Monthly Archives: January 2010

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s gross domestic product for the full-year 2009 grew 8.7 percent, including a 10.7 percent jump in the fourth quarter.  The accelerating pace of growth has sparked fears of inflation, especially given the strong fiscal stimulus provided by the government over the past 18 months.  While the consumer price index declined 0.7 percent in 2009, it was up 1.0 percent in November and 1.9 percent in December.  China will likely raise rates in 2010 to suppress potential runaway inflation, and this has implications for the economic recovery worldwide.

The following is a statement by National Bureau of Statistics Commissioner Ma Jiantang:

The year 2009 is the most difficult time for China’s economic development in the new century. In face of the severe impact brought about by the global financial crisis in a century and the most complicated domestic and international situations, the Central Party Committee and the State Council sized up the situation, made scientific decision and headed the whole nation united as one to surmount the difficulties of our time; to stick to implement the proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy; and to fully implement and further improve the package plan targeting on tackling with the global financial crisis. All these lead to the holding back noticeable sliding of the economy, and the national economy recovered and moved toward a favorable direction.

According to preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) for the year 2009 was 33,535.3 billion yuan, up by 8.7 percent at comparable prices, or 0.9 percentage points lower than that in the previous year. In terms of growth by quarters, it was up 6.2 percent for the first quarter, 7.9 percent growth for the second quarter, 9.1 percent for the third quarter and 10.7 percent for the last quarter. In terms of growth by sectors, the value added of the primary industry was 3,547.7 billion yuan, up by 4.2 percent; that of the secondary industry was 15,695.8 billion yuan, up by 9.5 percent; and that of the tertiary industry was 14,291.8 billion yuan, up by 8.9 percent.

I. Agricultural Production Continued to Develop Steadily with Increase in Grain Output for Consecutive Six Years. In 2009, the total output of grain reached 530.82 million tons, an increase of 0.4 percent over that in the previous year with an output increase for the sixth year. Of this total, the output of summer grain was 123.35 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.2 percent; the output of early rice was 33.27 million tons, a growth of 5.3 percent over that in the previous year; the output of autumn grain was 374.20 million tons, a year-on-year decline of 0.6 percent. The output of oil-bearing seeds is expected to grow around 5.0 percent and the output of sugar will drop by 9.0 percent. The output of meat maintained steady growth and the total output of meat in 2009 reached 75.09 million tons, up by 5.0 percent. Of this total, the output of pork was 48.89 million tons, up by 5.8 percent; the number of slaughtered pigs stood at 640 million, up by 5.7 percent, the total stocks of pigs were 470 million, rose by 1.5 percent.

II. Industrial Production Picked up Quarter by Quarter, Profits Made Reversed from Sharp Declining to Rising. In 2009, the value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was up by 11.0 percent, or 1.9 percentage points lower than that in 2008. Of which, the growth in the first quarter was 5.1 percent, that in the second quarter was 9.1 percent, 12.4 percent growth in the third quarter and 18.0 percent growth in the last quarter. Analysis on different types of enterprises showed that the value added of the state-owned and state holding enterprises went up by 6.9 percent; collective enterprises, up by 10.2 percent; share-holding enterprises, up by 13.3 percent; and 6.2 percent growth for the enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The growth of the heavy industry was 11.5 percent and that of the light industry was 9.7 percent. Among the 39 industrial divisions, all witnessed growth over the previous year. In terms of different areas, the growth in eastern, central and western regions went up by 9.7 percent, 12.1 percent and 15.5 percent respectively. The production and marketing situation was good, the sales ratio was 97.67 percent for the industrial enterprises above the designated size.

In the first eleven months of 2009, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 2,589.1 billion yuan, up by 7.8 percent, over the same period of last year, which was 2.9 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year. Among the 39 industrial divisions, 30 divisions registered year-on-year growth with profits.

III. Investment Continued to Grow fast, Investment in Areas Related to People’s Livelihood Speeded up Noticeably. In 2009, the total investment in fixed assets of the country reached 22,484.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 30.1 percent, with an increase of 4.6 percentage points over the previous year. Of this total, the fixed assets investment in urban areas was 19,413.9 billion yuan, up by 30.5 percent, or 4.4 percentage points higher; and that in rural areas was 3,070.7 billion yuan, up by 27.5 percent, or 6.0 percentage points higher. Of the fixed assets investment in urban areas, the growth of investment in the primary industry was 49.9 percent; that in the secondary industry was 26.8 percent and 33.0 percent for the tertiary industry. In terms of different areas, the investment in urban areas in eastern, central and western regions grew by 23.9 percent, 36.0 percent and 35.0 percent respectively. Investment in areas that related to the improvement of people’s livelihood increased by a large margin. The investment in infrastructure facilities (excluding electricity) for the whole year topped 4,191.3 billion yuan, up 44.3 percent. Of this total, the growth of investment in railway transportation was 67.5 percent; road transportation, 40.1 percent; urban public traffic, 59.7 percent; services to households and other services, 61.8 percent; education, 37.2 percent; health, social security and social welfare, 58.5 percent. The total investment in the real estate development for the year was 3,623.2 billion yuan, a growth of 16.1 percent, which was 4.8 percentage points lower than that in 2008.

