China top planner submits annual report to NPC

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-05 14:17

BEIJING -- China's National Development and Reform Commission on Thursday submitted a report on the implementation of the country's 2008 national economic and social development plan and on the 2009 draft development plan to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

Following are some key figures from the 38-page report:

ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2008:

-- China's GDP topped 30 trillion yuan in 2008, a year-on-year increase of 9.0 percent, more than five percentage points higher than the average world economic growth rate.

-- Retail sales of consumer goods rose 21.6 percent to 10.85 trillion yuan, up 4.8 percentage points.

-- Fixed asset investment across the country totaled 17.23 trillion yuan, up 25.5 percent.

-- National revenue reached 6.13 trillion yuan in 2008, up 19.5 percent year on year.

-- Energy consumption per unit of GDP continued to decline in 2008, down 4.59 percent.

-- Water consumption per 10,000 yuan of value-added by industry dropped by 7.0 percent.

-- The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 5.9 percent for 2008.

-- Central government funding to agriculture, rural areas and farmers rose 37.9 percent to 595.55 billion yuan in 2008.

-- Total grain production rose 5.4 percent to 528.5 million tons, a record high for both total output and yield per unit area, the fifth consecutive annual rise.

-- A total of nearly 100,000 kilometers of highways, including 6,433 kilometers of expressways, were opened to traffic in 2008.

-- A total of 1,719 kilometers of newly built railway lines, 1,935 kilometers of double-track rail lines, and 1,955 kilometers of electric rail lines were put into operation.

-- The value-added of tertiary industry rose 9.5 percent to 12.05 trillion yuan in 2008, the first time since 2003 that it grew faster than secondary industry.

-- Total imports and exports for the year reached $2.5616 trillion, up 17.8 percent over 2007.

-- China's direct investment in overseas in 2008 (excluding that in the banking, securities and insurance sectors) amounted to $92.4 billion, 23.6 percent more than the previous year.

-- The foreign exchange reserves reached $1.95 trillion.

-- Rural per capita net income reached 4,761 yuan and urban per capita disposable income came to 15,781 yuan, rising by 8 percent and 8.4 percent in real terms respectively.

-- A total of 11.13 million new jobs were created for urban residents, and the registered urban unemployment rate stood at 4.2 percent at the end of 2008.

-- There were 17.53 million people newly covered by urban basic old-age insurance, 93.87 million by urban basic medical insurance, 7.55 million by unemployment insurance, 16.37 million by workers' compensation and 14.06 million by maternity insurance.

-- The natural population growth rate stood at 0.508 percent.

-- The daily urban sewage treatment capacity was increased by 11.49 million tons, 65 percent of urban sewage was treated and 64 percent of urban household waste was safely handled, an increase of about two percentage points year on year in both cases.

-- Desulfurizing devices were installed in more thermal power plants with nearly 100 million kilowatt capacity, raising the percentage of the total capacity of the coal-fired plants equipped with such devices to around 60 percent.

-- In the wake of the massive earthquake that hit Sichuan Province on May 12, 84,000 survivors were pulled from the rubble, medical treatment was provided to 2.96 million people who were injured or fell ill, a total of 10.584 million people received aid in various forms.

-- All recovery and reconstruction plans are being implemented quickly, and over 8,400 projects have been started already. Life and production are returning to normal in the disaster-hit regions.

-- Industrial production declined significantly with the growth of value-added of large industrial enterprises dropping by 9.7, 11.9 and 11.7 percentage points year on year in October, November and December respectively.

-- Some consumption hotspots cooled down as the total floor area of commodity housing sold throughout the year decreased by 19.7 percent, the growth of automobile sales was 15.1 percentage points less than the previous year, and demand for other commodities, consumption of which had grown fast in recent years, also shrank by varying degrees.

-- Foreign trade dropped sharply, with exports down by 2.2 percent and 2.8 percent year on year in November and December respectively.

-- Enterprises' demand for workers decreased significantly and the number of people joining the urban workforce in October, November and December dropped each month, standing at 840,000, 550,000 and 380,000 respectively.

TARGETS FOR 2009

-- Maintaining steady and fairly rapid economic growth and keeping GDP growth at around 8 percent.

-- Creating 9 million or more jobs for urban residents to keep the rate of registered urban unemployment under 4.6 percent.

-- Rural per capita net income and urban per capita disposable income should both rise by 6 percent in real terms.

-- The number of rural people living below the poverty line should be reduced by more than two million.

-- The natural population growth rate should stay within 0.7 percent.

-- Keeping the CPI increase stable at about 4 percent.

-- Total imports and exports should grow by 8 percent.

-- The RMB exchange rates will be kept basically stable. The broad money supply in 2009 will be increased by about 17 percent.

-- A total 4 trillion yuan of investment, including 1.18 trillion yuan from the central government, will be made from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the end of 2010, primarily on housing for low- to moderate-income families, projects to improve the wellbeing of rural residents, infrastructure, social programs, environmental protection, economic restructuring and technological upgrading, as well as on post-earthquake reconstruction.

-- Total investment in fixed assets will grow by 20 percent.

-- Total retail sales of consumer goods will rise by 14 percent.

-- The central government will allocate a total of 716.1 billion yuan to support agriculture, rural areas and farmers, an annual increase of 120.6 billion yuan.

-- Strive to keep the country's grain output stable at 500 million tons.

-- Allocate a fund of 20 billion yuan to promote technological transformation of enterprises.

-- Strive to raise government spending on R&D up to 1.58 percent of GDP in 2009.

-- Foreign loans and foreign direct investment in China in 2009 are expected to reach 25.8 billion and $92.4 billion respectively.

-- China's direct investment overseas is expected to grow by 13.2 percent.

-- The percentage of treated urban sewage is expected to reach 69 percent and percentage of urban household waste safely handled should reach 67 percent.

-- Shut down backward iron foundries with a total capacity of ten million tons, backward steel mills with a total capacity of six million tons, backward paper mills with a total capacity of half a million tons and backward power plants with a total capacity of 15 million kilowatts.

-- Water consumption per 10,000 yuan of value-added by industry is expected to drop by 5.6 percent, while the percentage of industrial solid wastes that are comprehensively utilized will reach 65.9 percent.

-- The number of urban residents participating in the basic old-age insurance program is expected to grow by 4.2 percent.

-- Beginning in 2009, secondary vocational education will be free for students from poor rural families and for all students enrolled in agriculture-related programs.

-- The gross enrollment ratio for senior high schools is expected to reach 77 percent. College enrollment will reach 6.29 million. Postgraduate enrollment will reach 475,000.

-- Make proper arrangements to rebuild schools, hospitals and other public facilities. Ensure that more than 95 percent of students in quake-hit areas will move into permanent school buildings by the end of this year.