China's Service Sector Growing SteadilyThe ratio of the service sector to China's gross domestic product has grown year by year over the past five years, with its added value expanding eight percent annually.That ratio rose to 33.2 percent in 2000, with the added value amounting to nearly three trillion yuan, up 70 percent from 1995, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Calculated at the 1990 constant price, the service sector accounted for 28 percent of increased GDP ¨C the value of goods and services produced ¨C in 2000, roughly five percentage points higher than in 1995. The situation is changing step by step in which China's relies primarily on the secondary industry in spurring economic growth. The pattern is taking shape in which the secondary industry and the service sector are jointly stimulating China's economic expansion. China's work force rose by 26.39 million in the first four years of the 9th Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), with 81 percent employed in the service sector. The country's financial industry entered a new development period from 1996 to 2000. At the end of 2000, loans extended by all financial institutions totaled 9.9 trillion yuan, and outstanding savings deposited in such institutions amounted to 12.4 trillion yuan. China had 1,088 listed companies with a total capitalization of over 4.8 trillion yuan. The real estate business grew rapidly, with commercial apartments totaling 400 million square meters in floor space completed annually. The premiums of insurance companies reached 159.6 billion yuan a year. The information industry has been growing speedily to become a new driving force behind China's economic development. In 2000, there were 740 million domestic tourists, 100 million more than in 1995. Earnings from the domestic tourism service came to 317.6 billion yuan, 2.3 times the 1995 figure. |
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