IV. The Growth of Market Sales was Steady and Fast, Sales of Selected Products Increased Rapidly. In 2009, the total sales of consumer goods reached 12,534.3 billion yuan, a growth of 15.5 percent, or a real growth of 16.9 percent after deducting price factors, which was 2.1 percentage points higher than that in the previous year. Of this total, the retail sales of consumer goods in cities stood at 8,513.3 billion yuan, up 15.5 percent, while the retail sales at and below county level reached 4,021.0 billion yuan, up 15.7 percent. Grouped by different sectors, the sales by wholesale and retail businesses was 10,541.3 billion yuan, up by 15.6 percent; and that by lodging and catering industry was 1,799.8 billion yuan, up by 16.8 percent. Of the total retail sales by wholesale and retail businesses above designated size, except that of the communication equipment, the rest 20 types of commodities all registered large margin growth. Of which, the growth of clothing, shoes, hats and textiles was 18.8 percent, that of furniture, 35.5 percent and 32.3 percent growth for automobiles.

V. The Consumer Price and Producer Price Witnessed Decline for the Whole Year, Picking up Was Shown at the End of the Year. In 2009, the CPI was down by 0.7 percent. Of this total, the CPI declined by 0.9 percent in cities and down by 0.3 percent in rural areas. Grouped by categories, four of the total eight categories witnessed price rise and the rest four had declines, the prices for tobacco and liquor, went up by 1.5 percent, that of the medical care services and personal articles, up by 1.2 percent, that of food went up by 0.7 percent, and that of household appliance and maintenance services, up 0.2 percent; the prices of housing down by 3.6 percent, that of transportation and communication, down by 2.4 percent, clothing, down by 2.0 percent and 0.7 percent decrease for recreation, education, cultural articles and services. The year-on-year change of CPI in November reversed from negative one to positive one, which was up 0.6 percent in November, it was up by 1.9 percent in December. In 2009, the year-on-year change of producers’ prices for manufactured goods down by 5.4 percent, in December it was up 1.7 percent reversing the trend of declining. The purchasers’ prices for raw material, fuel and power down by 7.9 percent for the whole year; the retail prices for commodities dropped down by 1.2 percent.

VI. The Total Value of Imports and Exports Dropped in 2009, It Shifted from Declining to Rising in November. The total value of imports and exports for the whole year reached 2,207.3 billion US dollars, a drop of 13.9 percent over that in the previous year. In November, the year-on-year change of total value of imports and exports shifted from negative one to a positive one, which was up by 9.8 percent, it was up 32.7 percent in December. The total value of exports for the whole year was 1,201.7 billion US dollars, down by 16.0 percent; that of the imports was 1,005.6 billion US dollars, down by 11.2 percent; China had a trade surplus of 196.1 billion US dollars, or 99.4 billion US dollars less over that in the previous year.

VII. Urban and Rural Residents’ Income Increased Steadily, the Employment Situation was Better than Expected. In 2009, the per capita income of urban household was 18,858 yuan. Of this total, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 17,175 yuan, up by 8.8 percent, or a real increase of 9.8 percent after deducting price factors. Of the per capita income of urban household, the growth of wage income was 9.6 percent; that of operating net income was 5.2 percent; property income, 11.6 percent, transferred income, 14.9 percent. The per capita net income of rural residents was 5,153 yuan, up by 8.2 percent over that in the previous year, or a real increase of 8.5 percent after deducting price factors. Of this total, the growth of wage income was 11.2 percent; the production operating income from the primary industry was 2.2 percent, and that from the secondary and tertiary industries was 10.0 percent; the property income was 12.9 percent and 23.1 percent growth for the transferred income. The total newly increased employment in urban areas was 9.10 million people. By the end of the year, there were 149 million rural migrant workers; it was 1.7 million people more than that at the end of the first quarter of 2009.

VIII. Money Supply Grew Rapidly, Newly Increased Credits Increased by a Large Margin. At the end of December, the broad money (M2) was 60.6 trillion yuan, it was up 27.7 percent as compared with that at the end of 2008, the growth rate was 9.9 percentage points higher over that in the previous year; the narrow money (M1) was 22.0 trillion yuan, up by 32.4 percent, or 23.3 percentage points higher; the cash in circulation (M0) was 3,824.6 billion yuan, a rise of 11.8 percent, or down by 0.9 percentage points. The amount of outstanding loans of all financial institutions was 40.0 trillion yuan, increased by 9.6 trillion yuan over that at the beginning of this year, or an increase of 4.7 trillion yuan as compared with the same period last year.

At present, the base of world economy recovery is relatively weak; there are uncertainties in domestic economic development. Facing the complex situation of coexistence of difficulties and opportunities, we should unswervingly carry out various plans set by the central government on economic work; thoroughly apply the scientific outlook of development; maintain the consistency and stability of the macro economic policy; put forth effort to enhance the pertinence and flexibility of policies; further improve the quality and efficiency of economic growth; accelerate the change of economic growth mode and the adjustment of economic structures; actively push forward reform, opening-up and independent innovation; attach importance to the improvement of people’s livelihood and maintain a harmonious and stable social climate; take both international and domestic situation into consideration and plan accordingly; and achieve a steady and fast growth of national economy.