Total output value reaches 1.367 billion yuan! Residential construction and new construction area sharply decline! 'Analysis of China's Construction Industry Development Statistics for the First Half

(1) Growth in Construction Output Value

Preliminary calculations show that in the first half of 2025, China’s GDP reached 6.60536 trillion yuan, growing by 5.3% year-on-year at constant prices. The construction industry achieved an added value of 382.11 billion yuan, up 0.7% year-on-year, with growth slower than the national GDP growth rate by 4.6 percentage points. The construction industry’s added value accounted for 5.78% of the national GDP.

(2) Fixed Asset Investment and Total Output Value in Construction

In the first half of 2025, total fixed asset investment (excluding real estate) nationwide amounted to 2.48654 trillion yuan, up 2.8% year-on-year (calculated based on comparable prices). Among this, construction and installation project investment increased by 0.1%, which was 2.7 percentage points lower than the overall fixed asset investment growth rate.

In the first half of 2025, construction enterprises (defined as those with qualification levels engaged in general contracting and specialized contracting construction activities, excluding labor subcontracting firms) completed a total output value of 13.674542 billion yuan, down 1.13% year-on-year—1.67 percentage points lower than the overall fixed asset investment growth rate. These enterprises completed industrial output value of 4.642021 billion yuan, down 3.76% year-on-year. Output value completed outside provincial jurisdictions reached 4.250984 billion yuan, down 10.58% year-on-year, accounting for 31.09% of the total construction output value.

(3) Number of Enterprises, Average Employees in Direct Production Activities, and Labor Productivity

As of June 2025, there were 154,218 construction enterprises actively engaged in construction activities nationwide, up 1.53% year-on-year. The average number of employees directly involved in production and business operations was 42.3236 million, down 9.97% year-on-year.

In the first half of 2025, labor productivity calculated based on total output value reached 323,095 yuan per person, up 9.81% year-on-year.

(4) Total Contract Value and New Contract Value of Construction Enterprises

In the first half of 2025, national construction enterprises signed total contracts worth 52.461277 billion yuan, down 1.58% year-on-year. Among them, new contract value reached 13.948168 billion yuan, up 6.47% year-on-year.

(5) Residential Construction Area and Completed Area

In the first half of 2025, residential construction area totaled 94.59 million square meters, down 14.32% year-on-year. Of this, new construction area was 12.51 million square meters, down 17.56% compared to the same period last year. Completed residential construction area was 12.08 million square meters, down 10.59% year-on-year.

Looking at the composition of residential completed area across all construction enterprises nationwide, housing construction area accounted for the largest share at 56.62%; commercial and office buildings accounted for 21.14%; commercial and service-use buildings accounted for 7.52%; other types of buildings each accounted for less than 5% on average.

(6) Overseas Contracting Projects

From January to June 2025, Chinese enterprises completed overseas contracting project business volume totaling 56.121 billion yuan (RMB), up 9.3% year-on-year (equivalent to 78.12 billion USD, up 8.1%). New signed contracts amounted to 93.319 billion yuan (RMB), up 13.7% year-on-year (equivalent to 12.99 billion USD, up 12.4%).

Chinese enterprises signed new contracts under the Belt and Road Initiative totaling 81.487 billion yuan (RMB), up 21% year-on-year (equivalent to 11.343 billion USD, up 19.6%). Business volume completed reached 46.573 billion yuan (RMB), up 8.7% year-on-year (equivalent to 6.483 billion USD, up 7.5%).

From January to June 2025, Chinese enterprises dispatched a total of 2.15 million workers overseas, an increase of 250,000 compared to the same period last year. Of these, 640,000 were sent under engineering projects, and 1.51 million under labor cooperation projects. By the end of June, a total of 5.96 million workers were working abroad.

(1) Completion of Total Output Value

In the first half of 2025, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong had total output values exceeding 1 billion yuan respectively, reaching 15.45597 billion, 11.39361 billion, and 11.09206 billion yuan, accounting for 11.30%, 8.33%, and 8.12% of the national total. In addition, eight other regions—Hubei, Shandong, Fujian, Sichuan, Hunan, Hebei, Anhui, and Beijing—also exceeded 5 billion yuan in total output value. Together, these 11 provinces and municipalities accounted for 70.61% of the national total construction output value. Looking at growth rates, 21 regions saw year-on-year increases in total output value. Among them, Hainan recorded the highest growth at 15.79%, followed by Ningxia at 12.43%. Ten regions experienced declines, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangxi, and Inner Mongolia, all with decreases exceeding 10% (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Total Output Value and Growth Rate of the Construction Industry in Different Regions in the First Half of 2025

(2) Output Value Completed Outside Provincial Jurisdictions

In the first half of 2025, four regions—Jiangsu, Hubei, Beijing, and Fujian—had output value completed outside provincial jurisdictions exceeding 3.5 billion yuan, reaching 6.08285 billion, 4.13533 billion, 3.71588 billion, and 3.58195 billion yuan respectively. Their combined output value accounted for 41.20% of the total output value completed outside provincial jurisdictions. Twelve other regions—including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hunan, Shanghai, Shandong, Tianjin, Shaanxi, Hebei, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Henan—each had output value completed outside provincial jurisdictions exceeding 1 billion yuan. In the first half of 2025, 10 regions saw year-on-year increases in output value completed outside provincial jurisdictions, with the fastest growth in Xizang (Tibet) at 98.56%, followed by Ningxia, Hainan, and Xinjiang, all exceeding 10%. Twenty-one regions saw declines, with the steepest drop in Inner Mongolia at 64.99%, while Guangxi, Chongqing, and Beijing declined by over 20%. From the perspective of outward orientation (i.e., the ratio of output value completed outside provincial jurisdictions to the region’s total construction output value), the top three regions were Tianjin (69.26%), Beijing (68.06%), and Shanghai (51.59%). Eight additional regions—Qinghai, Fujian, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hunan, and Hebei—had outward orientation rates above 30% (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Output Value Completed Outside Provincial Jurisdictions and Outward Orientation Rates in Different Regions in the First Half of 2025

