Statistical Communiqué of the People's Republic of China on the 2003 National Economic and Social Development
STATISTICAL COMMUNIQUÉ OF
THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF
ON THE 2003 NATIONAL
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF
In 2003, under the correct leadership of the Central Party Committee and the State Council, and guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of “Three Represents”, people of all nationalities of China implemented in full swing the spirit of the 16th National Congress of CPC and the Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee, and dealt steadily with the serious problems and challenges brought about by the sudden outbreak of SARS, by various natural disasters and by the complex and changing international situations. Chinese people united as one and went all out to achieve the main targets set forth for the economic and social development. The national economy grew rapidly with further improved quality and vitality. Structural adjustment achieved significant progress; steady development was scored in the reform and opening programs. New achievements were registered in science and technology, education, culture, public health, sports and other social undertakings. The living standard of urban and rural households continued to improve.
I. General Outlook
The national economy increased by fast speed. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the year was 11,669.4 billion yuan, up by 9.1 percent, or 1.1 percentage points higher over the previous year at comparable prices. The value-added of the primary industry was 1,724.7 billion yuan, up by 2.5 percent; it was 0.4 percentage points lower. The value-added of the secondary industry was 6,177.8 billion yuan, up by 12.5 percent, or 2.7 percentage points higher. The value-added of the tertiary industry was 3,766.9 billion yuan, up by 6.7 percent, or 0.8 percentage points lower. Of the tertiary industry, the growth of the financial and insurance industry was 6.9 percent, that of the wholesale and retail sales and catering industry was 6.6 percent, and that of the real estate industry was 5.3 percent.
The general price level was up by small margin. The general level of consumer prices in
Table 1: Change in Consumer Prices in 2003 over 2002 (%) | |||
Item |
National average |
| |
Urban |
Rural | ||
General level of consumer prices |
1.2 |
0.9 |
1.6 |
Food |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
of which: grain |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
Tobaccos and alcohols |
-0.2 |
-0.2 |
-0.1 |
Clothing |
-2.2 |
-2.6 |
-1.4 |
Household appliances and services |
-2.6 |
-3.0 |
-1.7 |
Medical, health and personal articles |
0.9 |
-0.2 |
2.5 |
Transportation and telecommunications |
-2.2 |
-2.6 |
-1.4 |
Recreational, educational, cultural articles and services |
1.3 |
0.5 |
2.8 |
Housing |
2.1 |
2.8 |
1.0 |
The size of employment continued to expand. By the end of 2003, the total of employed people in
Main problems that existed in the economic and social development included: the slow growth of farmers’ income; the heavy tasks for employment and social security; the tight relation between the supply and demand of energy and transportation, the large size of investment in fixed assets, the blind investment and repeated low quality expansion in some industries; the big gap in the income between selected groups of population, the relatively difficult life of low-income households, the increasing pressure on resources and environment, etc.
II. Agriculture
Structural adjustment for crop production continued. In 2003, the sown areas of grain was 99.41 million hectares, a decrease of 4.48 million hectares as compared with that in the previous year, and the sown areas of sugar crops was 1.65 million hectares, a decrease of 170,000 hectares. The sown areas of cotton were 5.11 million hectares, an increase of 920,000 hectares. The sown areas of oil-bearing crops rose by 200,000 hectares to reach 14.97 million hectares, and that for vegetables rose by 560,000 hectares to reach 17.91 million hectares.
The production of major farm crops decreased, including grain, cotton, oil-bearing crops and sugar crops. The output of vegetables and fruits continued to grow with better variety and quality. The total output of grain in 2003 was 430.67 million tons, down by 26.39 million tons or 5.8 percent over the previous year (Table 2).
Steady progress was seen in animal husbandry and fishery. The total output of meat for the year reached 69.20 million tons, up by 5.1 percent. Of this total, the output of beef and mutton was up 12.9 percent and 10.8 percent respectively. Rapid growth was recorded in the output of cow milk. The total output of aquatic products was 46.90 million tons, up by 2.8 percent.
