Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
Gross
Domestic Product (GDP)
refers to the final products of all resident units in a country (or a region)
during a certain period of time. Gross domestic product is expressed in three
different forms, i.e. value, income, and products respectively. The form of
value refers to the total value of all products and services produced by all
resident units during a certain period of time minus total value of intimidate
input of materials and services of the nature of non-fixed assets or the
summation of the value-added of all resident units; the form of income includes
all the income created by all resident units and distributed primarily to all
resident and non-resident units;the form of products refers to the value of all
final goods and services for final use by all resident units plus the value of
net exports of goods and services during a given period of time.In the practice
of national accounting,gross domestic product is calculated with three
approaches, i.e.production approach, income approach, and expenditure approach,
which reflect gross domestic product and its composition from different
aspects.
Three
Industries Industry
structure has been classified according to the historical sequence of
development. Primary industry refers to extraction of natural resources;
secondary industry involves processing of primary products; and tertiary
industry provides services of various kinds for production and consumption. The
above classification is universal although it varies to some extent form
country to country. Industry in
Primary industry: agriculture (including
farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery).
Secondary industry: industry (including
mining and quarrying, manufacturing, production and supply of electriCity,
water and gas) and construction.
Tertiary industry: all other industries not
included in primary or secondary industry.
Due to the fact that tertiary industry
involves in a large variety of industries in
The first level: circulation sector,
including transportation, storage, postal and telecommunications, wholesale and
retail trade, and catering trade.
The second level: service sector providing
services for production and consumption, including banking, insurance,
geological survey, water conservancy management, real estates, service for
residents, service for agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery,
subsidiary services for transportation and communications, comprehensive
technical services, etc.
The third level: service sector for
upgrading scientific, educational and cultural level of the people, including
education, culture and arts, broadcasting, movies, television, public health,
sports, social welfare and scientific research, etc. The fourth level: sector
providing services for public needs, including government agencies, political
parties, social organizations, military and police service.
GDP
Calculated with Expenditure Approach refers to total expenditure on final consumption, total
capital formation and net export of goods and services by resident units of a
country in a certain period of time. It reflects the composition of GDP by its
use.
Final
Consumption refers to the
total expenditure of resident units on final consumption of goods and services
in a certain period, namely the expenditure of the resident units for purchases
of goods and services from domestic economic territory and abroad to meet the
requirements of material, cultural and spiritual life. It excludes the expenditure
of non-resident units on consumption in the economic territory of the country.
The final consumption is classified into household consumption and government
consumption.
Household
consumption refers to the
total expenditure of resident households on the final consumption of goods and
services. The household consumption is calculated at market prices, namely the
purchaser’s prices that the households pay; the purchasers prices of goods are
the prices the households pay when they obtain the goods, including the
transport and commercial expenses paid by the households. In addition to the
consumption of goods and services bought by the households directly with money,
the expenditure on goods and services obtained by the households in other ways,
i.e. the so-called imputed expenditure on consumption is also included in the
household consumption. The imputation expenditure of the households on
consumption includes the following types: (a) the goods and services provided
to the households by the units in the form of payment in kind and transfer in
kind; (b) the goods and services produced and consumed by the households
themselves, in which the services refer only to the services provided by the
residential buildings owned by the households; (c) the services of financial
intermediary provided by the financial institutions; (d) the insurance services
provided by the insurance companies.
Government
Consumption refers to the
expenditure on the consumption of the public services provided by the
government to the whole society and the net expenditure on the goods and
services provided by the government to the households at free charge or lower
prices. The former equals to the output value of the government services minus
the value of operating income obtained by the government departments. (The
output value of the government services equals to its current operating
expenditure plus depreciation of fixed assets). The latter equals to the market
value of the goods and services provided by the government free of charge or at
low prices to the households minus the value received by the government from
the households.
Total
Capital Formation refers
to the fixed assets acquired minus those disposed and the change in inventory,
including the total fixed assets formation and the increase in inventory.
