NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

February 28, 2003 --- 1st Part ---

In 2002, under the correct leadership of the Central Party Committee and the State Council, people of all nationalities of China held high the great banner of Deng Xiaoping Theory and implemented in full swing the important thought of 癟hree Represents". United efforts were made to work hard through innovations in a pioneering spirit and to overcome difficulties in the course of development. Main targets set forth for the economic and social development were met. The national economy maintained good momentum and a new high was scored in economic aggregates. The pro-active financial policy and sound monetary policy yielded notable results, bringing about a growing domestic demand. Initial results were achieved in the strategic structural reform of the economic system and progress was made in the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure. Reforms in various fields deepened and China is opening wider to the outside world. New achievements were made in socialist democracy and legislation and in building up spiritual civilization. Overall progress was registered in education, science and technology, public health, sports and other social undertakings. The living standard of urban and rural households further improved along with the steady increase of their income.

I. General Outlook

The national economy maintained relatively fast growth. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the year topped the 10 trillion yuan level to reach 10,239.8 billion yuan, up by 8 percent over the previous year at comparable prices. The value-added of the primary industry was 1,488.3 billion yuan, up by 2.9 percent. The value-added of the secondary industry was 5,298.2 billion yuan, up by 9.9 percent. The value-added of the tertiary industry was 3,453.3 billion yuan, up by 7.3 percent.

Figure 1: Gross Domestic Product Topped 10,000 Billion

The general price level declined by small margin. The general level of consumer prices in China of the year was down by 0.8 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the consumer price level in urban areas was down by 1 percent, and it was down by 0.4 percent in rural areas. Analyzed by price categories, the prices for commodities dropped by 1.3%, the producers  prices for manufactured goods dropped by 2.2%, and the purchasing prices for raw materials, fuels and power went down by 2.3 percent. The prices for investment in fixed assets were up 0.2 percent. Prices of service items in household consumption rose by 1.8%.

Table 1: Change in Consumer Prices over 2001 (%)

The size of employment continued to expand. By the end of 2002, the total of employed people in China numbered 737.40 million, or 7.15 million more than at the end of 2001. Of this total, 247.80 million were employed in urban areas, an increase of 8.40 million persons over that at the end of 2001. By the end of 2002, the number of laid-off workers of state-owned enterprises who were not re-employed was 4.10 million, or 1.05 million persons less than that at the end of 2001. The urban unemployment rate through unemployment registration was 4 percent at the end of 2002, up by 0.4 percentage points.

China’s balance of payment was in good position. The trade surplus was 30.4 billion US dollars in 2002. The actually utilized foreign direct investment during the year was 52.7 billion US dollars, up by 12.5% over 2001. By the end of 2002, China’s foreign exchange reserves reached 286.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 74.2 billion US dollars as compared with that at the end of the pervious year. The exchange rate of RMB was stable, standing at 1 US dollar = 8.2773 RMB yuan at the end of the year.

Steady progress was made in the reform of economic system and in the structural adjustment. Competition through the market has taken initial shape in the once monopoles sectors by deepened reform of such sectors as telecommunications, civil aviation, power generation and supply. The reform and loss-reducing of enterprises in defense industry progressed smoothly. Reforms continued in the fields of government finance and taxation, banking, social security, and circulation systems for grain and cotton. Reform of the administrative procedures for examination and approval was pushed forward. Experiments in the reform of the tax and fee collection system in rural areas were gradually expanded and notable progress was made. Positive advancement was scored in the development of the western region, with accelerated progress in the construction of infrastructure and ecological environment. Agriculture production was reoriented towards regional concentration, quality improvement and industrialization. Adjustment of industrial structure was accelerated by expanding the share of industries with high or new technologies characterized by information technology. Innovation took place in domestic trade as is reflected by the rapid development of modern circulation and distribution systems.

Main problems that remained in economic performance included: the restraints on economic growth by insufficient effective demand and irrational supply structure, still high pressure for employment, problems in increasing farmers' income, the difficulties in the life of some urban and rural households, persistent market disorder, and occasional occurrence of serious accidents in production.

II. Agriculture

Structural adjustment for crop production was continued. To meet t changing market, the sown areas of grain was 103.99 million hectares, a decrease of 2.09 million hectares as compared with that in the previous year, and the sown areas of cotton was 4.18 million hectares, a decrease of 630,000 hectares. The sown areas of oil-bearing crops rose by 240,000 hectares to reach 14.87 million hectares, that of sugar crops increased by 150,000 hectares to reach 1.80 million hectares, and that for vegetables rose by 880,000 hectares to reach 17.28 million hectares.

The production of major farm crops increased, including grain, oil-bearing crops and sugar crops, the output of vegetables continued to grow with better variety and quality, while the production of cotton decreased due to significant reduction in the sowing acreage. The total output of grain in 2002 was 457.11 million tons, up by 1 percent over the previous year.

Steady progress was seen in animal husbandry and fishery. The total output of meat for the year reached 65.90 million tons, up by 4 percent. The total output of aquatic products was 45.13 million tons, up by 3 percent.

