National Economy
2004-03-08 14:45
The establishment of the People's Republic of
China (PRC) serves
as a foundation for all progress and development New China has
achieved. Since the PRC was founded in 1949, the Chinese people,
under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), have
scored world-acknowledged achievements in construction through
self-reliance and hard struggle. After three decades' exploration
and through the emancipation of productive forces stemming from
reforms and opening up since the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th CPC
Central Committee, China has greatly narrowed the gap between it and
developed nations. The Chinese people have turned a poor and
backward old China into a new socialist China with a relatively
complete industrial system and a national economic system.
Under the leadership of the CPC and with the concerted efforts of
the Chinese people, China's productive forces have witnessed
unprecedented growth. Since China initiated reforms and opening up,
its comprehensive national strength has grown rapidly, with its
gross domestic product (GDP) rising to 7,955.3 billion yuan in 1998
from 362.4 billion yuan in 1978. It has risen to the 7th place in
the world and ranks first among the developing countries in terms of
the total economic sale. In 1998, its total investment in fixed
assets by the whole society amounted to 2,845.75 billion yuan; its
financial revenues, 985.3 billion yuan and the state financial
expenditure, 1,077.1 billion yuan; the savings deposits in and loans
from financial institutions reached 9,569.8 billion yuan and 8,652.4
billion yuan, respectively. Its external trade increased to 323.9
billion U.S. dollars in 1998 from 1.13 billion U.S. dollars in 1950,
up 286 times. It ranks 9th among all countries in terms of foreign
trade. Its imports were 140.17 billion U.S. dollars and its exports,
183.76 billion yuan. China has forged trade relations with more
than 220 countries and regions. On the world economic arena today,
China has become a world-recognized political and economic power
that plays a vital role in international affairs.
With the progress in industrialization, China has gradually
upgraded its industrial structure. In 1949, agriculture accounted
for 58.5 percent of China's total social output value, and the
industrial sector made up only 30 percent of the total industrial
and agricultural output value. In 1998, the ratio of China's
primary, secondary and tertiary industries was 18:49.2:32.8.
China's industrial sector has also seen rapid growth, with its
industrial added value surging from 11.98 billion yuan in 1952 to
3,354.1 billion yuan in 1998. With the price factor excluded, the
value shot up 157.7 times, or rising at an average annual rate of
11.6 percent. In 1998, the total industrial output value was
11,969.3 billion yuan and the annual industrial added value was
3,354.1 billion yuan, a 8.9 percent increase over 1997. The
added-value of the state-owned industrial enterprises and
non-state-owned enterprises with an annual turnover of more than 5
million yuan was 2,004.6 billion yuan, rising 8.8 percent over 1997.
Of the figure, the added-value of the state-owned and state holding
enterprises was 1,136.5 billion yuan, increasing 4.9 percent; that
of the collectively-owned enterprises, 499 billion yuan, up 8.7
percent; that of share-holding enterprises 133.8 billion yuan, up
11.9 percent; that of foreign-funded enterprises and the enterprises
funded by businesses from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan was 383.5
billion yuan, up 12.7 percent; that of other types of enterprises
was 75.3 billion yuan, a 19.6 percent rise. In 1998, the
production-to-sales ratio of industrial products was 96.49 percent,
the same as in 1997. Production of new manufactured goods rose 4.9
percent over 1997. The qualified rate of major industrial products
reached 89.98 percent, 5.18 percentage points higher than in 1997.
At present, China ranks first in the world in production of
steel, coal, cement, fertilizers and TV sets. It places second in
the world in the output of electricity, cloth and chemical fibers.
It ranks fourth and fifth in the output of sugar and crude oil,
respectively. It ranks first in the world in the output of grain,
meat, cotton, peanuts, rape seed and fruits. It places second in
production of tea, soybeans and sugar canes.
