Economy Of China

Economy - overview:

China's economy since the 1970s has changed from a closed, centrally planned system to a more market-oriented one that plays a major role in the global economy - in 2010 China became the world's largest exporter. Reforms began with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, creation of a diversified banking system, development of stock markets, rapid growth of the private sector, and opening to foreign trade and investment. China generally has implemented reforms in a gradualist fashion. In recent years, China has renewed its support for 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, in July 2005 China revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies. From mid 2005 to late 2008 cumulative appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar was more than 20%, but the exchange rate remained virtually pegged to the dollar from the onset of the global financial crisis until June 2010, when Beijing allowed resumption of a gradual appreciation. 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 2010 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 dollar values of China's agricultural and industrial output each exceeded those of the US, although China was second to the US in the value of services it produced. The Chinese government faces numerous economic development challenges, including: (a) reducing its high domestic savings rate and correspondingly low domestic demand; (b) sustaining adequate job growth for tens of millions of migrants and new entrants to the work force; (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 progressed further 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. The Chinese government is seeking to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, focusing on nuclear and alternative energy development. In 2009, the global economic downturn reduced foreign demand for Chinese exports for the first time in many years, but China rebounded quickly, outperforming all other major economies in 2010 with GDP growth around 10%. The economy appears set to remain on a strong growth trajectory in 2011, lending credibility to the stimulus policies the regime rolled out during the global financial crisis. The government vows to continue reforming the economy and emphasizes the need to increase domestic consumption in order to make the economy less dependent on exports for GDP growth in the future, but China likely will make only marginal progress toward these rebalancing goals in 2011. Two economic problems China currently faces are inflation - which, late in 2010, surpassed the government's target of 3% - and local government debt, which swelled as a result of stimulus policies, and is largely off-the-books and potentially low-quality.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$9.854 trillion (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3

$8.95 trillion (2009 est.)

$8.204 trillion (2008 est.)
note: data are in 2010 US dollars
[see also: GDP (purchasing power parity) country ranks ] GDP (official exchange rate):
$5.745 trillion (2009 est.)
[see also: GDP (official exchange rate) country ranks ]
GDP - real growth rate:
10.1% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 5

9.1% (2009 est.)

9% (2008 est.)
[see also: GDP - real growth rate country ranks ] GDP - per capita:
$7,400 (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 128

$6,800 (2009 est.)

$6,200 (2008 est.)
note: data are in 2010 US dollars
[see also: GDP - per capita country ranks ] GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9.6%
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - agriculture country ranks ]
industry: 46.8%
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - industry country ranks ]
services: 43.6% (2009 est.)
[see also: GDP - composition by sector - services country ranks ]
Labor force:
819.5 million (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1
[see also: Labor force country ranks ]
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 39.5%
[see also: Labor force - by occupation - agriculture country ranks ]
industry: 27.2%
[see also: Labor force - by occupation - industry country ranks ]
services: 33.2% (2008 est.)
[see also: Labor force - by occupation - services country ranks ]
Unemployment rate:
4.3% (September 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 40

4.2% (December 2008 est.)
note: official data for urban areas only; including migrants may boost total unemployment to 9%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas
[see also: Unemployment rate country ranks ] Population below poverty line:
2.8%
note: 21.5 million rural population live below the official "absolute poverty" line (approximately $90 per year); an additional 35.5 million rural population live above that level but below the official "low income" line (approximately $125 per year) (2007)
[see also: Population below poverty line country ranks ]
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.5%
[see also: Household income or consumption by percentage share - lowest 10% country ranks ]
highest 10%: 15%
[see also: Household income or consumption by percentage share - highest 10% country ranks ]
note: data are for urban households only (2008)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
41.5 (2007)
country comparison to the world: 54

40 (2001)
[see also: Distribution of family income - Gini index country ranks ] Investment (gross fixed):
47.8% of GDP (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1
[see also: Investment (gross fixed) country ranks ]
Budget:
revenues: $1.149 trillion
[see also: Budget - revenues country ranks ]
expenditures: $1.27 trillion (2009 est.)
[see also: Budget - expenditures country ranks ]
Public debt:
17.5% of GDP (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 112

