Ma Jiantang

Commissioner, National Bureau of Statistics of China

January 20, 2011

In 2010, faced with the complicated and volatile domestic and international economic environment, serious natural disasters and various grand challenges, the Central Party Committee and the State Council, uniting and leading the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, sized up the situation and made scientific decisions. They implemented earnestly the scientific outlook on development, sped up the transformation of economic development mode, strengthened and improved macro economic control and encouraged the performance of market mechanism. As a result, the achievements of countering the impact of global financial crisis were consolidated and expanded, and the national economy showed good momentum of development.

According to preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) for the year 2010 was 39,798.3 billion yuan, up by 10.3 percent at comparable prices, or 1.1 percentage points higher than that in the previous year. In terms of growth by quarters, it was up 11.9 percent for the first quarter, 10.3 percent growth for the second quarter, 9.6 percent for the third quarter and 9.8 percent for the last quarter. In terms of growth by sectors, the value added was 4,049.7 billion yuan for the primary industry, up by 4.3 percent; 18,648.1 billion yuan for the secondary industry, up by 12.2 percent; and 17,100.5 billion yuan for the tertiary industry, up by 9.5 percent.

I. Agricultural Production Grew Steadily with Increase in Grain Output for Consecutive Seven Years. In 2010, the total output of grain reached 546.41 million tons, an increase of 2.9 percent over that in the previous year with an output increase for the seventh year. Of this total, the output of summer grain was 123.10 million tons, a year-on-year decline of 0.3 percent; the output of early rice was 31.32 million tons, a drop of 6.1 percent over that in the previous year; the output of autumn grain was 391.99 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.8 percent. The output of oil-bearing seeds grew by 2.7 percent and that of sugar dropped by 1.9 percent. The output of meat maintained steady growth as the output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry reached 77.80 million tons in 2010, up by 3.6 percent. Of this total, the output of pork was 50.70 million tons, up by 3.7 percent.

II. Industrial Production Went up Steadily with a Substantial Increase in Economic Efficiency of Enterprises. In 2010, the value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 15.7 percent, or 4.7 percentage points higher than that in 2009. Of which, the growth in the first quarter was 19.6 percent, that in the second quarter was 15.9 percent, 13.5 percent growth in the third quarter and 13.3 percent growth in the last quarter. Analysis on different types of enterprises showed that the value added of the state-owned and state holding enterprises went up by 13.7 percent; collective enterprises, up by 9.4 percent; share-holding enterprises, up by 16.8 percent; and 14.5 percent growth for the enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The growth of the heavy industry was 16.5 percent and that of the light industry was 13.6 percent. Among the 39 industrial divisions, 38 of them witnessed year-on-year growth. In terms of different areas, the growth in eastern, central and western regions went up by 14.9 percent, 18.4 percent and 15.5 percent respectively. The production and sales of industrial products went on well. In 2010, the sales ratio was 97.9 percent for the industrial enterprises above designated size, or 0.2 percentage point higher than that in the previous year.

In the first eleven months of 2010, the profits made by industrial enterprises above designated size reached 3,882.8 billion yuan, up by 49.4 percent year-on-year, or 41.6 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year. Among the 39 industrial divisions, 38 divisions registered year-on-year growth with profits.

III. Investment Kept Fast Growth with Further Improved Investment Structure. In 2010, the total investment in fixed assets of the country reached 27,814.0 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 23.8 percent, or a drop of 6.2 percentage points as compared with the growth in the previous year. The real growth was 19.5 percent after deducting price factors. Of this total, the fixed assets investment in urban areas was 24,141.5 billion yuan, up by 24.5 percent, or 5.9 percentage points lower that that in the previous year, and that in rural areas was 3,672.5 billion yuan, up by 19.7 percent, or 7.6 percentage points lower. Of the fixed assets investment in urban areas, the growth of investment in the primary industry was 18.2 percent; that in the secondary industry was 23.2 percent and 25.6 percent for the tertiary industry. In terms of different areas, the investment in eastern, central and western regions grew by 22.8 percent, 26.9 percent and 26.2 percent respectively. The total investment in real estate development for the year was 4,826.7 billion yuan, a growth of 33.2 percent.