Table 2: Output of Major Farm Products, 2003 | ||
Item |
Output |
Increase over 2002 |
Grain |
43067 |
-5.8 |
Summer crops |
9622 |
-2.4 |
Early rice |
2944 |
-2.8 |
Autumn crops |
30501 |
-7.1 |
Oil-bearing crops |
2805 |
-3.2 |
Peanuts |
1337 |
-9.8 |
Rapeseed |
1141 |
8.1 |
Cotton |
487 |
-0.9 |
Sugar crops |
9670 |
-6.1 |
Sugarcane |
9051 |
0.4 |
Beetroot |
619 |
-51.8 |
Cured tobacco |
201 |
-5.7 |
Tea |
78 |
4.5 |
Fruits |
14470 |
0.3 |
Vegetables |
53960 |
2.1 |
III. Industry and Construction
Fast growth was registered in industrial production. In 2003, the total value-added of the industrial sector was 5,361.2 billion yuan, up by 12.6 percent over the previous year. The value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size (i.e. all state-owned enterprises and those non-state-owned enterprises with an annual sales income over 5 million yuan) was up by 17.0 percent (Table 3). The sales ratio of industrial enterprises was 98.1 percent, or 0.1 percentage points higher than that in the previous year.
Table 3: Value-added of Industrial Sector, 2003 | ||
Item |
Value-added |
Increase over |
Value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size |
41045 |
17.0 |
Of which: State-owned and state-controlled enterprises |
19408 |
14.3 |
Of which: Collective enterprises |
2787 |
11.5 |
Share-holding enterprises |
16878 |
18.3 |
Enterprises invested by foreigners or investors from and |
11174 |
20.0 |
Of which: Light industry |
14653 |
14.6 |
Heavy industry |
26392 |
18.6 |
Fairly fast growth was seen in high-tech industry. Of the total industrial enterprises above designated size, the value-added of high-tech industry was up 20.6 percent over the previous year. The output of optical telecommunications facilities, program-controlled switchboards, mobile telephones and microcomputers increased by 25.9 percent to 120 percent (Table 4)
Energy production speeded up. The total output of primary energy reached 1,603 million tons of standard coal equivalent, it was up by 11.0 percent over the previous year. The electricity generated for the whole year was 1,910.76 billion kilowatt-hours, up by 15.5 percent. The output of coal was 1,667 million tons, up by 15.0 percent. The output of crude oil reached 170 million tons, up by 1.8 percent.
The production of major raw materials grew fast. In 2003, the value-added of the smelting and pressing of ferrous metals was up 22.6 percent over the previous year; that of the nonferrous metals was up 18.1 percent; that of the raw chemical materials and chemical products was up 14.1 percent; and that of nonmetal mineral products was up 16.6 percent. In terms of different products, the output of steel stood at 222 million tons, up by 21.9 percent; that of rolled steel was 241 million tons, up by 25.3 percent. The production of 10 kinds of nonferrous metals went up by 19.1 percent; that of aluminum oxide was up by 11.2 percent; 7.7 percent growth for caustic soda and 18.9 percent growth for cement.