China's rural economy has scored an all-round development, with the
output of farm products growing steadily. Its grain output reached
490 million tons in 1998; the agricultural added value rose to
1,429.9 billion yuan in 1998 from 34.3 billion yuan in 1952. In
1998, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal
husbandry and fishery reached 2,510.3 billion yuan. Since
initiating reforms and opening up, China's rural industry has
developed vigorously. Construction of small cites and towns has
started, enabling about 150 million surplus rural laborers to be
employed in other sectors and helping more than 200 million rural
residents to shake off poverty. Meanwhile, most rural residents not
only have solved the food problem, but also are moving to a
relatively comfortable and affluent life.
In the past five decades, the living standard of China's urban
and rural residents has jumped over several levels, with changes in
quality taking place. The per capita income of rural residents rose
from 44 yuan to 2,162 yuan, a 48-fold increase. The actual
per-capital annual consumption of urban and rural residents rose
from 80 yuan in 1952 to 2,973 yuan in 1998. The saving deposits of
urban and rural residents soared from 860 million yuan in 1952 to
5,340.8 billion yuan. The per-capita net income of rural families
in 1998 reached 2,162 yuan and the per-capita disposable income of
urban families 5,425 yuan.
As for China's external trade in 1998, because of the adverse
effects of the Asia financial crisis, the growth of China's exports
slowed down considerably; its imports also fell as a result of the
sluggish domestic demand and other factors. The total import and
export value was 324 billion U.S. dollars, down 0.4 percent from the
previous year. The export value was 183.8 billion U.S. dollars, up
0.5 percent. The export of general merchandize dropped 4.8 percent;
the export of processing trade rose 4.9 percent. The total import
value was 140.2 billion U.S. dollars, down 1.5 percent. On
balance, the trade surplus was 43.6 billion U.S. dollars.
Contracting for overseas projects, cooperation in labor service and
consulting services for design kept growing. In 1998, the value of
contracts for overseas projects signed amounted to 11.8 billion U.S.
dollars, increasing 3.7 percent over the previous year; the turnover
topped the mark of 10 billion U.S. dollars to 10.1 billion dollars,
rising 20.9 percent. At the end of 1998, China had 325,000 workers
working abroad, 18,000 more than in the previous year.
China began making utilizing overseas funds in July of 1979. In
April 1980, the Beijing Air Catering Co. Ltd. invested by Wu
Suk-qing from Hong Kong obtained No.001 License for overseas-funded
enterprises, marking the beginning of introducing overseas
investment. By the end of 1997, China had introduced 464 billion
U.S. dollars in overseas funds, including direct foreign investment
of 348.65 billion U.S. dollars and foreign loans totaling 115.95
billion U.S. dollars. In 1998, foreign investment in China
proceeded smoothly, whereas foreign loans declined. Foreign funds
brought into China in 1998 were 58.9 billion U.S. dollars, down 7.9
percent. Of the figure, direct foreign investment was 45.6 billion
U.S. dollars, increasing 0.7 percent; foreign loans were 11 billion
U.S. dollars, a 8.5 percent decrease. For eight straight years,
China has been the first largest country among developing countries
and the second largest country in the world in absorbing direct
foreign investment, next only to the United States. Foreign-funded
enterprises are the general term for Sino-foreign funded
enterprises, Sino-foreign cooperative businesses and solely-funded
foreign enterprises in China's opening-up drive to make use of and
absorb foreign funds. By setting up foreign-funded enterprises,
China has absorbed a large amount of foreign funds and introduced
some advanced and useful technology and equipment, filling up its
technological vacancy, upgrading large amounts of products,
improving production standards of some industries, providing a great
many employment opportunities, expanding tax sources and promoting
the development of the national economy. Foreign-funded enterprises
have linked the domestic market to the overseas market, and promoted
the improvement of the structure of China's export-oriented products
and the development of its external trade, and quickened China's
pace of adapting to the world market. With their flexible
operational mechanism, strict management and fair competition,
foreign-funded enterprises have set an example for state-owned
enterprises to transform their operational mechanism and introduce
China's modern enterprise system. They have also trained a large
number of Chinese managerial personnel and modern workers. By the
end of June of 1998, China had 236,400 foreign-funded enterprises
involving a total foreign investment of 770.742 billion U.S.
dollars. Such enterprises have become a major component of China's
national economy.
