STATISTICAL COMMUNIQUÉ OF

THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

ON THE 2005 NATIONAL

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

National Bureau of Statistics of China

February 28, 2006

In 2005, under the correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, people of all nationalities of China, taking as the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of “Three Represents”, and the scientific approach to development for economic and social development, carefully carried out various measures set by the central government aiming at enhancing and improving macro-control. Remarkable achievements were made in national economic and social development. The national economy kept stable and fairly fast growth; breakthrough was made in reforms in major fields and key sectors; employment and social security programs were further enhanced; the living standard of urban and rural population improved; China was opening wider to the outside world; and various social undertakings were strengthened. Main targets set forth for the economic and social development at the beginning of the year had been achieved, and the major tasks of the 10th Five-year Plan had been fulfilled which had laid a solid foundation for the economic and social development for the 11th Five-year Program. However, the problems of irrational economic structure and extensive mode of economic growth are still prominent.

I. General Outlook

Preliminary estimation indicated that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the year was 18,232.1 billion yuan, up by 9.9 percent over the previous year. The value-added of the primary industry was 2,271.8 billion yuan, up by 5.2 percent. The value-added of the secondary industry was 8,620.8 billion yuan, up by 11.4 percent. The value-added of the tertiary industry was 7,339.5 billion yuan, up by 9.6 percent. The value-added of the primary industry, secondary industry and the tertiary industry accounted for 12.4 percent, 47.3 percent and 40.3 percent respectively of the GDP.

Figure1: Gross Domestic Product and Its Growth in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

The general level of consumer prices in China was up by 1.8 percent over the previous year (Table 1). Of this total, the prices for service items were up 3.3 percent. The retail prices of commodities were up by 0.8 percent, while the producers’ prices for manufactured goods increased by 4.9 percent, and the purchasing prices for raw materials, fuels and power went up by 8.3 percent. The prices for investment in fixed assets were up 1.6 percent. Producers’ prices of farm products were up by 1.4 percent. The sales prices for housing in 70 large and medium cities were up by 7.6 percent.

By the end of 2005, the total of employed people in China numbered 758.25 million, or 6.25 million more than at the end of 2004. Of this total, 273.31 million were employed in urban areas, an increase of 9.7 million or a net increase of 8.55 million. The urban unemployment rate through unemployment registration was 4.2 percent at the end of 2005, maintaining the same level as that in 2004.

By the end of 2005, China’s foreign exchange reserves reached 818.9 billion US dollars, an increase of 208.9 billion US dollars as compared with that at the end of the pervious year. On July 21st, 2005, reform was initiated in the mechanism of RMB exchange rate. By the end of the year, the exchange rate was 8.0702 RMB to 1 USD, an appreciation by 2.56 percent over that at the end of the previous year.

Various tax incomes for the whole year reached 3,086.6 billion yuan (excluding tariffs and agricultural taxes); it was up by 20.0 percent or an increase of 514.8 billion yuan over 2004. The profits made by industrial enterprises above designated size stood at 1,436.2 billion yuan, up by 22.6 percent over the previous year, and the ratio of profits to sales was 5.9 percent, which was 0.1 percentage point lower than that in the previous year.

II. Agriculture

In 2005, the sown areas of grain was 104.27 million hectares, an increase of 2.67 million hectares as compared with that in the previous year, and the sown areas of cotton was 5.06 million hectares, a decline of 630,000 hectares. The sown areas of oil-bearing crops was 14.31 million hectares, a decline of 120,000 hectares, the sown areas of sugar crops was 1.56 million hectares, a decrease of 10,000 hectares; and that for vegetables stood at 17.74 million hectares, an increase of 180,000 hectares.

The total output of grain in 2005 was 484.01 million tons, up by 14.54 million tons or 3.1 percent over the previous year. The output of cotton was 5.70 million tons, a decrease of 9.8 percent; that of oil-bearing crops was 30.78 million tons, up by 0.4 percent. The output of sugar crops was 95.51 million tons, a decrease of 0.2 percent. Steady progress was made in vegetable and fruit production with optimized varieties (Table 2).

Figure 2: Output of Grain and Its Growth in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

The total output of meat for the year reached 77.0 million tons, up by 6.3 percent. Of this total, the output of beef and mutton was up 5.6 percent and 9.3 percent respectively. The total output of aquatic products was 51.0 million tons, up by 4.0 percent.

The total production of timber for the year 2005 reached 47.46 million cubic meters, a decline of 8.7 percent.

Over 1.02 million hectares of farmland were installed with effective irrigation system, another 1.23 million hectares of farmland were guaranteed by water-saving irrigation system.