Table 4: Output of Major Industrial Products, 2003 | |||
Product |
Unit |
Output |
Increase over |
Yarn |
10000 tons |
983.58 |
15.72 |
Cloth |
100 million meters |
374.64 |
16.21 |
Chemical fibers |
10000 tons |
1181.14 |
19.16 |
Sugar |
10000 tons |
1083.94 |
17.06 |
Cigarettes |
10000 cases |
3583.25 |
3.35 |
Color TV sets |
10000 |
6541.40 |
26.89 |
Household refrigerators |
10000 |
2242.56 |
40.26 |
Room air conditioners |
10000 |
4993.40 |
59.27 |
Total primary energy production |
100 million tons of |
16.03 |
11.00 |
Coal |
100 million tons |
16.67 |
15.00 |
Crude oil |
100 million tons |
1.70 |
1.80 |
Electricity |
100 million kilowatt-hours |
19107.62 |
15.52 |
Steel |
10000 tons |
22233.60 |
21.92 |
Rolled steel |
10000 tons |
24119.35 |
25.28 |
Ten kinds of nonferrous metals |
10000 tons |
1205.00 |
19.07 |
Of which: Copper |
10000 tons |
184.00 |
12.71 |
Aluminum oxide |
10000 tons |
609.39 |
11.24 |
Cement |
100 million tons |
8.62 |
18.90 |
Timber |
10000 cubic meters |
4950.00 |
11.59 |
Sulfuric acid |
10000 tons |
3371.22 |
10.52 |
Soda ash |
10000 tons |
1128.04 |
9.18 |
Caustic soda |
10000 tons |
945.27 |
7.67 |
Ethylene |
10000 tons |
611.77 |
12.66 |
Chemical fertilizers |
10000 tons |
4200.85 |
10.81 |
Power-generating equipment |
10000 kilowatts |
3700.62 |
74.49 |
Motor vehicles |
10000 |
444.39 |
36.69 |
Cars |
10000 |
202.01 |
84.99 |
Large & median tractors |
10000 |
4.88 |
7.49 |
Integrated circuits |
100 million pieces |
148.31 |
53.99 |
Program-controlled switchboards |
10000 lines |
7379.93 |
25.92 |
Mobile telephones |
10000 |
18231.37 |
50.10 |
Fax machines |
10000 |
746.58 |
151.13 |
Micro-computers |
10000 |
3216.70 |
119.79 |
Optical telecommunications |
10000 sets |
8.65 |
34.11 |
The momentum of growth of automobile industry was strong. In 2003, the value-added of the transport equipment manufacturing industry increased by 22.0 percent. The output of vehicles was 4.444 million, up by 36.7 percent, of this total the output of cars reached 2.02 million, up by 85.0 percent.
Economic efficiency of industrial sector improved significantly. The total volume of profits made by industrial enterprises above designated size stood at 815.2 billion yuan during the year, up by 42.7 percent over the previous year. Of the total, the profits of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises stood at 378.4 billion yuan, up by 45.2 percent; that of the collective enterprises was 48.0 billion yuan, up by 31.4 percent. The profits made by share-holding enterprise reached 376.46 billion yuan, up by 46 percent; that of foreign invested enterprises and enterprises invested by people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan stood at 268.05 billion yuan, up by 40.5 percent. The total volume of losses made by loss-suffering enterprises was down by 1.9 percent. The proportion of profits-making industries increased noticeably. Thirty-eight out of the total 39 branches of industries were enjoying growth in profit. The increased profits of the following branches accounted for 48.7% of the total increase of profits by the industrial sector: petroleum and natural gas extraction, transport equipment manufacturing, smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, chemical industry and power industry.
Construction industry maintained fast growth. In 2003, the value-added of construction enterprises in
IV. Investment in Fixed Assets
Investment in fixed assets increased by large margin. The completed investment in fixed assets of the country in 2003 was 5,511.8 billion yuan, up by 26.7 percent over the previous year (Table 5). Of the total investment of state-owned units and units with other types of ownership, the investment in eastern areas was 2,466.6 billion yuan, up by 33.6 percent; that in central areas was 1,009.2 billion yuan, up by 33.1 percent and that in western areas was 717.1 billion yuan, up by 26.4 percent.
