China in Figures: Development and Achievements

China in Figures： Development and Achievements

Written by He Yaomin， Zhen Feng

Translated by Kong Xiaomei

China Renmin University Press

January 2021

168.00 （CNY）

Since the beginning of reform and opening-up， especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China， China has made remarkable achievements in economic and social development. As the second largest economy in the world， China has explored an economic development model different from that of western developed countries. By collecting and analyzing figures in various areas， including economic growth， income distribution， prices， consumption， investment， import and export， energy and resources， finance， infrastructure， social welfare， and the Belt and Road Initiative， the book presents an intuitive and vivid picture of China’s development and achievements for the readers.

He Yaomin

Doctoral supervisor， former vice president of the Renmin University of China， received government special allowance and undertook 10-odd research ventures on key projects at national and provincial levels. His main works include Chinese Ancient Agricultural Civilization， Chinese Economical History， Chinese Economic Trends， etc.

Zhen Feng

Associate professor at the School of Statistics in the Renmin University of China， dean of social and economic statistics， deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics—Data Development Center for the Renmin University of China， elected member of the International Statistical Institute， and affiliated researcher at the United Nations University -- Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology （UNU-MERIT）. He mainly researches on government statistics， innovation and competitiveness， and international finance.

The Miracle of China’s Industrial Structure Upgrade

New China’s economic achievements are also represented by profound changes in the economic and industrial structure. Over seven decades ago， China was still an agriculture-reliant economy. Handicraft and modern industries were a small share of the national economy. In the past seven decades， national industrialization and economic reforms have transformed China into a big economy mainly driven by modern manufacturing and service industries and underpinned by many optimized structures of industry and national economy.

China has gradually transformed itself from a vast agricultural land into a formidable industrial power. With a large population， its service industry has developed rapidly in recent decades as a vital part of industrial restructuring. China’s industrial structure went through deep changes over the past 20 years，" represented by not only the adjusted mix of the three industries， but also changes within each one.

Industrial and economic structure changes best indicate economic modernization. In 1949， China was an agricultural country with agriculture contributing as much as 68.4% to the national income， and industry only 12.6%. In 1952， the distribution of the primary， secondary， and tertiary industries were 50.5%， 20.9%， and 28.6% respectively. They were 28.1%， 48.2%， and 23.7% in 1978， and then 8.6%， 39.8%， and 51.6% by 2016. As a percentage share of GDP， primary industry dropped from 50.5% in 1952 to 7.1% in 2019， secondary industry rose from 20.9% to 39.0%， and tertiary industry rose significantly from 28.6% to 53.9%. This change indicates the continuously optimizing industrial structure with China’s rapid economic growth.

The rapid industrial structure changes have enabled high-quality economic growth. Over the past seven decades， especially since the reform and opening-up， China’s economic growth rate has maintained a relatively high level as compared to the world at the time. If calculated at constant prices， China’s GDP in 2018 was 175 times higher than that in 1952， with the average annual growth rate standing at 8.1%; and the annual GDP growth rate from 1979 to 2018 averaging 9.4%， much higher than the world average of approximately 2.9% throughout the same period. This led to an increasingly larger Chinese economy as a percentage of the world’s total： In 1978， China’s GDP accounted for 1.8% of the world’s total GDP， ranking 11th in the world; in 2000， it rose to 6th in the world; it surpassed Japan in 2010 and has been ranked No. 2 ever since. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China， China’s overall national strength has continued to increase. In the past three years， the total economic output has successively exceeded 80 trillion Yuan， and then 90 trillion Yuan， drawing close to 100 trillion Yuan， accounting for more than 15% of the world’s total economy.

In the history of the economic development of New China， we have formulated 13 five-year plans， carried out infrastructure construction to support national industrialization， including 156 projects， and experienced the climax of “Third-Line Construction” and the development of the national defense industry. We have realized a full opening-up with the formation of special economic zones， the opening of coastal cities， and the development of Pudong. We have implemented the development of West China， revitalized the northeast old industrial base， and achieved" high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt， the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area， and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. We have completed the Beidou Satellite， China High-Speed Railway， Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge， and other major construction projects.

At present， China has all the industrial categories listed in the United Nations Industrial Classification. More than 200 categories of industrial products rank first in the world in output. Since 2010， the added value of the manufacturing industry has remained at the top of the world.

The Miracle of China’s Further Opening-Up

China’s development is an important part of the world economy. Economic globalization is irresistible.

External changes are always the key challenges facing China， especially in the world economic environment. China did not want to close the door to the outside world when the country was newly founded and tried to develop economic trade with other countries." China’s foreign trade was backward and unbalanced when the country was founded， and the scale of imports and exports was quite small. The total value of imports and exports of goods in 1950 was only 1.13 billion US Dollars. From the 1950s to the 1970s， despite China’s overall import and export increase， the scale was still relatively small. The total value of imports and exports of goods in 1978 was only 20.6 billion US Dollars， ranking 29th in the world， disproportionate to China’s status as a major power. It can be said that China’s economy had been growing stubbornly while encountering various barriers.

Since the reform and opening-up， with the collapse of the Cold War， China has seized the period of strategic opportunities for economic development. The Chinese economy is actively catching up on the express train of economic globalization， deepening opening-up to the outside world and forming an all-round “opening-up” pattern. Especially since its accession to the WTO in 2001， China’s participation in economic globalization has accelerated， greatly changing the status of the Chinese economy in the world arena. There are always countries that want to close China’s open doors. We must stay sober-minded and ward off any such scheming.

Economic globalization is an objective requirement and inevitable result of social productivity and technological development. It is a process of increasing interdependence between countries in the market and production. It optimizes the allocation of various production factors and resources through economic linkages and effectively promotes the cross-border and cross-region flow of resources such as manpower， capital， goods and services， technology， and information.

China is the beneficiary and the main engine of economic globalization. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up， China’s all-round opening-up market pattern has taken shape and is the most important driving factor of China’s economic development. With the rapid development of China’s open economy， China’s foreign economic relations have also undergone major changes. Opening to the outside world is one of the most important strategic choices in the new period of China’s reform and opening-up and socialist modernization. China will not close its door to the outside world. The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China is to push China’s opening-up to a new， higher level. Relevant data shows China’s position and actions： In 2018， China’s total import and export trade in goods reached 4.6 trillion US Dollars. This figure shows that China’s total import and export trade has increased by 223 times compared with 1978， ranking first in the world for two consecutive years; the service import and export trade totaled 791.9 billion US Dollars， a 168 times increase since 1982， ranking second in the world.

Many outstanding Chinese companies have stepped out of the country’s borders and engaged in the world market to provide products and services to the world. From 2008 to 2017， the number of Chinese companies entering the Fortune 500 were 37， 46， 61， 73， 89， 95， 98， 103， 109， and 111 respectively. On the 2018 Fortune Global 500 List released by the US Fortune magazine， there were 120 Chinese companies， second only to the United States. Japan placed 52 companies， Germany 32， France 28， the United Kingdom 21， South Korea 16， the Netherlands 15 and Switzerland 14， all far fewer than China. In 2018， the average sales revenue of Fortune 500 companies was 59.7 billion US Dollars， and the average sales revenue of Chinese shortlisted companies was 59.9 billion US Dollars; the average profit of Fortune 500 companies was 3.768 billion US Dollars， and the average profit of Chinese finalists was 3.072 billion US Dollars， not far off. The substantial scale and strength of these shortlisted companies in China have quickly made them become internationally renowned multinational companies and enjoy a high reputation overseas.