Explanatory
Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) refers to the final products at market prices produced by all resident units
in a country during a certain
period of time. Gross domestic product is expressed in three different
perspectives, namely value, income, and products respectively. GDP in its value
perspective refers to the balance of total value of all goods and services
produced by all resident units during a certain period of time, minus the total
value of input of goods and services of the nature of non-fixed assets; in
other words, it is the sum of the value-added of all resident units. GDP from
the perspective of income includes the primary income created by all resident
units and distributed to resident and non-resident units. GDP from the
perspective of products refers to the value of all goods and services for final
demand by all resident units plus the net exports of goods and services during
a given period of time. In the practice of national accounting, gross domestic
product is calculated from three approaches, namely production approach, income
approach and expenditure approach, which reflect gross domestic product and its
composition from different angles.
For a region, it is called as Gross Regional Product(GRP) or regional GDP.
Gross National Income (GNI) also known as Gross National Product, refers to the final result of the
primary distribution of the income created by all the resident units of a
country (or a region) during a certain period of time. The value-added created
by the resident units of a country engaged in production activities is
distributed, during the primary distribution, mainly to the resident units of
that country, while part of it is distributed to the non-resident units in the
form of production tax and import duties (minus subsidies to production and
import), compensation of employees and property income. In the meantime, a part
of the value-added created abroad is distributed to the resident units of the
country in the form of production tax and import duties (minus subsidies to
production and import), compensation of employees and property income. The
concept of Gross National Income is thus developed, which equals to Gross
Domestic Product plus the net factor income from abroad. Unlike GDP which is a
concept of production, GNP is a concept of income.
Three Strata of Industry
Classification of
economic activities into three strata of industry is a common practice in the
world, although the grouping varies to some extent from country to country. In
Primary industry refers to
agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery industries.
Secondary industry refers to mining and
quarrying, manufacturing, production and supply of electricity, water and gas,
and construction.
Tertiary industry refers to all other economic
activities not included in the primary or secondary industries.
Compensation of Employees
refers to the total payment of various forms to employees for the productive
activities they are engaged in. It includes wages, bonuses and allowances,
which the employees earn in cash or in kind. It also includes the free medical
services provided to the employees and the medicine expenses, transport
subsidies and social insurance, and housing fund paid by the employers.
Net Taxes on Production refers to taxes on production less subsidies on production. The taxes on
production refers to the various taxes, extra charges and fees levied on the
production units on their production, sale and business activities as well as
on the use of some factors of production, such as fixed assets, land and
labour in the production activities
they are engaged in. In contrast to taxes on production, subsidies on production
refer to the unilateral government transfer to the production units and are
therefore regarded as negative taxes on production. They include subsidies on
the loss due to implementation of government policies, price subsidies, etc.
Depreciation of Fixed Assets refers to the depreciation of fixed assets in a given period, drawn in
accordance with the stipulated depreciation rate for the purpose of
compensating the wear-and-tear loss of the fixed assets or the depreciation of
fixed assets imputed in accordance with the stipulated unified depreciation
rate in the national economic accounting system. It reflects the value of
transfer of the fixed assets in the production of the current period. The depreciation of fixed assets in
various enterprises and institutions managed as enterprises refers to the
depreciation expenses actually drawn. In government agencies and institutions
not managed as enterprises which do not draw the depreciation expenses, as well
as for the houses of residents, the depreciation of fixed assets is the imputed
depreciation, which is calculated in accordance with the stipulated unified
depreciation rate. In principle, the depreciation of fixed assets should be
calculated on the basis of the re-purchased value of the fixed assets. However,
currently the conditions in
Operating Surplus refers to the balance of the
value added created by the resident units after deducting the labourers
remuneration, net taxes on production and the depreciation of fixed assets. It
is equivalent to the business profit of the enterprises plus subsidies to
production, but the wages and welfare expenses paid from the profits should be
deducted.
GDP by Expenditure Approach refers to the method of measuring the final results of production activities
of a country (region) during a given period from the perspective of final uses.
It includes final consumption expenditure, gross capital formation and net
export of goods and services. The formula for computation is.:
GDP by expenditure approach = final consumption
expenditure + gross capital formation + net export of goods and services
Final Consumption Expenditure refers to the total expenditure
of resident units for purchases of goods and services from both the domestic
economic territory and abroad to meet the needs of material, cultural and
spiritual life. It does not include the expenditure of non-resident units on
consumption in the economic territory of the country. The final consumption
expenditure is broken down into household consumption expenditure and
government consumption expenditure.
Household Consumption Expenditure refers to the total expenditure
of resident households on the final consumption of goods and services. In
addition to the consumption of goods and services bought by the households
directly with money, the household consumption expenditure also includes
expenditure on goods and services obtained by the households in other ways,
i.e. the so-called imputed consumption expenditure, which includes the
following: (a) the goods and services provided to households by employers in
the form of payment in kind and transfer in kind; (b) goods and services produced
and consumed by the households themselves, in which the services refer to the
owner-occupied housing and services offered by paid family employees; (c)
financial intermediate services provided by financial institution.