Table 5: Investment in Fixed Assets, 2003 | |||
Item |
Value |
Increase over 2002(%) | |
Investment in fixed assets |
55118 |
26.7 |
|
Of which: |
|
|
|
State-owned units and others |
39748 |
28.2 |
|
Collective units |
7807 |
30.4 |
|
Urban and rural individuals |
7563 |
16.0 |
|
Of which: |
|
|
|
Capital construction |
22729 |
28.7 |
|
Technical updating and transformation |
8444 |
25.1 |
|
Real estate development |
10106 |
29.7 |
|
The growth of investment in manufacturing industry was faster than other industries. Of the total investment of state-owned units and units with other types of ownership, the investment in the primary industry was 115.6 billion yuan, up by 3.7 percent, or 19.8 percentage points lower, over the previous year. Investment in the secondary industry was 1,500.7 billion yuan, up by 39.1 percent, or 16.2 percentage points higher. Of which, the investment in the manufacturing industry was 1,446.0 billion yuan, up by 39.0 percent, or 16.8 percentage points higher. Investment in some manufacturing industries enjoyed rapid growth. Of the projects over 5 million yuan worth of investment, the investment in the production of steel was up by 96.6 percent; electrolytic aluminum, 92.9 percent; cement, 121.9 percent; vehicles, 87.2 percent; textiles, 80.4 percent; and coal, 52.3 percent. Investment in the tertiary industry kept fairly fast growth, with a total completed investment of 2,648.0 billion yuan for the whole year, up by 24.2 percent, or 9.8 percentage points higher over the previous year. Investment in real estate development was 1,010.6 billion yuan, up by 29.7 percent. The total sales of commercial buildings for the whole year reached 767.1 billion yuan, up by 34.1 percent, of this total, the sales to individuals went up by 35.8 percent, accounting for 92.5 percent of the total sales of commercial buildings.
Table 6: Newly Increased Production Capacity Through Investment in | ||
Item |
Unit |
Value |
Power generating capacity |
10,000kw |
3000 |
Power transformer equipment with a capacity of over 110,000 kilovolts |
10,000 kilovolt-amperes |
8300 |
New trunk railways put into operation |
Kilometer |
1164 |
Double-track railways put into operation |
Kilometer |
583 |
Electrified railways put into operation |
Kilometer |
615 |
Newly constructed highways |
Kilometer |
36444 |
Of which: Express highways |
Kilometer |
4639 |
Newly increased cargo-handling capacity of 10000-ton berths at harbors |
10,000 tons |
8220 |
Newly installed capacity of telephone switchboards |
10,000 gates |
6744 |
Newly increased length of optical-fiber cables |
10,000 km |
45 |
Newly installed capacity of digital cellular mobile phone switchboards |
10,000 |
6232 |
The construction of key projects progressed smoothly. The Three Gorges Project had achieved its goal of impounding, opening to navigation and power generating. The total newly complete length of Qinghai-Tibet railway reached to 317 kilometers, finishing 28.6 percent of the targeted length. The capacity of power transmission to
V. Domestic Trade
Sales of consumer goods at domestic market increased steadily. In 2003, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 4,584.2 billion yuan, up by 9.1 percent over the previous year, or a real growth of 9.2 percent if price factors were deducted. Of this total, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 2,977.7 billion yuan, up by 10.3 percent, and the retail sales of consumer goods at and below county level was 1,606.5 billion yuan, up by 6.8 percent. In terms of different sectors, the sales of the wholesale and retail industry reached 3,769.3 billion yuan, up 9.2 percent, the sales of the catering industry was 606.6 billion yuan, up 11.6 percent, and the sales of other industries was 208.3 billion yuan, up 0.2 percent.
Of the total wholesale and retail sales above designated size, the retail sales of motor vehicles was up 68.5 percent over the previous year; that of the telecommunication equipment was up by 70.9 percent; that of electric and electronic appliances for household use and audio-video equipment was up by 18.3 percent, and that of furniture was up 28.2 percent.
VI. Foreign Economic Relations
Rapid growth was registered in foreign trade. Total value of import and export in 2003 reached 851.2 billion US dollars, up 37.1 percent over the previous year. The value of export was 438.4 billion US dollars, up 34.6 percent, and the value of import was 412.8 billion US dollars, up 39.9 percent (Table 7). Fast growth was recorded in import and export with major trade partners (Table 8).
