SCIO briefing on China's economic performance in 2017

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Speakers:
Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics
Xing Zhihong, spokesperson of National Bureau of Statistics, director general of Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the bureau

Chairperson:
Hu Kaihong, spokesperson of the State Council Information Office of China

Date:
Jan. 18, 2018

Hu Kaihong:


Now, the floor is open for questions. Please identify yourself before asking your question.


China Central Television:


China's economy has registered a stable performance and moved in a positive direction. In which aspect is this trend reflected? How do you see the overall economic performance in 2017?


Ning Jizhe:


The economy has registered a stable performance and moved in a positive direction, which is better than expected. This can be seen in the following four aspects.


First, the economy performed within an appropriate range. Four major macroeconomic indicators remained stable with a good momentum and surpassed expectations. China's GDP in 2017 grew 6.9 percent year-on-year in real terms. More than 13 million new urban jobs were created. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) will officially release the surveyed urban unemployment rate later this year. By the end of December, the surveyed urban unemployment rate fell below 5 percent to 4.98 percent. China's CPI rose 1.6 percent year-on-year, also beating the expectation. By the end of 2017, China's foreign exchange reserve approached US$3.1400 trillion. 


Second, major progress was achieved in supply-side structural reform, with the five priority tasks accomplished. We have met the targets of cutting overcapacity set in the 2017 government report, namely reducing steel production capacity by around 50 million metric tons, shutting down at least 150 million metric tons of coal production facilities, and eliminating no less than 50 million kilowatts of coal-fired power generation capacity. 


In terms of deleveraging, at the end of November 2017, the debt-to-asset ratio of nationwide industrial enterprises above the designated size decreased 0.5 percentage point year-on-year. 


In terms of reducing inventory, at the end of 2017, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale was 1.1 trillion square meters less than that at the end of 2016, and 1.3 trillion square meters less than that at the end of 2015. Notable progress was also made in reducing grain inventory. 


In terms of lowering costs, taxes and fees were reduced by an additional 1 trillion yuan in 2017, the same amount as that in 2016. According to our statistics, in the first 11 months of 2017, industrial enterprises above the designated size reduced their costs by 0.28 yuan per 100 yuan of income from their main business operations. 


In terms of strengthening weak areas, investment in agriculture and water conservancy, as well as in ecological protection and pollution treatment, went up by 16.4 percent and 23.9 percent.


Third, efforts were accelerated to replace old growth drivers with new ones. New technologies, industries, forms of business, models, products and growth drivers flourished in 2017. 


New technologies -- a number of significant scientific and technological advances were achieved, including C919 large jetliner, Fuxing bullet train, quantum communications, and deep-water exploration. 


New products -- the production of robots and new energy vehicles, which are in considerable demand, grew by more than 50 percent. 


New industries -- the value added of strategic emerging industries, high-tech industries and equipment manufacturing industry all rose by more than 10 percent. 


New forms of business -- the online retail sales of physical goods went up by 28 percent; the online retail sales of non-physical goods grew even faster; and the growth of express delivery services registered at nearly 30 percent.


New models and new growth drivers -- the sharing economy, digital economy and platform economy have been developing rapidly as new growth drivers. The campaign of entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as the reform to streamline administration, delegate powers and improve regulation and services, have enhanced the motivation of enterprises and other market entities. In 2017, an average of 16,600 enterprises were registered nationwide each day, strongly bolstering employment and innovation.


Fourth, the quality and efficiency of economic growth were improved, as evidenced by the following facts. 


From January to November, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size went up by 21.9 percent year-on-year, and the corporate profit of service enterprises above the designated size increased by 30.4 percent. The growth showed a recovery from the previous year. It should also be attributed to enhanced performance of these enterprises.


Fiscal revenue increased by 8 percent, faster than the goal set at early 2017. 


The quality of economic growth at the micro level, such as the quality of products, services and engineering projects, has been improving.


The quality of economic growth is not only measured by how many jobs and how much income it has created for the people, but also by how the environment has been protected. With the concerted efforts of all parties, PM2.5 density in 338 prefecture-level-and-above cities dropped, and that in Beijing decreased more significantly. In 2017, energy consumption per unit of GDP, an indicator of energy conservation and emission reductions, fell by 3.7 percent, above the target of 3.4 percent. Therefore, the quality and efficiency of economic growth have been improved.


Fifth, with the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, people's livelihoods continued to improve. China's per capita disposable income increased by 7.3 percent in real terms in 2017, exceeding the growth of per capita GDP. There was a very important change in the consumption structure, that is, the Engel coefficient dropped from 30.1 percent in 2016 to 29.3 percent in 2017, reflecting improvements in household consumption. The country funded the rebuilding of 6 million housing units in rundown urban areas, and nearly half of the resettled families received monetary housing compensation rather than housing.


In tourism, outbound visits by the Chinese nationals reached 129 million. In culture, China's culture and related industries grew by 15 percent in terms of business income, with box-office values topping 5 million yuan. In sports, the Fitness-for-All programs covered 50 percent of the total population, with marathon running becoming a popular sports event throughout the country. In education, more than 7.95 million people graduated from college in the country in 2017, and more than 20 percent of the college students all over the world studied in China. As for healthcare, China had the world's largest medical insurance network.


Compared to the previous years, another very important characteristic was that China witnessed an improved economic structure in 2017. In terms of industrial structure, China has moved from an old model of an industry-driven economy to an industry- and service-driven one. In 2017, the value added created by the service sector accounted for 51.6 percent of the country's GDP, contributing 58.8 percent to its economic growth. Hence, the service sector has become the main driving force of economic growth together with the industrial sector, making joint efforts in supporting the development of China's economy.


Sixth, from the perspective of demand structure, China has moved from its old model of an investment-driven economy to an investment- and consumption-driven one. In 2017, the final consumption expenditure contributed 58.8 percent to its economic growth, 26.7 percentage points higher than that of gross capital formation. Hence, consumption and investment have been jointly supporting China's economic development, recording a major change in 2017.


Last year also witnessed another noticeable change, that is, the country's economy has moved from its old model of export-driven growth to an export- and import-driven one. In 2017, China's exports grew by 10.8 percent, and imports by nearly 20 percent. China's development has not only benefited the Chinese people, but is also making greater contributions to the world's economic growth. According to calculations, China's contribution to world economic growth is around 30 percent. In 2017, China's economic aggregate reached 82.7 trillion yuan (US$12 trillion), with an economic increase of over 8 trillion yuan (US$1.2 trillion) in a year, equivalent to the economic aggregate of a country ranking 14th in the world's largest economies in 2016.


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