Government Consumption Expenditure refers to the consumption
expenditure spent for the provision of public services provided by the
government to the whole country and the net expenditure on the goods and
services provided by the government to households free of charge or at reduced
prices. The former equals to the output value of the government services minus
the value of operating income obtained by the government departments. The
latter equals to the market value of the goods and services provided by the
government free of charge or at reduced prices to the households minus the
value received by the government from the households.
Gross Capital Formation refers to the fixed assets acquired less disposals and the net value of
inventory, thus including gross fixed capital formation and changes in inventories.
Gross Fixed Capital Formation refers to the value of acquisitions less those disposals of fixed assets
during a given period. Fixed assets are the assets produced through production
activities with unit value above a specified amount and which could be used for
over one year. Natural assets are not included. Gross fixed capital formation
can be categorized into total tangible fixed capital formation and total
intangible fixed capital formation. Total tangible fixed capital formation includes
the value of the construction projects and installation projects completed and
the equipment, apparatus and instruments purchased (less those disposed) as
well as the value of land improved, the value of draught animals, breeding
stock and animals for milk, for wool and for recreational purposes and the
newly increased forest with economic value. Total intangible fixed capital
formation includes the prospecting of minerals and the acquisition of computer
software minus the disposal of them.
Changes in Inventories refers to the market value of the change in the physical volume of inventory
of resident units during a given period, i.e. the difference between the values
at the beginning and at the end of the period minus the gains due to the change
in prices. The changes in inventories can have a positive or a negative value.
A positive value indicates an increase in inventory while a negative value
indicates a decrease in inventory. The inventory includes raw materials, fuels
and reserve materials purchased by the production units as well as the
inventory of finished products, semi-finished products and work-in-progress.
Net Export of Goods and Services refers to the exports of goods and services subtracting the imports of goods
and services. Exports include the
value of various goods and services sold or gratuitously transferred by
resident units to non-resident units. Imports include the value of various
goods and services purchased or gratuitously acquired resident units from
non-resident units. Because the provision of services and the use of them
happen simultaneously, the acquisition of services by resident units from
abroad is usually treated as import while the acquisition of services by
non-resident units in this country is usually treated as export. The exports
and imports of goods are calculated at FOB.
Direct Input Coefficient refers to the volume of products and services of industry i,
which is consumed directly by industry j in the course of its production
or business, recorded as aij (i,j=1,2, … ,n). The table of direct input
coefficients, or the direct input coefficients matrix, usually denoted as A, is
a table that presents direct input coefficients of all industries.
Total Input Coefficient refers to the volume of products and services of industry i
which is consumed directly and indirectly by industry j in producing
each unit of final use. The table of total input coefficients, or total input
coefficients matrix, usually denoted as B, is a table that presents total input
coefficients of all industries.
Institutional Units refer to economic entities that are in a position to own assets and incur
liabilities; to engage independently in economic activities; and to conduct
transactions with other entities.
Institutional Sectors refer to groups of institutional units that are homogenous in nature and have
been grouped together. The following 4 institutional sectors are identified in
the flow of funds accounts: non-financial corporations, financial institutions,
general government and households. Also treated as an
institutional sector is the rest of the world, which is composed of
non-resident units that have economic relations with resident units.
Non-Financial Corporations and the
Sector of Non-Financial Corporations Non-financial corporations refer to resident corporations that are engaged
in the production of goods and the provision of non financial services in the
market, mainly covering corporate enterprises of various types engaged in the
above-mentioned activities. All non-financial corporations make up the sector
of non-financial corporations.
Financial Institutions and the Sector
of Financial Institutions Financial institutions refer to resident
institutions that are engaged in the financial intermediary services or
auxiliary financial activities that are closely related with financial
intermediary services, mainly covering the Central Bank, commercial banks,
policy banks, non-banking credit institutions, security institutions,
insurance institutions and other financial institutions. All financial institutions together make up the sector of financial
institutions.
General Government and the Sector of
General Governments General government refer to legal
entities and their auxiliary units within the
Households and the Sector of Households Households refer to resident individuals or groups of resident individuals who
share common living facilities, pool together entire or part of their income
and properties for their common disposal, and share their housing, food and
other consumer goods and services. All households together make up the sector
of households.
Non-resident Units and the Rest of
the World Non-resident units refer to units that are of a non-resident nature. All
non-resident units that have transactions with resident units together make up
the rest of the world.
Total Income from Primary Distribution Primary distribution refers to the distribution of net results from production
activities among the owners of factors of production and the governments. The
net result from production activities is the value-added. Factors of production
include labour force, land and capital. Owners of labour force gain
remuneration by providing labour. Owners of land receive rents from leasing of
land. Owners of capitals get income of various forms depending on the type of
capital: owners of loan capital receive income from interests. Share holders
receive dividends or non-distributed profits. Government either obtains
production tax or pays subsidies in participating directly or indirectly in the
production processes. Results of primary distribution generate the total income
from primary distribution of each sector, and the sum of the total income of
primary distribution of all sectors make up the Gross National Income, or the
Gross National Product.