Table 7: Import and Export by Major Categories, 2003 | ||
Item |
Value |
Increase over 2002 |
Total export |
8512 |
37.1 |
Export |
4384 |
34.6 |
Of which: General trade |
1820 |
33.7 |
Processing trade |
2418 |
34.4 |
Of which: Mechanical and electrical products |
2275 |
44.8 |
Of which: High and new-tech products |
1103 |
62.6 |
Import |
4128 |
39.9 |
Of which: General trade |
1877 |
45.4 |
Processing trade |
1629 |
33.3 |
Of which: Mechanical and electrical products |
2250 |
44.6 |
Of which: High and new-tech products |
1193 |
44.0 |
Table 8: Import and Export by Major Countries and Regions, 2003 | ||||
|
Export (100 million USD) |
Increase over 2002 (%) |
Import (100 million USD) |
Increase over 2002 (%) |
HKSAR European Union ASEAN |
925 763 722 594 309 201 60 |
32.2 30.5 49.7 22.7 31.1 29.4 71.4 |
339 111 531 742 473 431 97 |
24.3 3.7 37.7 38.7 51.7 51.0 15.7 |
Import of energy and raw materials increased by a large margin. In 2003, China imported 91.12 million tons of crude oil, up by 31.3 percent over the previous year; 28.24 million tons of refined oil products, up by 38.8 percent; 37.17 million tons of rolled steel, up by 51.8 percent; 5.61 million tons of aluminum oxide, up by 22.6 percent; and 148.13 million tons of ironstone and refined iron ore, up by 32.9 percent.
Foreign direct investment maintained at fairly high level. The year 2003 witnessed the approval of establishment of 41,081 foreign direct invested enterprises in
Foreign economic and technical cooperation maintained good momentum. In 2003,
Table 9: Foreign Direct Investment by Sectors, 2003 | ||||||
Value in 100 million US dollars | ||||||
Sectors |
Projects |
Contracted investment |
Utilized | |||
Number |
Growth % |
Value |
Growth % |
Value |
Growth % | |
Total Of which: Farming, Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Fishery Mining and Quarrying Manufacturing Construction Transport, Storage, Post and Telecommunication Services Wholesales & Retail Trade and Catering Services Banking and Insurance Real Estate Development Social Services Health Care, Sports and Social Welfare Education, Culture, Arts, Radio, Film and Television Scientific Research and Polytechnic Services |
41081 1116 211 29281 396 506 2207 23 1553 4242 85 70 558 |
20.2 14.5 28.7 17.5 20.4 24.9 28.6 35.3 18.0 24.1 70.0 45.8 145.8 |
1150.7 22.8 6.6 807.5 16.8 50.1 23.8 3.2 91.1 70.4 2.7 2.8 7.5 |
39.0 34.8 72.1 36.2 58.6 228.0 43.3 -30.7 26.2 41.2 4.4 159.1 41.1 |
535.1 10.0 3.4 369.4 6.1 8.7 11.2 2.3 52.4 31.6 1.3 0.6 2.6 |
1.4 -2.6 -42.1 0.4 –13.7 -5.1 19.7 117.5 -7.5 7.4 -0.6 53.0 31.0 |
The value-added of the transportation, post and telecommunications and tourism sectors reached 653.1 billion yuan in 2003, up by 7.0 percent over the previous year.
In 2003, the total volume of cargo transported was 5,715.2 billion ton-kilometers, up by 13.1 percent over the previous year. Ports throughout the country handled 3.3 billion tons of cargo, up 17.9 percent over the previous year. Total volume of passenger transportation was 1,379.5 billion person-kilometers, a decline of 2.3 percent as a result of SARS epidemic (Table 10).
