“In 2003, China is facing various challenges. There are some uncertainties that exist in world political and economic situations. There are still prominent problems that need to be solved, such as irrational economic structures, high employment pressure, slow increase of farmers’ income and income gap between urban and rural residents. However, generally speaking, Chinese economic development still enjoys many favorable factors.”
— Zhu Zhixin, commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, February 28, 2003.
The National Bureau of Statistics under the State Council is in charge of the nation’s automated system of statistical information and statistical data bank system and is responsible for organizing, directing and coordinating statistical work throughout the country. At a press conference sponsored by the State Council Information Office on February 28, 2003, Zhu Zhixin, commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, reported on steady growth in China’s national economic and social development in 2002 based on the release of the Statistical Communique of the People’s Republic of China on the 2002 National Economic and Social Development.Zhu also answered the questions from the press. Here are highlights from Zhu’s presentation:
Population
At the end of 2002, the total population of China was 1.28453 billion.
The natural growth rate of population was 6.45 per thousand.
GDP
In 2002, the gross domestic product (GDP) reached 10.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 8 percent over 2001 at comparable prices. Of this total, the value-added of the primary industry was 1,488.3 billion yuan, up 2.9 percent, that of the secondary industry was 5,298.2 billion yuan, up 9.9 percent, and that of the tertiary industry was 3,453.3 billion yuan, up 7.3 percent.
The planting area for grain for the whole year was 103.99 million ha, and that of cotton was 4.18 million ha, down by 2.09 million ha and 630,000 ha respectively over the previous year. The planting areas for oil-bearing crops, sugar crops and vegetables were 14.87 million ha, 1.80 million ha and 17.28 million ha respectively, up by 240,000, 150,000 and 880,000 ha over the previous year. The total output of grain for the whole year was 457.11 million tons, up 1 percent over the previous year. The output of oil-bearing crops was 29.00 million tons, up 1.2 percent; that of cotton was 4.92 million tons, down by 7.5 percent; that of sugar crops was 101.51 million tons, up 17.3 percent.
Meat production and aquatic products
65.90 million tons and 45.13 million tons respectively, up 4 percent and 3 percent over the previous year, respectively.
Forestry and water conservancy
The total afforested area in 2002 was 7.47 million ha, up by 51 percent. Of this total, the afforested area through “grain for green” projects was 5.4 million ha. A total 3,576 km of main embankment along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and 982 km of embankment along the lower reaches of the Yellow River were reinforced and came up to anti-flood standards. Over 900,000 ha of land were converted into farmland with effective irrigation system, and another 1.40 million ha of land were guaranteed by water-saving irrigation system. A comprehensive land recovery program was applied to over 40,000 sq km of once eroded areas.
Industrial production
In 2002, the total value-added of the industrial sector was 4,593.5 billion yuan, up by 10.2 percent over the previous year, representing the highest since 1998. Of this total, the value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size was 3,148.2 billion yuan, up by 12.6 percent. Of which, the value-added of state-owned and state-controlled industrial enterprises was 1,663.8 billion yuan, up by 11.7 percent; of collective enterprises, 276.9 billion yuan, or up 8.6 percent; of joint-stock enterprises, 1,157 billion yuan, or up 14.4 percent; of enterprises invested by foreigners or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, 809.1 billion yuan, or up 13.3 percent. In foreign trade products, high-tech products, and consumer products the value of manufactured products shipped for export rose by 23.4 percent. The output of electronic and telecommunications products rose by over 25.9 percent, including PCs, mobile telephones, semi-conductor integrated circuits, and color TV sets. The sales ratio of industrial enterprises above designated size was 98 percent, or 0.3 percentage point higher than that in the previous year. The net profits made by industrial enterprises above designated size was 562.0 billion yuan, up 20.6 percent, of which, that made by state-owned and state-controlled industrial enterprises was 263.6 billion yuan, up 15.3 percent.
Investment in fixed assets
The completed investment in fixed assets of the country in 2002 was 4.3202 trillion yuan, exceeding 4 trillion yuan for the first time, up 16.1 percent over the previous year, representing the highest growth rate since 1996. In terms of different economic entities, the investment in fixed assets by state-owned units and other types of units was 3,102.0 billion yuan, up 17.0 percent, that of collective units was 590.1 billion yuan, up 11.8 percent, and that of urban and rural residents was 628.0 billion yuan, up 15.7 percent. In terms of uses, the growth of investment in capital construction was 16.4 percent; it rose by 11.1 percent in technical updating and transformation and 21.9 percent in real estate development. In terms of different regions, overall growth was scored in investment in eastern, central and western areas of China. Of the total investment by state-owned units and other types of units, the investment in western areas was up 20.6 percent, that in central areas, 20 percent, and that in eastern areas, 16.2 percent. In terms of different sectors, the investment in the primary industry was up 23.5 percent; that in the secondary industry, up 22.9 percent; and that in the tertiary industry, up 14.4 percent.