III. Industry and Construction

In 2005, the total value-added of the industrial sector was 7,619.0 billion yuan, up by 11.4 percent over the previous year. The value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size was 6,642.5 billion yuan, up by 16.4 percent (Table 3). The sales ratio of industrial enterprises was 98.1 percent, maintaining the same level as in 2004.

Figure 3: Industrial Value-added and Growth in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

In 2005, the total output of primary energy reached 2.06 billion tons of standard coal equivalent, up by 9.5 percent over the previous year. The electricity generated in the whole year was 2,474.7 billion kilowatt-hours, up by 12.3 percent. The output of coal was 2.19 billion tons, up by 9.9 percent. The output of crude oil reached 181 million tons, up by 2.8 percent.

In 2005, among major raw material products, the output of crude steel stood at 352 million tons, up by 24.6 percent; that of rolled steel was 397 million tons, up by 24.1 percent. The output of cement was 1.06 billion tons, up by 10.0 percent. The production of 10 kinds of nonferrous metals went up by 13.2 percent. Output of major chemical products including sulfuric acid, soda ash, caustic soda, ethylene, etc. increased from 9.9 percent to 21.4 percent.

In 2005, the production of motor vehicles reached 5.70 million, an increase of 12.1 percent, of this total, the production of cars reached 2.77million, up by 19.7 percent.

The output of high-tech products such as program-controlled switchboards, mobile telephones and microcomputers rose by a range of 1.3 percent to 35.3 percent (Table 4). Of the industrial enterprises above designated size, the value-added of high-tech industry in 2005 was 783.9 billion yuan, up by 19.8 percent over the previous year.

Among the industrial enterprises above designated size, the profits of state-owned and state-holding enterprises stood at 644.7 billion yuan, up by 17.4 percent; that of the collective enterprises was 55.1 billion yuan, up by 32.0 percent. The profits made by share-holding enterprise reached 742.0 billion yuan, up by 28.7 percent; that of foreign invested enterprises and enterprises invested by investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan stood at 396.7 billion yuan, up by 6.9 percent, and that of the private enterprises was 197.5 billion yuan, up by 47.3 percent.

In 2005, the value-added of construction enterprises in China was 1,001.8 billion yuan, up by 11.9 percent over the previous year. The profits made by construction enterprises with qualification certificates through general contracts and specialized contracts reached 81.8 billion yuan, up by 13.8 percent, with their taxes paid reaching 109.9 billion yuan, up by 17.4 percent.

IV. Investment in Fixed Assets

The completed investment in fixed assets of the country in 2005 was 8, 860.4 billion yuan, up by 25.7 percent over the previous year. Of the total investment, that in urban areas was 7,509.6 billon yuan, up by 27.2 percent; and that in rural areas reached 1,350.8 billion yuan, up by 18.0 percent.

Figure 4: Investment in Fixed Assets and Its Growth in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

Of the investment in urban areas, the investment by state-owned and state-holding enterprises was 4,004.7 billion yuan, up by 17.5 percent over the previous year. The investment in the primary industry was 82.3 billion yuan, up by 27.5 percent; the investment in the secondary industry was 3,159.8 billion yuan, up by 38.4 percent; and that in the tertiary industry was 4,267.5 billion yuan, up by 20.0 percent. In terms of different sectors, the investment in coal mining and washing was up by 65.6 percent over the previous year; in the production and distribution of electric power and heat power, up by 33.7 percent; in the extraction of petroleum and natural gas, up by 29.7 percent; in railway transport, up by 45.7 percent; in the manufacture of transport equipment, up by 51.1 percent; in the manufacture of textile, up by 38.0 percent; in education, up by 8.4 percent, and in public health, up by 28.9 percent.

In 2005, the investment in real estate development was 1,575.9 billion yuan, up by 19.8 percent. The complete floor space of commercial buildings reached 487.93 million square meters, up by 14.9 percent. Total sales of commercial buildings reached 1,808.0 billion yuan. Of this total, the sales of completed housing accounted for 35.5 percent, and the forward delivery housing accounted for 64.5 percent.

A total of 14 power generators were currently in operation in the Three Gorges Project, having generated 94.0 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. The West-East Electricity Transmission Project from north, central and south channels had built a power transmission capacity of over 32.50 million kilowatts. The completion of the Qinghai-Tibet railway terminated the status of zero-railway transport in Tibet. A total of 3.8 billion yuan worth of investment was completed for the first phase of the eastern and central routes of South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The total completed investment in the key projects in harnessing of the Huaihe River was 25.0 billion yuan.

V. Domestic Trade

In 2005, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 6,717.7 billion yuan, up by 12.9 percent over the previous year, or a real growth of 12.0 percent if price factors were deducted. In terms of different areas, the retail sales of consumer goods in cities reached 4,509.5 billion yuan, up by 13.6 percent, and the retail sales of consumer goods at and below county level was 2,208.2 billion yuan, up by 11.5 percent. In terms of different sectors, the sales of the wholesale and retail industry reached 5,658.9 billion yuan, up 12.6 percent, the sales of the catering industry was 888.7 billion yuan, up 17.7 percent, and the sales of other industries was 170.1 billion yuan, up 0.4 percent.

