China's GDP Grows 7.3% in 2001, Foreign Trade Maintains Growth Momentum

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 28, 2002

China's GDP Grows 7.3% in 2001, Foreign Trade Maintains Growth Momentum

China's total volume of imports and exports in 2001 reached 509.8 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.5 percent over the previous year, according to statistics released Thursday in Beijing.

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China's total volume of imports and exports in 2001 reached 509.8 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.5 percent over the previous year, according to statistics released Thursday in Beijing.

Zhu Zhixin, commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a press conference that last year's export value was 266.2billion U.S. dollars, up 6.8 percent, and import value was 243.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.2 percent. Last year China had a trade surplus of 22.5 billion U.S. dollars, a decline of 1.6 billion U.S.dollars from the previous year.

He said that direct foreign investment registered rapid growth.The actually utilized foreign direct investment was 46.8 billion U.S. dollars, up 14.9 percent over the previous year.

Foreign exchange reserves continued to grow. By the end of last year, China's foreign exchange reserves reached 212.2 billion U.S.dollars, an increase of 46.6 billion U.S. dollars as compared with that at the end of the previous year.

The exchange rate of Renminbi, the local currency, stood at one U.S. dollar for 8.2766 RMB yuan at the end of the year, appreciating 15 basic points as compared with the end of the previous year.

China's GDP Grows 7.3 Percent in 2001China's gross domestic product (GDP) of 2001 was 9,593.3 billion yuan, an increase of 7.3 percent over the previous year in constant terms, exceeding the targeted seven percent growth, according to Zhu.

He said at the press conference that the added value of the primary industry was 1461 billion yuan, up 2.8 percent, and that of the secondary industry was 4,906.9 billion yuan, up 8.7 percent, and that of the tertiary industry was 3,225.4 billion yuan, up 7.4 percent.

Domestic Demand: Main Force Behind Economic Growth

In 2001, China's investment infixed assets was 3,689.8 billion yuan, an increase of 12.1 percent over the previous year, while the total retail sales of consumer goods was 3,759.5 billion yuan, up 10.1 percent, according to a senior government official.

Zhu Zhixin said that the fast growth of investment and retail sales indicates that domestic demand has become the main force to boost the economy.

According to Zhu, the growth of investment by State-owned institutions and other type of institutions was 12.8 percent; while that by collectively-owned businesses was 8.1 percent; that by individuals was 12.7 percent.

The growth of investment in capital construction was 8.5 percent, that in technical updating and transformation was 15.3 percent, and that in real estate development stood at 25.3 percent, he said.

Of the total retail sales, the volume in urban areas was up 11.5 percent, while the volume at and below county level was up 7.7 percent. The sales of the wholesale and retail trades increased 10.7 percent, and that of the catering industry rose 16.4 percent.

Fast growth was registered in new forms of operation or businesses for commodity circulation, such as chain stores and material distribution, he said.

Steady Growth of China's Industrial, Agricultural Production

China's total output of grain for the year of 2001 was 452.62 million tons, down by 2.1 percent from the previous year, according to China's top statistics official.

The commissioner of National Bureau of Statistics, told the press conference that output decline was mainly due to the adjustment of sown areas and severe drought in some areas.

He said that fluctuations were seen in the output of cash crops. The output of cotton was 5.32 million tons, up 20.4 percent; that of sugar crops was 87.9 million tons, up 15.1 percent. The output of oil-bearing crops was 28.72 million tons, down 2.8 percent; that of meat was 63.4 million tons, up 3.5 percent; while that of aquatic products was 43.75 million tons, up 2.3 percent.

At the same time, the added value of State-owned and State-holding industrial enterprises and those non-State-owned industrial enterprises with an annual sales income of over five million yuan was 2,695 billion yuan, up 9.9 percent, he said.

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