16.9% of GDP (2009 est.)
[see also: Public debt country ranks ] Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 144

-0.7% (2009 est.)
[see also: Inflation rate (consumer prices) country ranks ] Central bank discount rate:
2.79% (31 December 2009)
country comparison to the world: 129

2.79% (31 December 2008)
[see also: Central bank discount rate country ranks ] Commercial bank prime lending rate:
5.31% (31 December 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 148

5.31% (31 December 2008 est.)
[see also: Commercial bank prime lending rate country ranks ] Stock of narrow money:
$3.838 trillion (31 December 2010 est)

$3.242 trillion (31 December 2009 est)
[see also: Stock of narrow money country ranks ] Stock of broad money:
$10.08 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$8.933 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
[see also: Stock of broad money country ranks ] Stock of domestic credit:
$8.156 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 4

$7.24 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
[see also: Stock of domestic credit country ranks ] Market value of publicly traded shares:
$5.008 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 4

$2.794 trillion (31 December 2008)

$6.226 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
[see also: Market value of publicly traded shares country ranks ] 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:
11% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 12
[see also: Industrial production growth rate country ranks ]
Electricity - production:
3.451 trillion kWh (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
[see also: Electricity - production country ranks ]
Electricity - consumption:
3.438 trillion kWh (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
[see also: Electricity - consumption country ranks ]
Electricity - exports:
16.64 billion kWh (2008)
[see also: Electricity - exports country ranks ]
Electricity - imports:
3.842 billion kWh (2008)
[see also: Electricity - imports country ranks ]
Oil - production:
3.991 million bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 5
[see also: Oil - production country ranks ]
Oil - consumption:
8.2 million bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
[see also: Oil - consumption country ranks ]
Oil - exports:
388,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 32
[see also: Oil - exports country ranks ]
Oil - imports:
4.393 million bbl/day (2008)
country comparison to the world: 4
[see also: Oil - imports country ranks ]
Oil - proved reserves:
20.35 billion bbl (1 January 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 13
[see also: Oil - proved reserves country ranks ]
Natural gas - production:
82.94 billion cu m (2009)
country comparison to the world: 8
[see also: Natural gas - production country ranks ]
Natural gas - consumption:
87.08 billion cu m (2009)
country comparison to the world: 9
[see also: Natural gas - consumption country ranks ]
Natural gas - exports:
3.32 billion cu m (2009)
country comparison to the world: 31
[see also: Natural gas - exports country ranks ]
Natural gas - imports:
7.462 billion cu m (2009)
country comparison to the world: 27
[see also: Natural gas - imports country ranks ]
Natural gas - proved reserves:
3.03 trillion cu m (1 January 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 13
[see also: Natural gas - proved reserves country ranks ]
Current account balance:
$272.5 billion (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1

$297.1 billion (2009 est.)
[see also: Current account balance country ranks ] Exports:
$1.506 trillion (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2

$1.204 trillion (2009 est.)
[see also: Exports country ranks ] Exports - commodities:
electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment
Exports - partners:
US 20.03%, Hong Kong 12.03%, Japan 8.32%, South Korea 4.55%, Germany 4.27% (2009)
Imports:
$1.307 trillion (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3

$954.3 billion (2009 est.)
[see also: Imports country ranks ] Imports - commodities:
electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals
Imports - partners:
Japan 12.27%, Hong Kong 10.06%, South Korea 9.04%, US 7.66%, Taiwan 6.84%, Germany 5.54% (2009)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$2.622 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1

$2.426 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
[see also: Reserves of foreign exchange and gold country ranks ] Debt - external:
$406.6 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 22

$349.3 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
[see also: Debt - external country ranks ] Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$574.3 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 9

$473.1 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
[see also: Stock of direct foreign investment - at home country ranks ] Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$278.9 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 15

$229.6 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
[see also: Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad country ranks ] Exchange rates:
Renminbi yuan (RMB) per US dollar - 6.7852 (2010), 6.8314 (2009), 6.9385 (2008), 7.61 (2007), 7.97 (2006)