China's GDP Grows 8 Percent, Topping US$1,000bn

Preliminary estimates by China National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in 2000 was 8.9404 trillion yuan, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year in constant terms.

This estimated growth rate was 0.9 percentage points higher than that in 1999.

Zhu Zhixin, commissioner of the NBS, told a press conference Wednesday, February 28, that in 2000, departments and governments at all levels implemented in real earnest the policies aiming at expanding domestic demand, and continued to pursue the pro-active financial policy and the robust monetary policy which lead to significantly improved quality of economic performance.

Zhu said that the growth of the primary industry was 2.4 percent, that of the secondary industry was 9.6 percent, while that of the tertiary industry was 7.8 percent.

He said that statistical facts have indicated that in 2000 the Chinese economy had overcome the difficulties brought about by the Asian financial crisis, and showed signs for the favorable circle of development.

However, he pointed out that problems still exist in economic performance and social development, including the still prominent irrational economic structure as was reflected by the unstable basis for economic pick-up, and the lack of a system for sustained growth of social demand, as well as the difficulties in life condition for some people due to the slow increase of farmers' income.

Foreign Trade Increasing

China registered a total volume of foreign trade of 474.3 billion US dollars in 2000, up 31.5 percent over the previous year, said Zhu Zhixin.

Zhu said that in the year, China's foreign exchange reserves rose to US$165.6 billion, an increase of US$10.9 billion as compared with that at the beginning of the year.

China exported US$249.2 billion-worth goods in 2000, up 27.8 percent, while the imports stood at US$225.1 billion, up 35.8 percent.

Utilization of foreign capital was also turning for the better, said Zhu. In 2000, China's government approved a total of 22,347 new projects funded by foreign capital, up 32.1 percent over 1999. The contracted foreign capital reached US$62.4 billion, up 51.3 percent, while the sum of real foreign capital used was US$40.7 billion, up one percent.

Market Price Stable

Total retail sales of consumer goods were 3,415.3 billion yuan, up 9.7 percent over 1999, a real growth of 11.4 percent allowing for price changes.

The sales of means of production by wholesale and retail enterprises above the designated size were 1,580.8 billion yuan, up 23.7 percent, the commissioner of NBS said.

The consumer price level of the year was up 0.4 percent, reversing the trend of declining for consecutive two years starting from 1998. Analyzed by category of commodities, the prices for service items went up 14.1 percent, and a 4.8 percent rise for housing.

Meanwhile, with the fast economic growth and price hike of petroleum on the international market, the ex-factory prices of manufactured goods rose by 2.8 percent, and the purchasing price for energy, raw materials and power went up by 5.1 percent.

Economic Efficiency Improved

Economic efficiency of China's industry was significantly improved in 2000, with the overall efficiency index for industrial enterprises hitting a record 117.8 points since 1992, announced Zhu.

The profits made by industrial enterprises above designated size reached record 426.2 billion yuan since 1990, or up 86.2 percent over the previous year.

In particular, that created by the state-owned and state- holding enterprises increased by a large margin to reach 239.2 billion yuan.

Zhu also announced that the targets set for the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and lifting those enterprises out of difficulty have been met over the past year. The total losses by state-owned and state-holding loss-suffering enterprises were down by 26.7 percent over the previous year.

Meanwhile, production and marketing situation continued to improve, the sales ratio of industrial enterprises above designated size was 97.71 percent, up 0.46 percentage points, noted Zhu.

The economic efficiency in the circulating field also improved to some extent. Related figures show that the net sales income in the first 11 months of 2000 reached 2.3982 trillion yuan, with an annual increase of 17.3 percent.

Fixed Assets Investment

China's completed investment in fixed assets in 2000 was 3.2619 trillion yuan, up 9.3 percent over the previous year.

In terms of different economic entities, the investment of state-owned units and other types of units was 2.3284 trillion yuan, up 9.2 percent, collective investment was 473.9 billion yuan, up 9.2 percent. The investment of urban and rural residents was 459.6 billion yuan, up 9.5 percent, said NBS commissioner Zhu Zhixin.

Investment in fixed assets reversed the trend of significant slow-down of the growth rate in the previous year and showed the momentum of synchronous growth of investment by State-owned enterprises, collectives and urban and rural individuals.

People Enjoy Better Life

The Chinese people enjoyed a better life in 2000 with increased incomes, said Zhu Zhixin.

Zhu told the press conference that the annual per capita disposable income of urban households in 2000 was 6,280 yuan, a real increase of 6.4 percent over the previous year.

Influenced by grain output decrease, the per capita net income of China's rural households was 2,253 yuan, a mere real growth of 2.1 percent.

In 2000, Chinese urbanites purchased some 143 million square meters floor space of housing, up 40.1 percent over the previous year. Their per capita expenditure on healthcare was 318 yuan, up 29.5 percent.

In the year, China's urban residents spent 628 yuan on education, recreational and cultural activities, up 10.7 percent over 1999. They also spent 317.6 billion yuan on tourism, up 12.7 percent.






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