New growth drivers represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital economy and modern services, contributed over 40 percent to China's economic growth in the first half of 2026, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.
The country's economy has remained on a stable footing, with its underlying trend toward innovation-driven and high-quality development unchanged, Mao Shengyong, deputy head of the NBS, told a press conference in Beijing.
"According to preliminary estimates, new growth drivers -- represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital economy, and modern services -- contributed over 40 percent to economic growth in the first half of this year. The economy's distinct shift toward innovation-driven and high-quality development has become apparent, and the overall development trend is accelerating," Mao said.
In the January-June period, the value added of high-tech manufacturing enterprises above the designated size (enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan, or 3 million U.S. dollars) increased by 13.3 percent year on year, according to NBS data.
Specifically, the value-added of the output of aerospace equipment manufacturing and electronic and communication equipment manufacturing grew by 16.3 percent and 17 percent respectively year on year.
The country's artificial intelligence (AI) related industries, including artificial intelligence (AI)-powered industries, such as integrated circuit manufacturing and intelligent in-vehicle equipment manufacturing, all posted more than 30 percent growth in the first six months.
The pace of green transition has accelerated. In the first half of this year, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeded 60 percent for three consecutive months, leading to a 39.3 percent increase in the production of lithium-ion batteries.
"In recent years, the pace of the transition from old to new growth drivers has accelerated. New growth drivers have been growing stronger and are increasingly shouldering the bulk of China's economy," Mao said.
New growth drivers contribute over 40 percent to China's economic growth in January-June: authorities
Serbian fruit farmers, celebrating a apricot harvest after years of crop failures, are now scrambling to sell their produce, as a searing heatwave threatens to spoil the bounty, leaving many with no choice but to sell high-quality fruit to processors at rock-bottom prices.
After several consecutive years of reduced yields due to extreme weather conditions such as frost and drought, orchards across the country are enjoying a bountiful harvest this year, with apricot production expected to reach a record 50,000 tonnes.
However, with a new wave of high temperatures setting in, local farmers are facing the challenge of harvesting and selling the fresh fruit in a timely manner.
Grocka is Serbia's largest and most important apricot-growing region.
After several consecutive years of drought and frost, this year's apricot crop has finally yielded a long-awaited bumper harvest.
Purchasers of a local purchasing station said that the daily sales of the fruit in recent days have stood at around 10 tonnes, but prices vary significantly depending on the destination of the fresh fruit.
"It is used as fresh fruit for export. It is also reused for industrial processing. First-class fruit intended for export has fetched prices this year ranging from 70 (about 68 U.S. cents) to 120 dinars (about 1.17 U.S. dollars) per kilogram of apricot," said Bojan Mitrovic, a fruit buyer.
However, the overall average purchase price is only 35 (about 34 U.S. cents) to 40 dinars (about 39 U.S. cents) per kilogram, he said.
With a new heatwave approaching, temperatures across most of Serbia are expected to exceed 35 degrees Celsius, with some areas projected to reach 40 degrees Celsius.
Fruits such as apricots have an extremely short shelf life.
With a large volume of fresh fruit from the harvest flooding the market within a short period, local cold storage and cold-chain logistics capacity cannot keep up.
Farmers must sell their produce quickly after harvest, forcing them to sell large quantities of high-quality apricots to processing plants at low prices.
Fruit cultivation in Serbia is still primarily carried out in small family orchards.
This fragmented production structure makes it difficult for individual farmers to bear the construction costs of modern cold storage facilities.
As farmers race against time and the weather to harvest and sell their fresh fruit, the Serbian government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia have also taken multiple measures to coordinate the various stages of harvesting, transportation and sales to help fruit farmers cope with the "sweet burden" brought on by the harvest.
"[There are] basically two streamlines. One is being distributed to the Ministry of Economy through the Development Agency, which every year has programs for supporting such endeavors. On the other hand, there is the support especially for the small farmers through national support -- through the Ministry of Agriculture. The Chamber of Commerce has founded the daughter company, which is called Serbia Export. Its main task is to aggregate the offer and to be the middleman in finding and aggregating the small production businesses in Serbia, or relatively small or even the bigger ones, so it can cooperate with, for instance, Chinese partners," said Veljko Jovanovic, an analyst of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia.
Serbia's apricot harvest turns sour as heatwave bites
