The central region has successively released its economic performance for January to July this year. Among them, the 'Central Triangle' formed by Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces shows characteristics such as a rebound in fixed asset investment growth, retail sales growth outpacing the national average, and notable divergence in foreign trade. In addition, the driving effects of the 'dual new' policies of large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in continue to be released, and the backbone support role of the central region is increasingly evident.

　　Manufacturing moves toward 'new' and 'smart', forming clusters

　　In recent years, the three central provinces have each leveraged their strengths, actively guiding various investment entities to invest in the real economy, high-end sectors, and technology. Industrial development has been upgraded, emerging industries have formed clusters, and the 'gold content', 'intelligence content', and 'green content' have continuously improved.

　　Statistics show that excluding real estate development investment, Hubei's fixed asset investment grew by 10.1% from January to July, with manufacturing investment leading the growth at 14.8%. During the same period, Hunan's fixed asset investment growth reversed the downward trend since the second quarter and showed a recovery, growing by 3.2% year-on-year, 2.8 percentage points faster than in the first half. Industrial investment also led the growth, with an increase of 11%, 5.4 percentage points faster than in the first half, of which high-tech manufacturing investment grew by 15.4%. Jiangxi's industrial investment grew by 11.7% year-on-year from January to July, 7.9 percentage points higher than the overall investment growth, driving overall investment growth by 4.5 percentage points, making it a key area for stabilizing the investment fundamentals.

　　Ye Qing, a professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law and an academic member of the Pangoal Institution, said that in the central region, Wuhan, Changsha, and Hefei all have top-ranked 'Double First-Class' universities. Among cities with over one million university students nationwide, Wuhan and Zhengzhou both make the list. With the concentration of scientific and educational resources in the six central provinces, the region hosts 82,500 high-tech enterprises. Taking Wuhan as an example, in the first half of this year, among the 528 major projects started, investment in technological innovation and modern industries accounted for more than 60% of the total annual investment. 'Smart', 'technology', and 'innovation' have become high-frequency words in project names. The proportion of strategic emerging industries has increased year by year, and a cluster effect of connecting points into areas has emerged. For example, the health industry has formed a collaborative development model within the Wuhan metropolitan area: 'headquarters and R&D in Optics Valley, active pharmaceutical ingredients in Ezhou, and compliant chemical parks in Huanggang.' Changes in investment and construction projects are also a microcosm of regional transformation and development.

　　'With the acceleration of investment in advanced manufacturing and high-tech enterprises, these investment projects have been completed and put into operation since the second half of last year, directly driving the rapid growth of high-tech manufacturing value-added in the three central provinces this year,' Ye Qing said. As an important manufacturing cluster in the country, advanced manufacturing is crucial for improving the industrial competitiveness of the central region and is an important support for the economic fundamentals of the three central provinces.

　　Statistics show that in July this year, Hubei's high-tech manufacturing value-added grew by 27.8%, 3.2 percentage points faster than the previous month and 19.5 percentage points faster than the province's industrial output above designated size. The output of smartphones, tablets, and optoelectronic devices increased by 1.2 times, 54.1%, and 37.8%, respectively. During the same period, Hunan's high-tech manufacturing value-added grew by 12.5% year-on-year, with aviation, spacecraft and equipment manufacturing up 30.7%, medical instrument and meter manufacturing up 15.4%, electronic and communication equipment manufacturing up 15.2%, and computer and office equipment manufacturing up 12.2%. From January to July, Jiangxi's high-tech manufacturing grew by 17.6% year-on-year, 9.1 percentage points higher than the provincial average, accounting for 21.0% of the industrial output above designated size and driving its growth by 3.5 percentage points.

　　Li Lin, a professor at the School of Economics and Trade at Hunan University, suggested that under the strong engine of AI empowering all industries, the central region can focus on traditional advantageous manufacturing, deeply explore future smart manufacturing application scenarios, concentrate on 'smart factories' and 'smart workshops', accelerate the cultivation of a batch of smart manufacturing application scenarios with strong demonstration, high visibility, and broad driving effects, and enhance the depth and breadth of the integration of AI and manufacturing.

　　Trade-in policies boost upgrading and consumer goods sales rebound

　　On the afternoon of the 28th, the national consumer goods trade-in campaign 'Link Thousands of Enterprises, Benefit Ten Thousand Families' good goods renewal season Hubei event was launched in Wuhan, and Hubei's 'measures to strengthen support for consumer goods trade-in' will be introduced at the same time.

　　An official from the Hubei Provincial Department of Commerce introduced that as of August 25, Hubei had received 15,700 applications for vehicle scrappage subsidies, 38,900 vehicle replacement updates, and 397,000 home appliance trade-ins. From January to July, the province's scrapped vehicle recycling volume was 113,000, up 54.8% year-on-year. Especially after the implementation of the vehicle scrappage subsidy policy, the scrappage volume grew rapidly. In June, the province's scrapped vehicle recycling volume increased by 83.6% year-on-year, and in July it increased by 89.7%. In terms of home appliances, from January to July, retail sales of home appliances and audio-visual products above designated size reached 50.019 billion yuan, up 16.6% year-on-year, 11.8 percentage points faster than the same period last year, driving the province's total retail sales of consumer goods to grow by 5.3% year-on-year, 1.8 percentage points higher than the national average.

