.
The measure for labor inputs, which accounts for 40% of the index, rose 2.1 points to 20.6. The subindex tracks salaries and the number of positions at new economy companies.
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 strategically encouraged by the government.
Of the 10 tracked industries, the new information technology industry remained the largest contributor to the index. Its contribution edged up 0.1 point to 11 in September.
The average monthly entry-level salary in the 10 industries was 13,312 yuan ($1,870), down 334 yuan from August, 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.