IV. Consumption Enjoyed Steady and Fast Growth and the Popular Commodities Maintained High Sales. In 2010, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 15,455.4 billion yuan, a growth of 18.4 percent, or a real growth of 14.8 percent after deducting price factors. Of this total, the retail sales of consumer goods in cities stood at 13,368.9 billion yuan, up by 18.8 percent, and that in rural areas reached 2,086.5 billion yuan, up by 16.1 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of catering industry was 1,763.6 billion yuan, up by 18.0 percent; that of retail sales of commodities, 13,691.8 billion yuan, up by 18.5 percent. In particular, the retail sales by businesses above designated size reached 5,805.6 billion yuan, up 29.9 percent. Rapid growth was registered in emerging areas for consumption: the sales of gold, silver and jewelries rose by 46.0 percent; that of furniture went up by 37.2 percent; automobiles grew by 34.8 percent and household appliances and audio-video equipment increased by 27.7 percent.

V. Market Prices Went up on a Year-on-Year Basis while the Prices for Food Increased Sharply. In 2010, the consumer prices went up by 3.3 percent year-on-year. The price rose by 3.2 percent in cities and 3.6 percent in rural areas. Grouped by categories, the prices for food increased by 7.2 percent; prices for tobacco, liquor and articles went up by 1.6 percent; health care and personal articles, up by 3.2 percent; recreation, education, culture articles and services, up by 0.6 percent; housing, up by 4.5 percent; clothing, down by 1.0 percent; transportation and communication, down by 0.4 percent while household facilities, articles and maintenance services maintained the same level of growth. In December, the consumer prices grew by 4.6 percent year-on-year and 0.5 percent month-on-month. In 2010, the producer prices for manufactured goods went up by 5.5 percent year-on-year. The year-on-year change in December was up by 5.9 percent and the month-on-month change was up by 0.7 percent. The purchasers’ prices for raw material, fuel and power was up by 9.6 percent for the whole year, and in December it grew by 9.5 percent year-on-year, or 1.1 percent month-on-month.

VI. Total Value of Imports and Exports Increased Rapidly and the Trade Surplus Declined to Some Extent. The total value of imports and exports for the whole year reached 2,972.8 billion US dollars, an increase of 34.7 percent over that in the previous year. The total value of exports was 1,577.9 billion US dollars, up by 31.3 percent; that of imports was 1,394.8 billion US dollars, up by 38.7 percent. The trade surplus was 183.1 billion US dollars, a decline of 6.4 percent over that in the previous year.

VII. Urban and Rural Residents’ Income Increased Steadily, with Higher Growth for Rural Residents than that for Urban Residents. In 2010, the per capita income of urban household was 21,033 yuan, an increase of 11.5 percent over that in the previous year. Of this total, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 19,109 yuan, up by 11.3 percent, or a real increase of 7.8 percent after deducting price factors. Of the per capita income of urban household, the growth of wage income was 10.7 percent; that of transferred income, 12.8 percent; operating net income, 12.1 percent; property income, 20.5 percent. The per capita net income of rural residents was 5,919 yuan, up by 14.9 percent over that in the previous year, or 10.9 percent growth in real terms. Of this total, the growth of wage income was 17.9 percent; that of household operating net income, 12.1 percent; property income, 21.0 percent and transferred income, 13.8 percent.

VIII. Money Supply Kept Steady Growth, the Incremental Outstanding Loans and Deposits Declined. By the end of December, the balance of broad money (M₂) was 72.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 19.7 percent, which was 8.0 percentage points lower than that at the end of last year; the balance of narrow money (M₁) was 26.7 trillion yuan, up by 21.2 percent, or 11.2 percentage points lower; the balance of cash in circulation (M₀) was 4.5 trillion yuan, a rise of 16.7 percent, or up by 4.9 percentage points. The amount of outstanding loans of all financial institutions was 47.9 trillion yuan, increased by 7.9 trillion yuan over that at the beginning of this year, or a decrease of 1.6 trillion yuan as compared with last year. The amount of outstanding deposits of all financial institutions was 71.8 trillion yuan, an increase of 12.0 trillion yuan over that at the beginning of 2010, or 1.1 trillion yuan less than that of 2009.

At present, the national economy is in a crucial period of turning from recovery to steady growth. According to the general arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference, we should insist on taking scientific development as the theme and transformation of economic development mode as the mainline, carry out the pro-active fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy and improve the relevance, flexibility and effectiveness of macro-control. We should also accelerate the process of economic structure adjustment, promote independent innovation, pay special attention to energy saving and emission reduction, deepen the reform and opening-up, guarantee and improve the livelihood of people and consolidate the achievements of countering the impact of global financial crisis. Only by doing so could we achieve a steady and fast economic growth and promote social harmony and stability.