(3) Number of Enterprises, Average Employees in Direct Production Activities, and Labor Productivity

In the first half of 2025, 10 regions had more than 7,000 construction enterprises. Among them, Jiangsu led with 14,454 enterprises. Shandong, Guangdong, and Zhejiang each had over 10,000 enterprises. Compared to the same period last year, 19 regions saw an increase in enterprise numbers, with Qinghai and Hainan recording annual growth rates above 30%, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi above 10%. Twelve regions experienced a decline, with Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Fujian seeing drops above 5% (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Number of Construction Enterprises and Growth Rates in Different Regions in the First Half of 2025

In the first half of 2025, 15 regions had average direct production and operation employees exceeding one million. Jiangsu and Zhejiang ranked first in terms of workforce size, with averages of 6.2649 million and 4.1028 million people respectively. Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shandong, and Hubei each had average employment figures exceeding 2 million. Compared to the same period last year, three regions—Qinghai, Hainan, and Fujian—saw increases in average employee numbers, growing by 7.56%, 3.20%, and 0.60% respectively. Twenty-eight regions reported declines, with Guizhou experiencing the sharpest drop at 26.55%, followed by Jilin, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Jiangxi, all exceeding 15% (Figure 4).

In the first half of 2025, the top three regions in labor productivity based on total output value were Hubei (482,964 yuan/person), Liaoning (438,411 yuan/person), and Guizhou (437,337 yuan/person). Twenty-seven regions maintained year-on-year growth in labor productivity, with Guizhou and Gansu seeing increases over 30%, and Ningxia, Jilin, Shaanxi, and Jiangxi exceeding 20%. Four regions—Beijing, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia, and Guangxi—experienced declines in labor productivity (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Labor Productivity and Growth Rates in Different Regions in the First Half of 2025

(4) Total Contract Value and New Contract Value of Construction Enterprises

In the first half of 2025, seven regions—Guangdong, Hubei, Beijing, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Zhejiang, and Shanghai—had total contract values exceeding 30 billion yuan, reaching 55.18612 billion, 42.90867 billion, 41.63543 billion, 37.05393 billion, 35.23236 billion, 33.69069 billion, and 30.82035 billion yuan respectively. Three additional regions—Shandong, Hunan, and Fujian—exceeded 20 billion yuan. Twelve regions saw increases in total contract value, with Hainan leading at 14.06%. Nineteen regions reported negative growth, with Tibet recording the sharpest decline at -22.74% (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Total Contract Value and Growth Rates in Different Regions in the First Half of 2025

In the first half of 2025, three provinces—Jiangsu, Hubei, and Guangdong—had new contract values exceeding 10 billion yuan, reaching 13.11396 billion, 12.05865 billion, and 11.18103 billion yuan respectively. Nine other regions—Zhejiang, Shandong, Sichuan, Fujian, Hunan, Beijing, Anhui, Henan, and Shanghai—exceeded 5 billion yuan. Seven regions saw increases in new contract values, with Xinjiang leading at 13.92%. Twenty-four regions reported negative growth, with Tibet, Qinghai, and Shanghai all exceeding -20% (Figure 7).

Figure 7: New Contract Value and Growth Rates in Different Regions in the First Half of 2025

(5) Residential Construction Area and Completed Area

In the first half of 2025, Jiangsu and Zhejiang had residential construction areas exceeding 10 million square meters, reaching 16.09 million and 11.57 million square meters respectively. Other regions with residential construction areas over 5 million square meters include Guangdong, Shandong, Beijing, Fujian, and Hubei. Hainan saw a remarkable 65.01% year-on-year increase in residential construction area, while the remaining 30 regions all experienced negative growth, with Jiangxi, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Anhui declining over 30%, and Gansu, Chongqing, Tianjin, Tibet, Jilin, and Guangxi all falling over 20% (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Residential Construction Area and Growth Rates in Different Regions in the First Half of 2025

In the first half of 2025, Jiangsu and Zhejiang had residential completed areas exceeding 1 million square meters, reaching 2.21 million and 1.65 million square meters respectively. Six other regions—Hunan, Guangdong, Hubei, Fujian, Shandong, and Sichuan—exceeded 5 million square meters. Seven regions saw increases in residential completed area, with Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, and Xinjiang recording growth rates of 78.25%, 30.90%, and 23.11% respectively. Twenty-four regions reported declines, with Qinghai and Jilin both exceeding -30% (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Residential Completed Area and Growth Rates in Different Regions in the First Half of 2025

(6) Ranking of Key Indicators and Growth Rates Across Regions

Tables 1 and 2 list the rankings of key indicators and their growth rates across different regions.

Note:

All statistical data exclude Hong Kong, Macao Special Administrative Regions, and Taiwan Province.

Data Sources:

1. National Bureau of Statistics. National Data.

2. National Bureau of Statistics. Preliminary calculation results for GDP and the first half of 2025.

3. National Bureau of Statistics. Fixed asset investment growth rate of 2.8% for the first half of 2025.

4. Ministry of Commerce. Brief statistics on overseas contracting projects from January to June 2025.

5. Ministry of Commerce. Overview of investment cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative from January to June 2025.

6. Ministry of Commerce. Brief statistics on overseas labor cooperation projects from January to June 2025.