Table 2: Output of Major Farm Products

Forestry and water conservancy made new progress. The total afforested area in 2002 was 7.47 million hectares, up by 51 percent. Of this total, the afforested area through “grain for green” projects was 5.4 million hectares. A total 3,576 kilometers of main embankment along the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River and 982 kilometers of embankment along the lower reaches of the Yellow River were reinforced and came up to anti-flood standards. Over 900,000 hectares of land were converted into farmland with effective irrigation system, another 1.40 million hectares of land were guaranteed by water-saving irrigation system. Comprehensive land recovery program was applied to over 4 million hectares of once eroded areas.

III. Industry and Construction

Fast growth was registered in industrial production with improved linkage between production and sales. 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. The value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size (i.e. all state-owned enterprises and those non-state-owned enterprises with an annual sales income over 5 million yuan) was 3,148.2 billion yuan, up by 12.6 percent. The sales ratio of industrial enterprises was 98 percent, or 0.3 percentage points higher than that in the previous year.

Table 3: Value-added of Industrial Sector

 Adjustment of the structure of manufactured products made new progress. Fast growth was registered in the production of export-oriented products, high-tech products, and consumer products that suit the upgrading of consumption structure. The output value of new manufactured products increased by 24 percent over 2001, and 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, color TV sets. The growth in the output of yarn, cloth, silk textiles and clothing ranged from 8.5 percent to 19.9 percent. The production of motor vehicles was up by 38.8 percent, with the production of cars rising by 55.2 percent. The output of steel and rolled steel went up by 19.7 percent and 19.6 percent respectively. Energy production in 2002 was encouraging, with 1,654 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up by 11.7 percent, 1.38 billion tons of coal, up by 18.9 percent, and 167 million tons of crude oil, up by 1.8 percent.

Table 4: Output of Major Industrial Products

The profits of industrial enterprises maintained fast growth following the high increase over the past consecutive years. The total volume of profits reached 562 billion yuan during the year, up by 20.6 percent over 2001 on comparable basis. Of the total, the profits of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises stood at 263.6 billion, up by 15.3 percent.

Figure 2. Historical High of Profits by Industrial Enterprises Above Designated Size

Production and profits of construction enterprises continued to grow. In 2002, the value-added of construction enterprises in China was 704.7 billion yuan, up by 8 percent over the previous year. The profits made by construction enterprises with Grade IV or higher qualification reached 33.6 billion yuan, up by 14 percent, and the taxes they paid stood at 53.2 billion yuan, up by 6.6 percent.

IV. Investment in Fixed Assets

Investment in fixed assets kept fast growth. The completed investment in fixed assets of the country in 2002 was 4,320.2 billion yuan, exceeding 4 trillion yuan for the first time, up 16.1 percent over the previous year, representing the highest growth rate since 1996.

Figure 3: Continued Expansion of Investment in Fixed Assets

Table 5: Investment in Fixed Assets

Overall growth was seen in investment in eastern, central and western areas in China. Of the total investment of state-owned units and units with other types of ownership, the investment in eastern areas was 1,845.6 billion yuan, up 16.2 percent over the previous year, or 2.9 percentage points higher; that in central areas was 758.0 billion yuan, up 20 percent, or 3.7 percentage points higher; and that in western areas was 567.2 billion yuan, up 20.6 percent, or 1.3 percentage points higher.

Investment structure was further improved. In 2002, the investment in the primary industry was 110.6 billion yuan, up by 23.5 percent over the previous year, representing the feature of recovery. Investment in the secondary industry was 1,070.3 billion yuan, up by 22.9 percent, showing the trend of accelerated growth. Investment in the tertiary industry kept fast growth, with a total completed investment of 2,113.2 billion yuan for the whole year, up by 14.4 percent.

Table 6: Newly Increased Production Capacity Through Investment in Capital Construction in the Past 5 Years

The construction of key projects progressed smoothly, including the successful damming of the headrace and the completion of the principal part of the main dam on the left side of the Three Gorges Project;; the smooth progress of the construction of Qinghai-Tibet railway; the outspread of the southern channel of the West-East electricity transmission project with advancing in the central channel and speeding up of construction in the northern channel; and the start of the West-to-East natural gas transmission project and the South-to-North water diversion project. New headway was made in technical updating and transformation of enterprises, which played an important role in structural adjustment.

V. Domestic Trade

Sales of consumer goods at domestic market increased steadily. In 2002, the total retail sales of consumer goods topped 4 trillion yuan to reach 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 was 1,501.3 billion yuan, up 6.8 percent. In terms of different sectors, the sales of the wholesale and retail industry reached 2,786.0 billion yuan, up 9.2 percent, the sales of the catering industry was 509.2 billion yuan, up 16.6 percent, and the sales of other industries was 795.9 billion yuan, up 3.2 percent. The real growth of total retail sales of consumer goods was 10.2 percent if price factor was taken into consideration.

Telecommunications, motor vehicles and related products had shaped new hotspots in consumption, and the sales of household electric and electronic appliances were brisk. 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.

Figure 4: Steady Growth of Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods

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