Of the total retail sales by wholesale and retail enterprises above designated size, the sales of motor vehicles was up by 16.6 percent; petroleum and related products, up by 34.4 percent; cultural and office goods, up by 11.4 percent; telecommunication equipment, up by 19.9 percent; electric and electronic appliances for household use and audio-video equipment, up by 14.8 percent; building and decoration materials, up by 22.1 percent; daily necessities, up by 11.9 percent; furniture, up 13.3 percent; food, beverages, tobacco and liquor, up by 13.6 percent; clothing, up by 19.6 percent; cosmetics, up by 19.1 percent; and gold, silver and jewelry, up by 13.9 percent.

Figure 5: Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods and Growth in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

VI. Foreign Economic Relations

Total value of import and export in 2005 reached 1,422.1 billion US dollars, up 23.2 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the value of export was 762.0 billion US dollars, up 28.4 percent, and the value of import was 660.1 billion US dollars, up 17.6 percent. China had a trade surplus of 101.9 billion US dollars (Table 6). Among the total import and export of the country, that of the foreign funded enterprises was 831.7 billion US dollars, up by 25.4 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the value of export was 444.2 billion US dollars, up by 31.2 percent; and that of the import was 387.5 billion US dollars, up by 19.4 percent.

Figure 6: Import and Export in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

The year 2005 witnessed the approval of establishment of 44,001 foreign direct invested enterprises in China, up by 0.8 percent over the previous year; and the foreign capitals actually utilized were 60.3 billion US dollars, down by 0.5 percent (Table 8). Of the total foreign direct investment actually utilized, the share of investment in manufacturing and real estate was 70.4 percent and 9 percent respectively, down by 0.6 percentage points and 0.8 percentage points over that in the pervious year, and the share of investment in leasing and business service and in transportation, storage and post service was 6.2 percent and 3 percent respectively, up by 1.6 percentage points and 0.9 percentage points.

Figure7: The Foreign Direct Investment Actually Utilized and Its Growth in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

Table 8: Foreign Direct Investment by Sectors in 2005
Value in 100 million USD
Sectors	Contracted Projects	Increase over 2004 (%)	Actually Utilized Value	Increase over 2004 (%)
Total	44001	0.8	603.2	-0.5
Farming, Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Fishery	1058	-6.4	7.2	-35.5
Mining and Quarrying	252	-9.7	3.5	-34.0
Manufacturing	28928	-4.8	424.5	-1.3
Production and Supply of Electricity, Gas and Water	390	-14.3	13.9	22.7
Construction	457	11.2	4.9	-36.5
Transport, Storage, Post and Telecommunication Services,	734	15.1	18.1	42.4
Information Transmission, Computer Services and Software	1493	-8.0	10.1	10.7
Wholesales & Retail Trade	2602	53.1	10.4	40.4
Hotel & Catering Services	1207	2.8	5.6	-33.4
Banking	40	-7.0	2.2	-13.0
Real Estate Development	2120	20.0	54.2	-8.9
Leasing and Business Services	2981	12.0	37.5	32.6
Scientific Research, Technical Services and Geological Prospecting	926	47.2	3.4	15.8
Water Conservancy, Environment Protection and Public Facilities Management	139	-15.2	1.4	-39.3
Services to Households and Other Services	329	31.1	2.6	64.6
Education	51	-13.6	0.2	-53.8
Health, Social Security and Social Welfare	22	4.8	0.4	-55.1
Culture, Sports and Recreation	272	0	3.1	-31.8
Public Management and Social Organization	--	--	0.04	105.6

In 2005, the overseas direct investment (non-financial investment) by Chinese investors was 6.9 billion US dollars, up by 25.8 percent over the previous year.

In 2005, the accomplished business revenue through contracted overseas engineering projects was 21.8 billion US dollars, up by 24.6 percent, and the business revenue through overseas labor contracts was 4.8 billion US dollars, up by 27.5 percent.

VII. Transportation, Post, Telecommunications and Tourism

The value-added of the transportation, storage, post and telecommunication sectors reached 1,380.5 billion yuan in 2005, up 12.4 percent over the previous year (Table 9 and Table 10).

The volume of freight handled by ports throughout the country totaled 4.9 billion tons, up 17.7 percent over the previous year, of which, freight for foreign trade accounted for 1.36 billion tons, up 18.0 percent.