　　According to forecasts, under the favorable implementation of strengthened policies such as expanding scope, raising standards, and simplifying procedures, the average monthly sales volume in Hubei for vehicle scrappage and renewal, personal passenger car replacement and renewal, home appliance trade-in, and agricultural machinery scrappage and renewal will reach approximately 4 times, 3 times, 5 times, and 2 times the actual transaction volume before the strengthened measures, respectively. The annual retail sales of vehicles, home appliances and audio-visual equipment, and building and decoration materials above designated size will grow by more than 10%, 20%, and 8% year-on-year, respectively, directly driving consumption of over 50 billion yuan. It is expected that by the end of this year, the province's vehicle scrappage and renewal and replacement updates will reach 45,000 and 125,000 vehicles, respectively, and home appliance trade-ins will reach 1.7 million sets.

　　Similarly, the driving effect of the 'dual new' policies has also had a positive impact on the demand for upgraded consumer goods in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. From January to July this year, Hunan's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 1,180.92 billion yuan, up 5.6% year-on-year, 2.1 percentage points higher than the national average. With the gradual manifestation of the vehicle trade-in policy effect, Hunan's retail sales of new energy vehicles grew by 61.7% year-on-year, 11.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year; retail sales of smart home appliances and audio-visual equipment grew by 11.8% year-on-year, 15.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

　　Jiangxi's green and smart upgrading consumption grew faster. From January to July, retail sales of new energy vehicles, wearable smart devices, and smartphones in units above designated size grew by 43.0%, 42.5%, and 22.2%, respectively, and high-efficiency home appliances grew by 14.7%.

　　Foreign trade of the three central provinces shows clear divergence

　　At 11:35 on August 21, the X8017 scheduled China-Europe freight train, loaded with 55 containers of electronic equipment, clothing, and other goods, departed from Wujiashan Station of the Hanxi Railway Station of Wuhan Railway to Duisburg, Germany. Upon arrival, the entire train of goods will be transferred to sea transport at the Port of Duisburg, directly reaching Oslo and Moss in Norway, with the total transport time reduced by 23 days compared to sea transport. This is the second extension of the China-Europe freight train (Wuhan) to a Nordic country after opening a direct route to Finland.

　　As of August 7, Ezhou Huahu International Airport's international cargo and mail throughput this year exceeded 100,000 tons, and total cargo and mail throughput exceeded 500,000 tons, ranking fifth nationwide after Shanghai Pudong, Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Bao'an, and Beijing Capital airports, up from 16th place last year. Huahu International Airport's cargo volume has entered the national top tier.

　　With the combined support of air and rail 'outbound ports', Hubei's total import and export value in the first half of the year was 313.32 billion yuan, a record high for the same period. In July this year, the province's total import and export value was 57.72 billion yuan, up 11.3% year-on-year. According to Wuhan Customs statistics, Hubei's flagship export products are still mechanical and electrical equipment. In the first seven months, the province exported 136.27 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, up 15.6%, accounting for 54.8% of Hubei's total export value during the same period. Among them, mobile phones, automatic data processing equipment and parts, and automobiles (including chassis) were exported for 14.2 billion, 13.73 billion, and 12.43 billion yuan, up 32.1%, 10.1%, and 20%, respectively.

　　After a sharp decline in the first half of the year, Hunan's export trade finally stopped falling and rebounded in July, growing by 1.6% year-on-year, achieving its first positive monthly growth this year. According to Changsha Customs statistics, in July, Hunan's imports and exports grew both year-on-year and month-on-month, with the province's imports and exports reaching 45.11 billion yuan, up 6.1% year-on-year, achieving positive growth for two consecutive months. Among them, exports were 26.83 billion yuan, up 1.6% year-on-year; imports were 18.28 billion yuan, up 13.5% year-on-year.

　　Hunan's import and export scale with Africa continues to rank first in the central and western regions. In the first seven months, the province's imports and exports with Africa were 30.53 billion yuan, ranking 8th nationwide and 1st in the central and western regions, of which imports from Africa were 14.51 billion yuan, up 90.3%. In addition, exports of construction machinery, automobiles, and 'new three' products grew significantly. In the first seven months, Hunan exported 19.44 billion yuan of construction machinery products, up 25%; 520 million yuan of rail transit equipment, up 4.4%; 16.19 billion yuan of automobiles, up 46.9%; and 6.17 billion yuan of 'new three' products, up 47.6%.

　　Jiangxi, which had the lowest foreign trade growth rate in the country in the first half of the year, saw its decline begin to narrow in July. According to Nanchang Customs statistics, from January to July, the province's total goods trade import and export value was 260.09 billion yuan, down 25.7% year-on-year, with the decline narrowing by 3.2 percentage points from January to June. Among them, exports were 168.28 billion yuan, down 34.2%; imports were 91.81 billion yuan, down 2.4%.

　　Chen Bo, a professor at the School of Economics at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, analyzed that the decline in Jiangxi's foreign trade is mainly due to the large decline in its traditional advantageous export industries, including mechanical and electrical products affected by trade frictions, weak export demand for natural resources such as lithium ore and rare earths, and the transfer of production capacity by large export enterprises.

　　Statistics show that from January to July, Jiangxi's general trade imports and exports were 174.79 billion yuan, down 36.3%; private enterprise imports and exports were 182.12 billion yuan, down 27.8%; and mechanical and electrical product exports were 105.04 billion yuan, down 12.0%.

　　But at the same time, Jiangxi's exports of electric passenger vehicles were 2.5 billion yuan, up 12.8 times. Affected by the continued heating up of the summer 'event economy', Jiangxi exported 180 million yuan of LCD TVs in the first seven months, of which the cumulative export value in June and July reached 85.706 million yuan, up 12% year-on-year.