Economy - overview:
China's economy during the past
30 years has changed from a
centrally planned system that
was largely closed to
international trade to a more
market-oriented economy that has
a rapidly growing private sector
and is a major player in the
global economy.
Reforms started in the late
1970s with the phasing out of
collectivized agriculture, and
expanded to include the gradual
liberalization of prices, fiscal
decentralization, increased
autonomy for state enterprises,
the foundation of a diversified
banking system, the development
of stock markets, the rapid
growth of the non-state sector,
and the opening to foreign trade
and investment. Annual inflows
of foreign direct investment
rose to nearly $84 billion in
2007.
China has generally implemented reforms in a gradualist or piecemeal
fashion. In recent years, China
has re-invigorated its support
for leading state-owned
enterprises in sectors it
considers important to "economic
security," explicitly looking to
foster globally competitive
national champions. After
keeping its currency tightly
linked to the US dollar for
years, China in July 2005
revalued its currency by 2.1%
against the US dollar and moved
to an exchange rate system that
references a basket of
currencies.
Cumulative appreciation of the
renminbi against the US dollar
since the end of the dollar peg
was more than 20% by late 2008,
but the exchange rate has
changed little since the onset
of the global financial crisis.
The restructuring of the economy
and resulting efficiency gains
have contributed to a more than
tenfold increase in GDP since
1978. Measured on a purchasing
power parity (PPP) basis that
adjusts for price differences,
China in 2008 stood as the
second-largest economy in the
world after the US, although in
per capita terms the country is
still lower middle-income.
The Chinese government faces
numerous economic development
challenges, including: (a)
strengthening its social safety
net, including pension and
health system reform, to
counteract a high domestic
savings rate and correspondingly
low domestic demand; (b)
sustaining adequate job growth
for tens of millions of
migrants, new entrants to the
work force, and workers laid off
from state-owned enterprises
deemed not worth saving; (c)
reducing corruption and other
economic crimes; and (d)
containing environmental damage
and social strife related to the
economy's rapid transformation.
Economic development has been
more rapid in coastal provinces
than in the interior, and
approximately 200 million rural
laborers and their dependents
have relocated to urban areas to
find work. One
demographic consequence of the
"one child" policy is that China
is now one of the most rapidly
aging countries in the world.
Deterioration in the environment
- notably air pollution, soil
erosion, and the steady fall of
the water table, especially in
the north - is another long-term
problem. China continues to lose
arable land because of erosion
and economic development. In
2007 China intensified
government efforts to improve
environmental conditions, tying
the evaluation of local
officials to environmental
targets, publishing a national
climate change policy, and
establishing a high level
leading group on climate change,
headed by Premier WEN Jiabao.
The Chinese government seeks to
add energy production capacity
from sources other than coal and
oil. In late 2008, as China
commemorated the 30th
anniversary of its historic
economic reforms, the global
economic downturn began to slow
foreign demand for Chinese
exports for the first time in
many years. The government vowed
to continue reforming the
economy and emphasized the need
to increase domestic consumption
in order to make China less
dependent on foreign exports for
GDP growth in the future.
GDP (purchasing power
parity):
$7.8 trillion (2008 est.)
$7.104 trillion (2007)
$6.475 trillion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US
dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$4.222 trillion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
9.8% (2008 est.)
13% (2007 est.)
11.6% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita:
$6,000 (2008 est.)
$5,500 (2007 est.)
$4,900 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US
dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10.6%
industry: 49.2%
services: 40.2% (2008
est.)
Labor force:
807.7 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 43%
industry: 25%
services: 32% (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate:
4% officially in urban areas,
but including migrants may be as
high as 9%; substantial
unemployment and underemployment
in rural areas (2008 est.)
Household income or consumption
by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 34.9% (2004)
Distribution of family income -
Gini index:
47 (2007)
Investment (gross fixed):
40.2% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $868.6 billion
expenditures: $850.5
billion (2008 est.)
Public debt:
15.7% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer
prices):
6% (2008 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
3.06% (17 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending
rate:
5.58% (17 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$2.3 trillion (31 October 2008)
Stock of quasi money:
$4.331 trillion (31 October
2008)
Stock of domestic credit:
$5.316 trillion (31 October
2008)
Market value of publicly traded
shares:
$6.226 trillion (31 December
2007 est.)
Agriculture - products:
rice, wheat, potatoes, corn,
peanuts, tea, millet, barley,
apples, cotton, oilseed; pork;
fish
Industries:
mining and ore processing, iron,
steel, aluminum, and other
metals, coal; machine building;
armaments; textiles and apparel;
petroleum; cement;
chemicals; fertilizers; consumer
products, including footwear,
toys, and electronics; food
processing; transportation
equipment, including
automobiles, rail cars and
locomotives, ships, and
aircraft; telecommunications
equipment, commercial space
launch vehicles, satellites
Industrial production growth
rate:
10.7% (2008 est.)
Electricity - production:
3.256 trillion kWh (2007)
Electricity - consumption:
3.271 trillion kWh (2007)
Electricity - exports:
14.56 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
4.251 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Oil - production:
3.725 million bbl/day (2008
est.)
Oil - consumption:
7.88 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - exports:
399,000 bbl/day (2007)
Oil - imports:
4.21 million bbl/day (2007)
Oil - proved reserves:
16 billion bbl (1 January 2008
est.)
Natural gas - production:
69.27 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
70.51 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
5.36 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
3.871 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.265 trillion cu m (1 January
2008 est.)
Current account balance:
$368.2 billion (2008 est.)
Exports:
$1.465 trillion f.o.b. (2008
est.)
Exports - commodities:
electrical and other machinery,
including data processing
equipment, apparel, textiles,
iron and steel, optical and
medical equipment
Exports - partners:
US 19.1%, Hong Kong 15.1%, Japan
8.4%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany
4% (2007)
Imports:
$1.156 trillion f.o.b. (2008
est.)
Imports - commodities:
electrical and other machinery,
oil and mineral fuels, optical
and medical equipment, metal
ores, plastics, organic
chemicals
Imports - partners:
Japan 14%, South Korea 10.9%,
Taiwan 10.5%, US 7.3%, Germany
4.7% (2007)
Reserves of foreign exchange and
gold:
$2.033 trillion (31 December
2008 est.)
Debt - external:
$420.8 billion (31 December 2008
est.)
Stock of direct foreign
investment - at home:
$758.9 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign
investment - abroad:
$139.3 billion (2008 est.)
Exchange rates:
Renminbi yuan (RMB) per US
dollar - 6.9385 (2008 est.),
7.61 (2007), 7.97 (2006), 8.1943
(2005), 8.2768 (2004)
