Brief Introduction

Statistics on national accounts include mainly four parts, namely, gross domestic product, non-competitive input-output tables, flow of funds table and balance of payments table.

I. Gross Domestic Product

Data on gross domestic product (GDP) are computed by the Department of National Accounts of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) based on different approaches in the light of the different features of various sectors, various expenditure structures and different data sources. Data on Gross National Income (GNI) are calculated on the basis of GDP, which is equal to GDP plus the net primary distribution income from the rest of the world.

Data on GDP and related indicators of the most recent year published in the Yearbook are not final and are subject to revision when more information from financial data and administrative records become available. Where a census has been conducted, or siganificant accounting methods reform implemented, historical GDP data will also be revisied. 2018 is the year of the fourth national economic census, and the National Bureau of Statistics revised the historical data of GDP since 1952 based on the data of economic census and relevant source data. Data in this Yearbook are revised data.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a measurement of value which changes depending on changes of price and volume. GDP at constant prices converts the gross domestic product based on the current price into a value based on the price of certain base period. After price effects are removed, the values of two different periods can be compared to reflect the volume changes, i.e., the real changes of production activity results. GDP index is derived from the constant-price GDP. As the economy grows, changes will take place in the price structures of various industries, and the base period for the measurement of constant-price GDP thus needs to be adjusted every few years in order to better reflect the impact of price change in the economy. Since China started GDP calculation, eight constant-price base periods have been used, i.e., 1952, 1957, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015, and the current base period is 2015. That is to say, the 2019 GDP at constant prices is calculated on the basis of the 2015 prices. As the calculation of constant-price GDP is based on different base periods, the constant-price GDP data in this yearbook are also published on the basis of different base periods.

This indicator is called Gross Regional Product (GRP) at the regional level. GRP data in this yearbook are jointly compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics and the statistics bureaus of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. As some activities are only calculated at the national level but not at regional level, the sum of the GRP is slightly smaller than GDP.

II. Non-Competitive Input-Output Table

There’re two types of input-output tables, competitive and non-competitive. Non-competitive input-output table is more detailed than competitive one, by dividing the intermediate and final use into domestic and imported products.

Only competitive input-output table was released previously. Department of National Accounts in National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) compiled 2017 non-competitive input-output table by using data from the survey on imports uses and other sources, based on 2017 competitive input-output table. The table in this yearbook is composed of 17×17 product sectors.

III. Flow of Funds Table

Similar to internationally accepted approaches, the Flow of Funds table of China constitutes a matrix of institutional sectors by transaction items. Items of transactions are expressed as row headings representing forms of distribution and methods of financing. Institutional sectors are shown as column headings, grouped by the characteristics of the transactors. There are 5 groups of institutional sectors in the flow of funds table, namely, non-financial corporations, financial institutions, general governments, households, and the rest of the world. Under each sector there are 2 headings: sources of funds and uses of funds. The current flow of funds table is composed of two parts: the first part, comprising the non-financial transactions, is compiled by the Department of National Accounts of the National Bureau of Statistics; and the second part, comprising financial transactions, is compiled by the Research and Statistics Department of the People’s Bank of China.

After the fourth national economic census in 2018, according to the change of international standard of national accounting and the new standard of China, Chinese System of National Accounts (2016), based on the economic census data and related administrative records, the National Bureau of Statistics of China improved the compilation methods of Flow of Funds Table, compiled the Flow of Funds Table (non-financial transaction) of 2018, and revised the historical Flow of Funds Table (non-transaction) since 1992. Data in this Yearbook are revised data.

IV. Balance of Payments Table

The Balance of Payments Table is compiled by the Balance of Payments Department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchanges in accordance with the 6th edition of the Manual on Balance of Payments prepared by the International Monetary Fund.