China's GDP rose from 67.9 billion yuan in 1952 to 7,955.3
billion yuan in 1998, increasing 7.7 percent annually with the
exclusion of the price factor and being 250 percent of the world
growth rate during the corresponding period. According to the latest
statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, in 1999, China's
GDP reached 8,319 billion yuan, rising 7.1 percent over 1998. By
December 31, 1999, its foreign exchange reserves had reached 154.675
billion U.S. dollars, 9.716 billion U.S. dollars more than at the
end of 1998. The exchange rate of Renminbi against other currencies
continued to be stable.
Since 1999, China has further raised export tax refunding rates
and adopted a series of policies to accelerate export tax refunding.
Furthermore, the economies of its neighboring countries have started
to recover and the impact of the Asian financial crisis is
diminishing. In the second half of 1999, China's exports stopped
the downward turn and began to rebound. In the first 11 months of
1999, China's trade surplus was 26.4 billion U.S. dollars and the
direct foreign investment in the country was 37.09 billion U.S.
dollars.
On November 15, 1999, the Chinese and the U.S. governments signed
a bilateral agreement on China' entry into the World Trade
Organization (WTO). The signing of the agreement will help China to
quicken the process of accession to the WTO. It will help advance
the all-round development of economic and trade cooperation between
China and the United States. It is also conducive to the
stabilization and development of Sino-U.S. relations. It will also
inject new vigor into the development of the economy and prosperity
of the world as a whole. This also indicates that a stable China
will usher in a new wave of foreign investment and that its economic
activity will have a greater space and leeway.
According to statistics from and calculations by a number of
international organizations and experts, China is the seventh
largest economy in the world and it ranks ninth in the world in
terms of comprehensive economic strength. But it is in the 23rd
place in terms of the international competitive edge. China remains
a developing country and it is still among the low-income countries
in terms of per-capita GDP.
China will further stimulate effective demands, accelerate
infrastructural construction, readjust its economic structure,
maintain stable agricultural development, promote enterprise
technological progress and industrial upgrading, step up ecological
construction, and improve the quality and efficiency of economic
growth. It enjoys a bright future in economic development.
as a foundation for all progress and development New China has
achieved. Since the PRC was founded in 1949, the Chinese people,
under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), have
scored world-acknowledged achievements in construction through
self-reliance and hard struggle. After three decades' exploration
and through the emancipation of productive forces stemming from
reforms and opening up since the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th CPC
Central Committee, China has greatly narrowed the gap between it and
developed nations. The Chinese people have turned a poor and
backward old China into a new socialist China with a relatively
complete industrial system and a national economic system.
Under the leadership of the CPC and with the concerted efforts of
the Chinese people, China's productive forces have witnessed
unprecedented growth. Since China initiated reforms and opening up,
its comprehensive national strength has grown rapidly, with its
gross domestic product (GDP) rising to 7,955.3 billion yuan in 1998
from 362.4 billion yuan in 1978. It has risen to the 7th place in
the world and ranks first among the developing countries in terms of
the total economic sale. In 1998, its total investment in fixed
assets by the whole society amounted to 2,845.75 billion yuan; its
financial revenues, 985.3 billion yuan and the state financial
expenditure, 1,077.1 billion yuan; the savings deposits in and loans
from financial institutions reached 9,569.8 billion yuan and 8,652.4
billion yuan, respectively. Its external trade increased to 323.9
billion U.S. dollars in 1998 from 1.13 billion U.S. dollars in 1950,
up 286 times. It ranks 9th among all countries in terms of foreign
trade. Its imports were 140.17 billion U.S. dollars and its exports,
183.76 billion yuan. China has forged trade relations with more
than 220 countries and regions. On the world economic arena today,
China has become a world-recognized political and economic power
that plays a vital role in international affairs.
With the progress in industrialization, China has gradually
upgraded its industrial structure. In 1949, agriculture accounted
for 58.5 percent of China's total social output value, and the
industrial sector made up only 30 percent of the total industrial
and agricultural output value. In 1998, the ratio of China's
primary, secondary and tertiary industries was 18:49.2:32.8.
