Recently, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association released industry-wide economic report for July. In July, the economy of the petroleum and chemical industry was stable on the whole. The production of oil, gas and major chemicals in China maintained rapid growth. The growth rate of investment in the industry continued to accelerate, the growth rate of consumption speeded up, exports rose again significantly and the benefit was basically stable. However, downward pressure on the economy has increased, the market became fragmented and more volatile, costs remained high, and the external economic environment showed signs of deterioration.

Judging from the completion of major economic indicators, the added value of the petroleum and chemical industry increased by 4.4% year-on-year from January to July; Operating revenue was 7.05 trillion yuan, up 2% year-on-year; Profit totaled 423.42 billion yuan, down 16.6%; Total imports and exports reached $419.42 billion, up 0.6%; China's total output of crude oil and natural gas was 202 million tons (oil equivalent), up 4.7%; Total production of major chemicals increased by 4.9%.

Consumption of oil, gas and major chemicals increased rapidly. Data showed that from January to July, China's apparent consumption of crude oil and natural gas totaled 554 million tons (oil equivalent), up 8.1% year-on-year, faster than the first half of the year. Total apparent consumption of major chemicals increased by 5.1%, an increase of 1.1 percentage points.

The growth of investment in the chemical industry continued to accelerate, and the growth rate continued to be significantly ahead of the national average level of industrial investment. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the investment in fixed assets in the manufacturing of chemical raw materials and chemical products increased by 9.4% year-on-year from January to July, 0.1 percentage point higher than that from January to June.

In July, the overall import and export trade showed a good momentum of stabilization, with exports returning to growth after three consecutive months of decline, while import declines narrowed. Customs data showed that the total import and export volume of the whole industry in the month was 60.76 billion US dollars, down 1.9% year-on-year, narrowing the decline by 2 percentage points compared to the previous month. Of this amount, exports totaled $20.58 billion, up 3.5%; Imports totaled $40.18 billion, down 4.5%.

In terms of industry performance, the overall industry performance was basically stable in July, and the profit decline narrowed. From January to July, the total profit of the whole industry reached 423.42 billion yuan, down 16.6% year-on-year and 1.7 percentage points narrower than that from January to June. Among them, oil and gas exploitation industry benefits maintained a good situation; Refining profits continued to plummet; Chemical industry benefits were basically stable.