Table10: Traffic Volume Completed by Various Transportation Means, 2003
Item |
Unit |
Volume |
Increase over 2002 (%) | ||
Freight traffic |
100 million ton-km |
57152 |
|
13.1 |
|
Of which: Railways |
100 million ton-km |
17092 |
|
10.2 |
|
Highways |
100 million ton-km |
7010 |
|
3.4 |
|
Waterways |
100 million ton-km |
32275 |
|
17.3 |
|
Civil aviation |
100 million ton-km |
58 |
|
12.3 |
|
Passenger traffic |
100 million person-km |
13795 |
|
-2.3 |
|
Of which: Railways |
100 million person-km |
4789 |
|
-3.6 |
|
Highways |
100 million person-km |
7679 |
|
-1.6 |
|
Waterways |
100 million person-km |
64 |
|
-21.1 |
|
Civil aviation |
100 million person-km |
1263 |
|
-0.4 |
|
Volume of cargo handled at ports |
100 million tons |
33 |
|
17.9 |
|
Of which: Cargo for foreign trade |
100 million tons |
9.4 |
|
19.8 |
|
Tourism was affected significantly by the SARS epidemic. In 2003,
VIII. Banking, Security and Insurance
Money supply registered rapid increase. By the end of 2003, the money supply of broad sense (M2) was 22,122.3 billion yuan, up 19.6 percent over 2003, or 2.8 percentage points higher than last year’s growth; money supply of narrow sense (M1) was 8,411.9 billion yuan, up 18.7 percent, or 1.9 percentage points higher. The cash in circulation (M0) amounted to 1,974.6 billion yuan, up 14.3 percent, or 4.2 percentage points higher.
Savings deposits and loans of financial institutions increased by a large margin. The savings deposit in Renminbi and in foreign currencies in all financial institutions at the end of 2003 totaled 22,036.4 billion yuan, up 20.2 percent as compared with the year-end figure of 2002. The loans in Renminbi and in foreign currencies in various forms in all financial institutions reached 16,977.1 billion yuan, up 21.4 percent (Table 11). The structure of loans continued to improve. The loans in Renminbi by rural credit cooperatives stood at 1,697.9 billion yuan, an increase of 318.6 billion yuan. The consumption loans in Renminbi totaled 1,573.6 billion yuan, an increase of 509.1 billion yuan, of which, the loans for individual housing were 1,178.0 billion yuan, an increase of 352.8 billion yuan.
Table 11: Savings Deposits and Loans in Renminbi and Foreign Currencies of All Financial Institutions, 2003 | ||||
Item |
Year-end figure (100 million yuan) |
Increase over 2002 (%) | ||
Savings deposits |
220364 |
|
20.2 |
|
Of which: By enterprises |
76785 |
|
19.4 |
|
By urban and rural households |
110695 |
|
17.4 |
|
Of which: Deposits in Renminbi |
103618 |
|
19.2 |
|
Loans |
169771 |
|
21.4 |
|
Of which: Short-term |
87398 |
|
13.8 |
|
Medium and long-term |
67252 |
|
30.0 |
|
Stock markets developed steadily. In 2003, funds raised through issuing stocks and share rights at stock markets were 135.8 billion yuan, an increase of 39.6 billion yuan over the previous year. Of this total, 97 companies issued A shares (including newly issued and convertible loan stock) and another 24 companies issued A share rights, with capital paid-in topped 82.0 billion yuan, an increase of 4 billion over 2002. The issue of 24 B shares and H shares raised another 53.7 billion yuan worth of foreign capital, an increase of 35.5 billion yuan. The number of listed companies (with A or B shares) in China’s stock markets rose from 1,224 at the end of 2002 to 1,287 at the end of 2003, worth of 4,257.8 billion yuan, up 11 percent.
Rapid progress was registered in insurance. In 2003, the insurance premium of domestic and foreign insurance companies totaled 388.0 billion yuan, up 27.1 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the premium of life insurance was 266.9 billion yuan, that of health and unforeseen accident insurance was 34.2 billion yuan, and that of property insurance was 86.9 billion yuan. The insurance companies paid an indemnity of 84.1 billion yuan as reparations in insurance programs, of which the indemnity of life insurance was 26.4 billion yuan, and that of health and unforeseen accident insurance was 10.1 billion yuan. Another 47.6 billion yuan was paid as reparations in property insurance programs.