Current Transfers Transfer refers to the transaction in the form of provision of goods, services
or assets by an institutional unit to another institutional unit without
receiving any goods, services or assets in return from the recipient. Current
transfers refer to all kinds of transfers other than capital transfers. They
include income tax, payment to social securities, social security benefits, social allowances and other current transfers.
Total Disposable Income Total income from primary distribution is re-distributed through current
transfer, resulting in the total disposable income of various institutional
sectors. The sum of total disposable income of all institutional sectors makes
up the total national disposable income.
Total Savings refer to total
disposable income subtracting final consumption. Total savings of all sectors
make up the total national savings.
Capital Transfer refers to the free payment from one sector to another sector of non-financial
investment capital, and is a transaction that seeks no return from the
recipient. Capital transfer differs from current transfer in 2 aspects: 1) The purpose of the capital transfer is investment rather
than consumption. 2) Capital transfer features the transfer of the ownership of
assets other than inventory and cash, and capital transfer in its monetary form
involves the disposal of assets other than inventory. Capital transfer includes
investment subsidies and other capital transfers.
Net Financial Investment reflects the surplus or shortage of capitals of institutional sectors or of the
economy in general. It refers to total savings plus the income from capital
transfer minus payment for capital transfer and capital formation, and plus
other non-financial assets minus disposal
from the point of view of physical transaction. In terms of monetary
transaction, it is the difference between the increase
in financial assets minus the increase of the financial liabilities.
Currency refers to currency that is in circulation in the market, including local and
foreign currencies.
Deposits refer to credit transactions by which financial institutions accept deposits
from clients who could withdraw their deposit at any time or by an agreed time
frame. They include demand deposit, time deposit, savings deposit, fiscal
deposit, foreign exchange deposit and other deposits.
Loans refer to credit transactions by
which financial institutions lend their capital to clients at certain level of
interest rates, which the latter will repay by an agreed time frame. They
include short-term loan, medium- and long-term loan, fiscal loan, foreign
exchange loan and other loans.
Securities (excluding shares) refer to written
certificates representing creditors’ rights as purchased by bond holders or as
acquired by selling products, which can be transacted at the financial markets.
They include government bonds, financial bonds, corporation bonds, commercial
drafts, preferential stocks that provide fixed income without the right to
share the residual value of corporations, and so on.
Shares and Other Holding Rights refer to
the rights of stockholders and direct investors on the net assets of
corporations they have invested in. Shares refer to negotiable securities on
creditor’s rights, issued by share companies certifying the investment by
stockholders and their rights and duties in accordance with the amount of
stocks that they hold. Other holding rights refer to the direct investment by
institutional units in other units with currency capital or with assets, in
forms other than shares and negotiable securities on creditor’s rights,
including such tangible assets such as land, buildings, machines and equipment,
inventory, resources, etc., and such intangible assets as trade marks, patents,
monopolies, rights on land use, licenses, commercial reputation, etc..
Documents of proof of holding rights usually include certificates on creditor’s
right, certificates on investment or on participation, etc.
Insurance Reserve Funds
consists of net equity of households
in life insurance reserves and in pension funds reserves, prepayments of
insurance premiums, and reserves for outstanding claims.
Settlement Fund refers to fund in float of financial institutions for settlement.
Inter- financial Institutions Accounts refer to flow of capital between financial institutions, consisting of nostro & vostro accounts,
inter-bank lending.
Required and Excessive Reserves refer to financial institutions’ deposits with the People’s Bank of China.
Central Bank Lending refer to lending to financial institutions by the People’s Bank of China
Current Account
includes goods, services, income and
current transfers.
Import and Export of Goods refer to imported or exported goods through Chinese customs. Both import and
export of goods are valued at free on board (f.o.b.) prices. Free on board
prices can be regarded as the purchaser’s prices paid by importers when
claiming goods at the border of the exporters. When the importer claim the
imported goods, the goods have been loaded in importer’s carriers or other
carriers, and the exporter has paid export duty or received export redeem.
Import and Export of Services refer to services provided between resident and non-resident units, including
services on transportation, tourism, communications, construction, insurance,
finance, computer and information, consultancy, advertising and publicity, as
well as film, audio and video services, royalty for patents, trademarks and
other special rights, other commercial services, and government services.
Income refers income from provision of factors of production between resident and
non-resident units, including compensation of labour and earnings from
investment. Earnings from investment include earnings from and expenses on
direct investment, security investment and other investment, as well as
reinvestment of earnings from direct investment.
Capital Account includes capital transfers such as immigration transfer, reduction or exemption
of debts, etc.
Financial Account includes direct investment, security investment and other investments.
Direct Investment refers to investment by foreign investors or investors from
Security Investment refers to the issue of stocks and securities by
Other Investment refers to all external transactions on financial assets and liabilities other
than direct investment and security investment, including trade credits, loans,
currency, deposits and other assets, provided by foreign countries to
Reserve Assets,
Net Increase refers to the difference between the end of the
reference year and the end of the previous year, in gold reserve, foreign
exchange reserve, special drawing rights in the International Monetary Fund,
and the use of the Fund’s credits. An increase in reserve assets is expressed
in a negative figure and a decrease in the reserve assets is expressed in a positive
figure.