China's industrial sector has also seen rapid growth, with its
industrial added value surging from 11.98 billion yuan in 1952 to
3,354.1 billion yuan in 1998. With the price factor excluded, the
value shot up 157.7 times, or rising at an average annual rate of
11.6 percent. In 1998, the total industrial output value was
11,969.3 billion yuan and the annual industrial added value was
3,354.1 billion yuan, a 8.9 percent increase over 1997. The
added-value of the state-owned industrial enterprises and
non-state-owned enterprises with an annual turnover of more than 5
million yuan was 2,004.6 billion yuan, rising 8.8 percent over 1997.
Of the figure, the added-value of the state-owned and state holding
enterprises was 1,136.5 billion yuan, increasing 4.9 percent; that
of the collectively-owned enterprises, 499 billion yuan, up 8.7
percent; that of share-holding enterprises 133.8 billion yuan, up
11.9 percent; that of foreign-funded enterprises and the enterprises
funded by businesses from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan was 383.5
billion yuan, up 12.7 percent; that of other types of enterprises
was 75.3 billion yuan, a 19.6 percent rise. In 1998, the
production-to-sales ratio of industrial products was 96.49 percent,
the same as in 1997. Production of new manufactured goods rose 4.9
percent over 1997. The qualified rate of major industrial products
reached 89.98 percent, 5.18 percentage points higher than in 1997.
At present, China ranks first in the world in production of
steel, coal, cement, fertilizers and TV sets. It places second in
the world in the output of electricity, cloth and chemical fibers.
It ranks fourth and fifth in the output of sugar and crude oil,
respectively. It ranks first in the world in the output of grain,
meat, cotton, peanuts, rape seed and fruits. It places second in
production of tea, soybeans and sugar canes.
China's rural economy has scored an all-round development, with the
output of farm products growing steadily. Its grain output reached
490 million tons in 1998; the agricultural added value rose to
1,429.9 billion yuan in 1998 from 34.3 billion yuan in 1952. In
1998, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal
husbandry and fishery reached 2,510.3 billion yuan. Since
initiating reforms and opening up, China's rural industry has
developed vigorously. Construction of small cites and towns has
started, enabling about 150 million surplus rural laborers to be
employed in other sectors and helping more than 200 million rural
residents to shake off poverty. Meanwhile, most rural residents not
only have solved the food problem, but also are moving to a
relatively comfortable and affluent life.
In the past five decades, the living standard of China's urban
and rural residents has jumped over several levels, with changes in
quality taking place. The per capita income of rural residents rose
from 44 yuan to 2,162 yuan, a 48-fold increase. The actual
per-capital annual consumption of urban and rural residents rose
from 80 yuan in 1952 to 2,973 yuan in 1998. The saving deposits of
urban and rural residents soared from 860 million yuan in 1952 to
5,340.8 billion yuan. The per-capita net income of rural families
in 1998 reached 2,162 yuan and the per-capita disposable income of
urban families 5,425 yuan.
As for China's external trade in 1998, because of the adverse
effects of the Asia financial crisis, the growth of China's exports
slowed down considerably; its imports also fell as a result of the
sluggish domestic demand and other factors. The total import and
export value was 324 billion U.S. dollars, down 0.4 percent from the
previous year. The export value was 183.8 billion U.S. dollars, up
0.5 percent. The export of general merchandize dropped 4.8 percent;
the export of processing trade rose 4.9 percent. The total import
value was 140.2 billion U.S. dollars, down 1.5 percent. On
balance, the trade surplus was 43.6 billion U.S. dollars.
Contracting for overseas projects, cooperation in labor service and
consulting services for design kept growing. In 1998, the value of
contracts for overseas projects signed amounted to 11.8 billion U.S.
dollars, increasing 3.7 percent over the previous year; the turnover
topped the mark of 10 billion U.S. dollars to 10.1 billion dollars,
rising 20.9 percent. At the end of 1998, China had 325,000 workers
working abroad, 18,000 more than in the previous year.