IX. Education, Science and Technology
Education undertakings achieved rapid development. In 2003, there were 651,000 graduate students enrolled in universities or research institutes, including 269,000 new entrants, and 111,000 students completed their graduate programs. There were 11.086 million undergraduates enrolled in general universities, including 3.822 million new entrants, and 1.878 million completed their undergraduate courses. Secondary vocational or technical schools of various types had an enrollment of 12.402 million students, including 5.041 million new entrants, and 3.438 million students graduated. General senior secondary schools had 19.648 million enrolled students, including 7.521 million new entrants, and 4.581 million graduated from senior secondary schools (Table 12). Students enrolled in junior secondary schools totaled 66.906 million, including 22.201 million new entrants, and 20.184 million completed their junior secondary school courses. Pupils enrolled in primary schools numbered 116.897 million, including 18.294 new entrants, and 22.679 million graduated from primary schools. There were 365,000 students in special education schools, with 49,000 new entrants. Kindergartens accommodated 20.04 million kids.
Table 12: New Entrants and Graduates by Type of Education, 2003 | ||
Unit: 10,000 persons | ||
Item |
New Entrants |
Graduates |
Postgraduates |
26.9 |
11.1 |
General universities |
382.2 |
187.8 |
Secondary vocational or technical schools |
504.1 |
343.8 |
General senior secondary schools |
752.1 |
458.1 |
There were altogether 15,676 institutions in
X. Culture, Public Health and Sports
Cultural undertakings made steady progress. At the end of 2003, there were 2,587 art-performing groups, 2,892 culture centers, 2,708 public libraries and 1,519 museums in
Table 13: Radio and TV Broadcasting and Publications, 2003
Item |
Unit |
Figure |
Coverage of radio broadcasting |
% |
93.6 |
Coverage of TV broadcasting |
% |
94.8 |
Publication of magazines |
100 million copies |
29.9 |
Publication of books |
100 million copies |
67.5 |
New progress was scored in sports. In 2003, Chinese athletes won 87 world championships. Nine athletes and 1 team broke 16 world records on 19 occasions. The national Fit-Keeping Program witnessed vigorous development.
XI. Population, People’s Life and Social Securities
The natural growth rate of population continued to decline. At the end of 2003, the total population of
Table 14: Composition of Population, 2003 | |||||
10,000 persons | |||||
|
Population (year-end figure) |
Percentage (%) | |||
National Total |
129227 |
|
100.0 |
| |
Of which: |
Urban |
52376 |
|
40.53 |
|
|
Rural |
76851 |
|
59.47 |
|
Of which: |
Male |
66556 |
|
51.50 |
|
|
Female |
62671 |
|
48.50 |
|
Of which: |
0-14 years |
28559 |
|
22.1 |
|
|
15-64 years |
90976 |
|
70.4 |
|
|
65 years and over |
9692 |
|
7.5 |
|
The social security system was further consolidated. By the end of 2003, 154.90 million people participated in the basic pension programs, an increase of 7.53 million. This included 116.38 million staff and workers and 38.52 million retirees. A total of 103.73 million people participated in the unemployment insurance programs, an increase of 1.91 million. The basic health insurance programs covered 108.95 million people, or 14.94 million more than in 2002. This included 79.77 million staff and workers and 29.18 million retirees. By the end of the year, some 35.51 million retirees from enterprises participated in the basic pension programs, and the majority of them received full pensions on time. Re-employment centers throughout
There were 1.222 million beds in social welfare institutions of various types at the end of 2003, accommodating for 924,000 inmates. Some 192,000 service facilities in urban communities were established, including 9,251 community service centers. In 2003,
XII. Resources and Environment
Cultivated land continued to shrink. In 2003, a total of 229,000 hectares of cultivated land were used for construction purpose, 50,000 hectares were destroyed by disasters, 2,237,000 hectares were converted for ecological preservation, and another 332,000 hectares were turned to other uses due to the structural adjustment in the agriculture production. On the other hand, land reclamation and re-development projects restored 311,000 hectares of farmland. As a result, the year 2003 saw a net reduction of 2,537,000 hectares of cultivated land.
