Brief Condition of National Economy
in Jan. and Feb. of 2003

In this Jan. and Feb., the governments and departments in all the regions earnestly carried out the spirit of 16^th CPC National Congress, and the national economy presented a good start in 2003. The main condition was as follows:

 First, the industrial production registered fast growth. In this Jan. and Feb., the accumulated industrial value-added reached 520.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 17.5% and 6.6 percentage points higher in growth rate. Of the total, the value-added of the state-owned and state share-controlling enterprises rose by 17.3%, that of share enterprises grew by 18.9%, that of Sino-foreign joint-venture, cooperative or exclusively foreign-funded enterprises rose by 20.7%, that of collective-owned enterprises rose by 12.1%. The production of heavy industry grew faster 19.7% over the same period of last year, that of light industry rose by 14.4%. The communications equipment, computer and electronic equipment manufacturing and transportation equipment manufacturing led the industrial production to grow fast. Analyzed by major products, the outputs of wave carrier communications equipment, optical communications equipment, mobile phone, electronic computer and micro-computer grew by from 52.6% to 92.1%. The output of autos rose by 62.2%, of which, that of sedan cars was up 1.4 times. The export consignment value of industrial products showed a strong increasing momentum. In this Jan. and Feb., the export consignment value rose by 31% over last Jan. and Feb., 18.2 percentage points higher in growth rate. The proportion of sold industrial products was enhanced steadily. In this Jan. and Feb., the proportion of national industrial products sold was 96.53%, up 0.69 percentage point over last Jan. and Feb.

Second, the investment in fixed assets increased with a high speed. In this Jan. and Feb., the fixed assets investment in the state-owned and other ownership types of enterprises (excluding investment from urban and township collectives & individuals, it is the same with the following) reached 193.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 32.8% which was 8.3 percentage points higher over last Jan. and Feb.. Of the total, the investment in capital construction was 93.9 billion yuan, up 27.7% and 6.3 percentage points faster in growth rate over the same period of last year; that in innovation was 32 billion yuan, up 41.8% and 19.7 percentage points higher in growth rate; that in real estate development was 59.8 billion yuan, up 37.0% and 6.8 percentage points higher in growth rate. The number of newly-constructed projects was high. In this Jan. and Feb., the number of new-constructed projects was 4383 units, a year-on-year rise of 1276 units.

Note: According to statistical system, there is no statistics for investment in fixed assets in Jan.

Third, the sale in domestic market showed a steady rise. In this Jan. and Feb., the retail sales value of consumer goods totaled 761.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 9.2% which was 0.7 percentage points higher over last Jan. and Feb.. Of the total, the retail sales value of consumer goods in urban area reached 496.8 billion yuan, up 10.7% that was 1.4 percentage points more in growth rate over last Jan. and Feb.;  that of consumer goods in rural area totaled 264.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 6.6% and 0.4 percentage point less in growth rate. The retail sale of wholesale & retail trade and catering trade grew by 8.3% and 16.6% respectively.

Fourth, the imports and exports grew rapidly. In this Jan. and Feb., the value of imports and exports totaled 109 billion US dollars, up 44.0% over last Jan. and Feb. that was 35.1 percentage points higher in growth rate . Of the total, the export value was 54.2 billion US dollars, a year-on-year rise of 32.8% which was 18.7 percentage points higher in growth rate. Among exports, the export of common trade grew by 31.6%, that of imported materials processing was up 41.2%, that of offered materials processing and assembling was up 11.7%. The import value reached 54.8 billion US dollars, up 57.1% and 53.8 percentage points more in growth rate. After the exports was offset by import, the negative balance reached 0.56 billion US dollars, while in last Jan. and Feb. the positive balance was 5.9 billion US dollars.

    Fifth, the consumer price went up slightly. In this Jan. and Feb., the consumer price level rose by 0.3% over last Jan. and Feb. , and that in urban and rural area all increased 0.3%. Among major categories, the price of foods was up 2.1%, that of grain declined 0.5%, that of meat, poultry and their products was down 0.8%, that of eggs dropped 6.0%, that of aquatic products dipped 1.4%,  that of fresh fruits was down 0.3%, but that of fresh vegetables surged by 27.3%, that of recreational, educational and cultural articles and services went up 1.1%; that of housing rose by 0.9%; those of other commodities descended to different extents.

    Sixth, the government revenue grew dramatically. In this Jan. and Feb., the government revenue totaled 349.4 billion yuan, up 40.5% over last Jan. and Feb. and 36.1 percentage points higher in growth rate correspondingly. Of the total, the value-added tax rose by 20.6%,  the value-added and consumption taxes levied by the Custom was up 70.7%, business tax gained 18.4%, individual income tax rose by 39.1%, the enterprise income tax grew by 31.8%, the tariff climbed by 33.9%, that of government expenditure reached 239.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 10.6%. Of the total, the expenditure for capital construction declined 40.1%, that for culture, education, science and health care grew by 11.3%, that for social security was up 26.6%, that for administrative management ascended by 44.7%. The government revenue was 110.1 billion yuan higher than the government expenditure, a year-on-year rise of 77.9 billion yuan.

Seventh, the supply of currency grew with an accelerated speed.  At the end of Feb., the balance of currency in broad sense (M₂) totaled 19010.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 18.1% and showing 5.1 percentage points more in growth rate over the end of last Feb.; that in narrow sense (M₁) reached 6975.7 billion yuan, up 18.8% and 7.9 percentage points higher; the currency in circulation was 1793.7 billion yuan,  up 7.8% and 3.8 percentage points less in growth rate .

At the end of Feb., the loans of financial institutions increased by 435.7 billion yuan over the beginning of this year, a year-on-year rise of 358.8 billion yuan more. Of the total,  the short-term loan was up 187.6 billion yuan, 165.6 billion yuan more in the increase; the loan for medium-term flowing fund rose by 18.3 billion yuan, 17.7 billion yuan more; the long- and medium-term loans increased by 146.9 billion yuan, 91 billion yuan more in the rise; the funds for foreign exchanges climbed by 140.5 billion yuan, 31.4 billion yuan more in the increase.  All the deposits went up 570.3 billion yuan over the beginning of this year, a year-on-year rise of 459.8 billion yuan. Of the total, the enterprise deposits declined 97.8 billion yuan, 182.7 billion yuan less in the decline; the savings deposits of urban residents was up 583.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 140.2 billion yuan. In this Jan. and Feb., the net issuance of currency reached 65.9 billion yuan, down 29.4 billion yuan.

   As a whole, in the first two months of this year,  the enthusiasm in speeding up development in all the regions was high, the main economic indicators showed the momentum of accelerated growing, especially industrial production, investment in fixed assets, imports and exports and currency supply rose with a obviously boosted speed; the government revenue grew to a great extent, the consumer price reversed into rising from declining, indicating that the whole national economy entered into warming status. However, the market of consumer goods remained relatively steady, the consumption in rural area showed a declined growth that is worth further paying attention to.