China began making utilizing overseas funds in July of 1979. In
April 1980, the Beijing Air Catering Co. Ltd. invested by Wu
Suk-qing from Hong Kong obtained No.001 License for overseas-funded
enterprises, marking the beginning of introducing overseas
investment. By the end of 1997, China had introduced 464 billion
U.S. dollars in overseas funds, including direct foreign investment
of 348.65 billion U.S. dollars and foreign loans totaling 115.95
billion U.S. dollars. In 1998, foreign investment in China
proceeded smoothly, whereas foreign loans declined. Foreign funds
brought into China in 1998 were 58.9 billion U.S. dollars, down 7.9
percent. Of the figure, direct foreign investment was 45.6 billion
U.S. dollars, increasing 0.7 percent; foreign loans were 11 billion
U.S. dollars, a 8.5 percent decrease. For eight straight years,
China has been the first largest country among developing countries
and the second largest country in the world in absorbing direct
foreign investment, next only to the United States. Foreign-funded
enterprises are the general term for Sino-foreign funded
enterprises, Sino-foreign cooperative businesses and solely-funded
foreign enterprises in China's opening-up drive to make use of and
absorb foreign funds. By setting up foreign-funded enterprises,
China has absorbed a large amount of foreign funds and introduced
some advanced and useful technology and equipment, filling up its
technological vacancy, upgrading large amounts of products,
improving production standards of some industries, providing a great
many employment opportunities, expanding tax sources and promoting
the development of the national economy. Foreign-funded enterprises
have linked the domestic market to the overseas market, and promoted
the improvement of the structure of China's export-oriented products
and the development of its external trade, and quickened China's
pace of adapting to the world market. With their flexible
operational mechanism, strict management and fair competition,
foreign-funded enterprises have set an example for state-owned
enterprises to transform their operational mechanism and introduce
China's modern enterprise system. They have also trained a large
number of Chinese managerial personnel and modern workers. By the
end of June of 1998, China had 236,400 foreign-funded enterprises
involving a total foreign investment of 770.742 billion U.S.
dollars. Such enterprises have become a major component of China's
national economy.
China's GDP rose from 67.9 billion yuan in 1952 to 7,955.3
billion yuan in 1998, increasing 7.7 percent annually with the
exclusion of the price factor and being 250 percent of the world
growth rate during the corresponding period. According to the latest
statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, in 1999, China's
GDP reached 8,319 billion yuan, rising 7.1 percent over 1998. By
December 31, 1999, its foreign exchange reserves had reached 154.675
billion U.S. dollars, 9.716 billion U.S. dollars more than at the
end of 1998. The exchange rate of Renminbi against other currencies
continued to be stable.
Since 1999, China has further raised export tax refunding rates
and adopted a series of policies to accelerate export tax refunding.
Furthermore, the economies of its neighboring countries have started
to recover and the impact of the Asian financial crisis is
diminishing. In the second half of 1999, China's exports stopped
the downward turn and began to rebound. In the first 11 months of
1999, China's trade surplus was 26.4 billion U.S. dollars and the
direct foreign investment in the country was 37.09 billion U.S.
dollars.
On November 15, 1999, the Chinese and the U.S. governments signed
a bilateral agreement on China' entry into the World Trade
Organization (WTO). The signing of the agreement will help China to
quicken the process of accession to the WTO. It will help advance
the all-round development of economic and trade cooperation between
China and the United States. It is also conducive to the
stabilization and development of Sino-U.S. relations. It will also
inject new vigor into the development of the economy and prosperity
of the world as a whole. This also indicates that a stable China
will usher in a new wave of foreign investment and that its economic
activity will have a greater space and leeway.
According to statistics from and calculations by a number of
international organizations and experts, China is the seventh
largest economy in the world and it ranks ninth in the world in
terms of comprehensive economic strength. But it is in the 23rd
place in terms of the international competitive edge. China remains
a developing country and it is still among the low-income countries
in terms of per-capita GDP.
China will further stimulate effective demands, accelerate
infrastructural construction, readjust its economic structure,
maintain stable agricultural development, promote enterprise
technological progress and industrial upgrading, step up ecological
construction, and improve the quality and efficiency of economic
growth. It enjoys a bright future in economic development.