The total number of motor vehicles for civilian use (including 11.49 million tri-wheel cars and low-speed trucks) reached 43.29 million by the end of 2005, up 20.6 percent, of which, private-owned vehicles numbered 23.65 million, up 22.0 percent.

The turnover of post and telecommunication services totaled 1,219.9 billion yuan, up 24.6 percent over the previous year. Of this total, post services accounted for 62.4 billion yuan, up 10.1 percent, and telecommunication services 1,157.5 billion yuan, up 25.4 percent. By the end of 2005, with 46.08 million newly installed lines of office switchboards, the total capacity reached 470 million lines. The year also saw 38.68 million new fixed telephone subscribers to bring the total number to 350.43 million by the end of the year. This included 239.77 million urban subscribers and 110.66 million rural subscribers. Mobile phone users numbered 393.43 million by the end of 2005, with 58.6 million new subscribers. In total, the number of fixed and mobile phone users reached 743.86 million, an increase of 97.28 million as compared with at the end of 2004. On average, phone coverage rate is 57 sets per 100 Chinese population.

Figure 8: Number of Phone Subscribers in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

In 2005, the number of inbound visitors to China totaled 120.29 million, a year-on-year rise of 10.3 percent. Of this total, 20.26 million were foreigners, up 19.6 percent; and 100.03 million were Chinese compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up 8.6 percent. Of all the international tourists, overnight visitors counted 46.81 million, up 12.1 percent. Foreign exchange earnings from international tourism topped 29.3 billion US dollars, up 13.8 percent. The number of China’s outbound visitors totaled 31.03 million, up 7.5 percent. Of this total, 25.14 million were on private visits, a year-on-year rise of 9.4 percent, or 81.0 percent of all outgoing visitors. The year 2005 saw 1.2 billion domestic tourists, up 10.0 percent. Revenue from domestic tourism totaled 528.6 billion yuan, up 12.2 percent. Total revenue from both international and domestic tourism was 768.6 billion yuan, up 12.4 percent. 

VIII. Banking, Securities and Insurance

By the end of 2005, money supply of broad sense (M2) was 29.9 trillion yuan, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 17.6 percent. Money supply of narrow sense (M1) was 10.7 trillion yuan, up 11.8 percent. Cash in circulation (M0) was 2.4 trillion yuan, up 11.9 percent.  Savings deposit in Renminbi and foreign currencies in all items in financial institutions totaled 30.0 trillion yuan at the end of 2005, up 18.2 percent. Loans in Renminbi and foreign currencies in all items in financial institutions reached 20.7 trillion yuan, up 12.8 percent (Table 11).

Figure 9: Urban and Rural Households’ Savings Deposit in RMB and Growth in the 10th Five-year Plan Period

Loans in Renminbi from rural financial cooperation institutions (i.e. rural credit cooperatives, rural cooperation banks, and rural commercial banks) stood at 2.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 345.1 billion yuan as compared with the end of 2004. The loans in Renminbi for consumption use in all financial institutions totaled 2.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 199.6 billion yuan. Of all consumption loans, those for individual housing totaled 1.84 trillion yuan, an increase of 244.4 billion yuan.

Funds raised through issuing stocks and share rights on stock market amounted to 188.3 billion yuan, an increase of 36.3 billion yuan over the previous year. Of this total, 20 companies issued A shares (including newly issued and convertible loan stocks) and another 2 companies issued A share rights, receiving 33.8 billion yuan worth of capital, a decrease of 49.8 billion yuan over 2004. The issue of 24 H shares raised another 154.5 billion yuan worth of capital, an increase of 88.7 billion yuan. The number of listed companies (with A or B shares) on China stock market rose from 1,377 at the end of 2004 to 1,381 at the end of 2005, representing 3,243 billion yuan worth of market value, a shrink of 12.5 percent over the previous year. Corporate bonds with maturity at one year or longer issued throughout the year totaled 65.4 billion yuan, an increase of 33.2 billion yuan over 2004.

The premium of insurance companies totaled 492.7 billion yuan, up 14.0 percent over the previous year. Of this total, life insurance premium earnings amounted to 324.4 billion yuan, health and casualty insurance premium earnings 45.3 billion yuan, and property insurance premium earnings 123 billion yuan. Insurance companies paid an indemnity worth of 113 billion yuan, of which, life insurance indemnity was 30.7 billion yuan, health and casualty insurance indemnity 15.1 billion yuan, and property insurance indemnity 67.2 billion yuan.

IX. Education, Science and Technology

In 2005, the general tertiary education enrollment was 15.62 million students, including 5.05 million new enrollment, and 3.07 million graduates. Senior secondary schools had 24.09 million enrolled students, including 8.78 million new entrants, and 6.62 million graduates. The country had a primary education enrollment of 108.64 million students, including 16.72 million new entrants, and 20.2 million graduates (Table 12).