China Economy Accelerates Recovery     

"China's overall situation of national economy was good," officially announced Li Xiaochao, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) on October 22nd. In the first three quarters of 2009, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China was RMB21 781.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%, compared with the 7.1% growth in the first half of this year. By quarters, the year-on-year growth of GDP was 6.1% in Q1, 7.9% in Q2 and 8.9% in Q3. By sectors, the industrial added value of the primary industry was RMB2 250.0 billion in the first three quarters, up 4.0% year over year, that of the secondary industry was RMB10 647.7 billion, up 7.5% and that of the tertiary industry was RMB8 884.0 billion, up 8.8%.
   In the first three quarters of this year, the total value added contributed by the industrial enterprises of significant scale was up 8.7% year-on-year, compared with the year-on-year 15.2% growth in the same period of last year. Of this total, the growth in the first quarter was 5.1%, the second quarter 9.1%, and the third quarter 12.4%. Among 39 sectors, the chemical raw material and products manufacture sector reported a 10.5% in the industrial added value. In terms of different areas, the growth in eastern, central and western regions went up by 7.5%, 8.7% and 13.8% respectively. In the first eight months of this year, the profits recorded by the industrial enterprises of significant scale reached RMB1 674.7 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 10.6%.
   In the first three quarters, the investment in fixed assets of the country was RMB15 505.7 billion, a year-on-year growth of 33.4%, compared with the 27% growth in the same period of 2008. The investment in the primary industry, secondary industry and the tertiary industry in urban areas went up by 54.8%, 26.9% and 38.1% respectively. In the first three quarters, the investment in infrastructure (excluding electricity) went up by 52.6%.
   In the first three quarters, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB8 967.6 billion, increasing 15.1% over one year earlier.
    In the first three quarters, the consumer price index (CPI) went down by 1.1% annualized. CPI in July maintained unchanged with that in June. CPI in August was 0.5% over July and CPI in September was up 0.4% over August. In the first three quarters, the producers' prices index (PPI) went down by 6.5% year on year. In the first three quarters of this year, the purchaser's prices for raw material, fuel and power decreased by 9.5%.
   The foreign trade continued to report a year-on-year drop but the decrease rate obviously lowered. In the first three quarters of this year, the total value of imports and exports was US$1 557.8 billion, dropping 20.9% year-on-year. Of that, the drop in Q1 was 24.9%, Q2 22.1%, and Q3 16.5%.
   Li Xiaochao commented that at present, it is the crucial stage for China's economy to realize a stable growth, yet the basis of the economic recovery still needs to be consolidated, and the insufficient external demand is still severe, with the arduous task of expanding domestic demand and adjusting the structures. China should maintain the consistency and stability of the macro-economic policies in accordance with the central government's decisions and deployment of economic activities, insist on the proactive fiscal policies and moderately lenient monetary policies, fully implement, enrich and optimize the arrays of plans and policy measures to deal with the international financial crisis.