Consumption of energy and key raw materials climbed up significantly. Preliminary estimation indicates that the total energy consumption in 2003 amounted to 1,678 million tons of standard coal equivalent, up by 10.1 percent over 2003. Of this total, the consumption of crude oil was 252 million tons, up 12 percent, and the consumption of coal was 1,579 million tons, up 13.6 percent. The consumption of major raw materials included 271 million tons of rolled steel, up 28.6 percent, 11.68 million tons of aluminum oxide, up 15.7 percent, and 836 million tons of cement, up 15.3 percent.
Water resource remained tight in terms of supply-demand relation. The water resource on per capita basis was 2,076 cubic meters in 2003, down by 5.6 percent as compared with 2002. The annual average precipitation was 640 millimeters, down by 3.0 percent. The 454 large reservoirs in
The quality of water in general deteriorated slightly. In the mainstreams of the seven main river systems, water of 52.5 percent of the measured sections met the quality of Grade 3 as specified in the national standards for surface water, down by 0.4 percentage points over the previous year; 38.1 percent met the quality of Grade 4 or 5, up by 11.3 percentage points; and 9.3 percent failed to meet the quality of Grade 5, down by 11 percentage points. Of the 237 offshore monitoring stations, 19.8 percent reported that the marine water under their observation met the quality of Grade 1 of the national standards for marine water, down by 1.5 percentage points.
New progress was made in the exploration of mineral resources. A total of 171 minerals have been found in China, of which 158 minerals has a proven reserve, including 10 energy minerals, 54 metal minerals, 91 non-metal minerals and 3 water or gas minerals. Some 157 new mineral deposits of large or medium scale were discovered through national land and resources surveys and geological surveys. Increased reserves were found for 59 minerals, including 799 million tons of crude oil, 503.54 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 5,195 million tons of coal.
Protection of urban environment was further strengthened. Among the 340 cities under the environment monitoring program, the air quality of 141 cities met the standard of Grade 2, accounting for 41.5 percent of all cities covered by the program, up by 7.7 percentage points over the pervious year; 108 cities met the standard of Grade 3, accounting for 31.8 percent, or down by 3.2 percentage points; and the rest 91 cities failed to meet Grade 3 standard, accounting for 26.7 percent, or down by 4.5 percentage points. In China’s urban areas, 42.1 percent of waste water was put under centralized processing systems, 58.0 percent of solid waste from daily life was processed under nontoxic programs, and 53.5 percent of industrial solid waste was recycled or re-utilized, up by 2.1 percentage points, 3.8 percentage points and 1.5 percentage points as compared with 2002. The established smoke/dust control zones covered an area of 33,000 square kilometers, and the noise pollution control zones covered 20,000 square kilometers.
Improvement of ecological system and environment was further enhanced. The total afforested area in 2003 was 9.30 million hectares, up by 19.7 percent. Of this total, the 6 key forestation projects completed forestation of 8.31 million hectares. By the end of 2003, the state approved the establishment of 82 national ecological demonstration zones.
Occurrence of red tides increased. There were 119 occasions of red tides in 2003, 40 occasions or 50.6 percent more than in 2002. Covering an accumulative area of 14,550 square meters, the occurrence of the red tides caused a direct loss worth of 42.80 million yuan.
Severe natural disasters of various types were recorded. In 2003, natural disasters hit 54.386 million hectares of crops, 15.4 percent more than the last year. Of the disaster-hit areas, 32.516 million hectares were severely affected and crops on 8.546 million hectares were completely destroyed, up 19.0 percent and 30.3 percent respectively. Economic losses caused by marine-related disasters totaled 8.05 billion yuan, up 22 percent.
Notes:
1) All figures in the Communiqué are preliminary statistics.
2) Statistics in the Communiqué do not include figures for Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and
3) Figures in value terms on gross domestic product and value-added quoted in the Communiqué are at current prices, whereas growth rates are calculated at comparable prices.
4) Fruit production in Table 2 includes melons and gourds consumed as fruits.
5) Newly increased production capacity figures with regard to the telephone switchboards, length of optical-fiber cables and digital cellular mobile phone switchboards include the capacity built through technical updating and transformation projects.
6) The value of business transactions of post and telecommunication services was calculated at the constant prices of 2000.