Good Momentum of National Economy in 2000

    In 2000, a favorable turn is seen in national economic performance thanks to the series macro policies set by the central government and joint efforts made by regions and departments at all levels. While the quality of the performance is improving continuously, the trend of picking up is enhanced. According to preliminary estimation, the Gross Domestic Product is 8940.4 billion yuan, up 8% over the same period of last year at comparable prices. Of this total the value-added of the primary industry was up by 2.4%, the value-added of te secondary industry was up 9.6%, the value-added of the tertiary industry was up by 7.8%.

Main features of economic performance in 2000:

1. The growth of industrial production and the tertiary industry was the major locomotive for the rapid economic development. In 2000, the value-added of industry is 3957 billion yuan, up 9.9% with its growth rate being 1.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year. The value-added of state-owned and state holding industrial enterprises was 2368.5 billion yuan, up 11.4%. The momentum of the output of major industrial products is strong. The growth of steel is 11.2%, cement 8.5%, ten kinds of non-ferrous metal 14.7%. The growth of crude oil and power generating is 15.2% and 10.7% respectively.

The development of the tertiary industry speeds up to some extent. In this year, the value-added of the tertiary industry is 2970.4 billion yuan, up 7.8%. The growth rate is 0.3 percentage points higher than that in the previous year. The main factors to stimulate the tertiary industry are: brisk market sales and the flourishing tourism.

Growth of agricultural production is comparatively stable. In 2000, the value-added of the primary industry is 1421.2 billion yuan, up 2.4% over the last year. The output of grain will reduce due to natural disasters. According to preliminary estimation, the output of grain will be 462.51 million ton, the decrease rate is 9%. Steady growth is kept in animal husbandry and fishery industry.

II. The growth of consumption and exports accelerates, the investment growth is stable. New pattern of economic growth is emerging. Market sales is stable showing the trend of being brisk. In 2000, the total retail sales of consumer goods is 3415.3 billion yuan, up 9.7% over the previous year, its growth rate is 2.9 percentage points higher as compared with the previous year. The sales on urban market exceed that on rural market. The total retail-sales of consumer goods in cities is up 10.6% or 2.3 percentage points higher than that in rural areas.

The growth of investment in fixed assets is stable. In this year, the total investment in fixed assets is 3261.9 billion yuan, up 9.3% over the previous year. Of which, the investment by state-owned units and others is 2424.3 billion yuan, up 9.7%.

Fast growth is seen in foreign trade. In 2000, the total volume of export is 1249.2 billion US dollars, up 27.8% over the same period last year; and that of import is 225.1 billion US dollars, up 35.8%. China enjoys a trade surplus of 24.1 billion US dollars.

III. Rapid economic growth with improved quality. The profit and loss situation of enterprises is improving. From January to December, the profits made by enterprises was 426.2 billion yuan, up 86.24%, the total losses occurred in loss-suffering enterprises was 102.8 billion yuan, down by 21.44%.

The production and marketing situation is back to normal. In 2000, the sales ratio of industrial products is 97.7%, an increase of 0.46 percentage points over the same period last year.

Balance of payment is good with increasing foreign exchange reserves. By the end of this year, the foreign exchange reserves reach 165.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 10.9 billion US dollars as compared with that at the beginning of this year. The average exchange rate stood at 1 US dollar=8.2793 RMB yuan in this year, an depreciation of 1 basic points.

IV. Market prices were stable instead of declining, people’s living condition was improving. Market prices were picking up. After consecutive two years of decline, consumer prices stop declining. In 2000, the consumer price index was up 0.4% over the previous year.

In 2000, the per capita disposable income of urban residents is 6280 yuan, a real increase of 6.7% if change in prices was taken into consideration. The per capita cash income of rural residents is 2253 yuan, a real increase of 2.1% if change in prices was taken into consideration.