EDITOR’S NOTES

I. China Statistical Yearbook 2008 is an annual statistical publication, which reflects comprehensively the economic and social development of China. It covers data for 2007 and key statistical data in the most recent thirty years and some historically important years at the national level and the local levels of province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government.

II. The Yearbook contains twenty-four chapters : l. General Survey; 2. National Accounts; 3. Population; 4. Employment and Wages; 5. Investment in Fixed Assets; 6. Energy; 7. Government Finance; 8. Price Indices; 9. People’s Living Conditions; 10. General Survey of Cities; 11. Resources and Environment; 12. Agriculture; 13. Industry; 14. Construction; 15. Transport, Postal and Telecommunication Services; 16. Domestic Trade; 17. Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation; 18. Tourism; 19. Financial Intermediation; 20. Education, Science and Technology; 21.Culture, Sports and Public Health; 22. Other Social Activities; 23. Main Social and Economic Indicators of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR); 24. Main Social and Economic Indicators of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR). Two chapters listed as Appendices are Main Social and Economic Indicators of Taiwan Province and A Comparison of Indicators of Economy and Society among the People’s Republic of China and Other Countries/Areas. To facilitate readers, the Brief Introduction at the beginning of each chapter provides a summary of the main contents of the chapter, data sources, statistical scope, statistical methods and historical changes. At the end of each chapter, Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators are included.

III. The national data in this book do not include those of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Taiwan Province, except for the divisions of administrative areas, the area of the national territory and forest resources.

IV. In accordance with the principles set down in the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the Basic Law of Macao Special Administrative Region, statistically Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland of China are three mutually independent regions, each following its own and different statistical systems and legal provisions in conducting statistical operations independently. Statistics on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region as included in this yearbook are provided by the Census and Statistics Department of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Statistics and Census Services of the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region respectively; and are edited by the National Bureau of Statistics.

V. In comparison with China Statistical Yearbook 2007, following revisions have been made in this new version in terms of the statistical contents and in editing:

1. The original first chapter of Divisions of Administrative Areas and Natural Resources has been canceled. The tables on divisions of administrative areas have been put under the chapter of General Survey. The tables of natural resources have been combined with the original chapter of Environment Protection to form a new chapter of Resources and Environment.

2. In the chapter of National Accounts, there are new tables on value added at constant prices by three strata industries and major divisions since 1978, which is the first publicized. The 2002’s data of input-output were updated by the 2005’s data.

3. In the chapter of Government Finance, the relative tables were reedited according to the 2007’s new revision of Classification System for Government Revenue and Expenditure by the Ministry of Finance. The classifications of expenditure account have been adjusted largely.

4. In the chapter of Agriculture, the 2006’s data which are not available because of the Second Agriculture Census, including agricultural machinery, use of chemical fertilizer and use of electricity in villages, are resumed. Based on the result of the Second Agriculture Census, the relative data of farming in 2006 and animal husbandry and aquatic products since 2000 have been modified. Area of cultivated land is the 2007’s figure from the Ministry of Land and Resources.

5. In the chapter of Financial Intermediation, there are new tables on asset and capital use of insurance companies since 2004 and premium, claim and payment by region in 2007.

6. In the chapter of Other Social Activities, the data on cases handled by the people's procuratorates are added.

VI. The units of measurement used in this yearbook are internationally standard measurement units.

VII. Statistical discrepancies on totals and relative figures due to rounding are not adjusted in the Yearbook.

VIII. Notations used in the yearbook：(blank space) indicates that the figure is not large enough to be measured with the smallest unit in the table, or data are unknown, or are not available; “#” indicates a major breakdown of the total; and “*”or “①”indicates footnotes at the end of the table.