Construction of key projects
It progressed smoothly, including: the second phase of the Three Gorges Project, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the West-to-East electricity transmission project, the West-to-East natural gas transmission project, and the start of the South-to-North water diversion project.
Consumer demand
In 2002, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 4,091.1 billion yuan, up 8.8 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 2,589.8 billion yuan, up 10 percent, and the retail sales of consumer goods at and below county level stood at 1,501.3 billion yuan, up 6.8 percent. The retail sales of the wholesale and retail industry was up 9.2 percent, and that of the catering industry was up 16.6 percent. Telecommunications, motor vehicles and related products had shaped new hotspots in consumption. The total retail sales of telecommunication equipment by wholesale and retail enterprises above designated size was up by 69.2 percent over the previous year; that of motor vehicles was up by 73 percent; electric and electronic appliances for household use was up by 14.6 percent.
Tourism
The year 2002 saw 877.82 million domestic tourists, up 12 percent over the previous year. A total of 16.60 million Chinese went abroad in the year 2002, up 36.8 percent over the previous year, including 10.06 million for private visits, up 44.9 percent and representing 60.6 percent of all out-going visitors.
Foreign trade
Total value of import and export in 2002 reached 620.8 billion US dollars, up 21.8 percent over the previous year. The value of export was 325.6 billion US dollars, up 22.3 percent, and the value of import was 295.2 billion US dollars, up 21.2 percent. China enjoyed a trade surplus of 30.4 billion US dollars. In 2002, the contracted foreign capitals through foreign direct investment stood at 82.8 billion US dollars, up 19.6 percent, and the foreign capitals actually utilized were 52.7 billion US dollars, up 12.5 percent. The accomplished business revenue through contracted projects and labor contracts was 14.4 billion US dollars, up 18.2 percent. By the end of 2002, the foreign exchange reserves of China reached 286.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 74.2 billion US dollars as compared with that at the end of the previous year. The exchange rate of RMB basically remained stable.
Prices
The general level of prices declined by a small margin.The general level of consumer prices in China of the year was down 0.8 percent as compared with the previous year. Of this total, the consumer price level in urban areas was down 1 percent, and it was down 0.4 percent in rural areas. The price for services was up 1.8 percent over the previous year. The retail prices of commodities were down 1.3 percent. The producers’ prices of manufactured goods were down 2.2 percent, and the purchasing prices for fuels, raw materials and power down 2.3 percent. The prices for investment in fixed assets were up 0.2 percent.
Living standards of urban and rural population
The annual per-capita disposable income of urban households was 7,703 yuan in 2002, a real increase of 13.4 percent over the previous year. The per-capita net income of rural households was 2,476 yuan, a real growth of 4.8 percent. The Engel coefficient for urban households was 37.7 percent, down by 0.2 percentage point as compared with the previous year. The Engel coefficient of rural households was 46.2 percent, representing a decline of 1.5 percentage points as compared with the previous year. Savings deposits of urban and rural residents reached
9,430.7 billion yuan, up 17.1 percent over the previous year.
Social security system
By the end of 2002, 147.31 million people participated in basic pension programs, 101.82 million people participated in unemployment insurance programs, and 94.00 million people participated in basic medical insurance programs. A national total of 20.54 million urban residents received the minimum income relief from the government. The population in poverty in rural areas was 28.2 million, 1.07 million less than 2001.
Research and Development
In 2002, the expenditure on R&D for the whole country was 116.1 billion yuan, up 11.3 percent over 2001. Progress was made in the areas of IT, biotechnology and manned space technology, represented by the successful development of the CPU chip “Dragon I,” remarkable achievements in the genetic code of rice and the successful launching and returning of the spacecraft Shenzhou III and Shenzhou IV. Fairly fast development continued in cultural and art undertakings, in radio, movie and television programs and in newsstand publications. Stable progress was made in public health undertakings. Vigorous development was scored in sports.
Education
The newly enrolled undergraduates in general universities were 3.21 million, as against 750,000 a decade ago.