Total
Fixed Capital Formation
refers to the value of fixed assets purchased, transferred in by the resident
units and those produced and used by themselves deducting the value of fixed
assets sold and transferred out. It can be classified into total tangible
assets formation and total intangible assets formation. The total tangible
assets formation include the value of the construction projects, installation
projects completed and the equipment, apparatus and instruments purchased as
well as the value of land improved, the value of draught animals, breeding
stock, milk, wool and recreational animals and the newly increased economic
forest in a certain period. The total intangible assets formation includes the
prospecting of minerals, the acquisition of computer software, the originals of
recreational works and works of literature and arts minus the disposal of them.
Increase
in Inventory refers to the
market value of the change in inventory, i.e.the difference of value between
the beginning and the end of the period.The increase in inventory can be
positive or negative.A positive value indicates the increase in inventory while
a negative value indicates the decrease in stock.The inventory includes the raw
materials, fuels and reserve materials purchased by the production units as
well as the inventory of finished products, semi-finished products,
work-in-progress, etc.
Net
Export of Goods and Services
refers to the difference of the exports of goods and services minus the imports
of goods and services.The imports include the value of various goods and
services sold or gratuitously transferred by the resident units to the
non-resident units.The imports include the value of various goods and services
purchased or gratuitously acquired by the resident units from the non-resident
units.Because the provision of services and the use of them happen
simultaneously, the import and export of services do not appear to have the
phenomena of crossing the border of the country.The acquisition of services by
the resident units from abroad is usually treated as import while the
acquisition of services by non-resident units in this country is usually
treated as export.The export and import of goods are calculated at FOB.
Labourers
Remuneration refers to the
whole payment of various forms earned by the labourers from the productive
activities they are engaged in.It includes wages, bonuses and allowances the
labourers earned in monetary form and in kind.It also includes the free medical
services provided to the labourers and the medicine expenses, traffic subsidies
and social insurance fee paid by the labourers working units for them.As the
individual economy is concerned, since the labourers remuneration is not easily
distinguished from the operating profit, both are treated as labourers
remuneration.
Net
Taxes on Production refers
to the residual of the taxes on production minus the subsidies on
production.The taxes on production refers to the various taxes, extra charges
and fees levied on the production units on their production, sale and business
activities as well as on some factors of production, such as fixed assets, land
and labour force, used in the production activities they are engaged in.In
contrast to the taxes on production, the subsidies on production refer to the
unilateral transfer of part of the government’s revenue to the production units
and is therefore regarded as negative taxes on production.They include
subsidies on the loss due to implementation of government policies, price
subsidies to the grain institutions, foreign trade corporations receipts from
drawback, etc.
Depreciation
of Fixed Assets refers to
the depreciation of fixed assets of a given period, drawn in accordance with
the stipulated depreciation rate for the purpose of compensating the wear loss
of the fixed assets or the depreciation of fixed assets calculated in a
fictitious way in accordance with the stipulated unified depreciation rate in
the national economic accounting system. It reflects the value of transfer of
the fixed assets in the production of the current period. The depreciation of
fixed assets in various enterprises and institutions managed as enterprises
refers to the depreciation expenses actually drawn and calculated as part of
theterprises which do not draw the depreciation expenses, as well as for the
houses of residents, the depreciation of fixed assets is the imputed
depreciation, which is calculated in accordance with the stipulated unified
depreciation rate. In principle, the depreciation of fixed assets should be
calculated on the basis of the re-purchased value of the fixed assets. However,
there is no actual condition to re-evaluate all the fixed assets in
Operating
Surplus refers to the
balance of the value added created by the resident units deducting the
labourers remuneration, net taxes on production and the depreciation of fixed
assets. It is equivalent to the business profit of the enterprises plus
subsidies on production, but the wages and welfare expenses paid from the
profits should be deducted.
Direct
Input Coefficient refers
to the volume of products and services of all sectors consumed directly by a
certain sector’s productive units, which are needed for their total output. It
is also named as technical coefficient. It represents the direct technical
economical ties and direct interdependence between the sector and other
sectors.
Total
Input Coefficient refers
to the volume of products and services of all sectors needed for a certain
sectors productive units to increase their total output. Total input
coefficient is equal to the sum of direct input coefficient and total indirect
input coefficient. It is a major indicator to disclose the technical economical
ties and interdependence between sectors of the national economy.
Institutional
Units refer to economic
entities that are in a position to own assets and incur liabilities in their
own name, and to engage in economic activities and conduct transactions with
other entities. Depending on their different role in production, consumption
and financing, 4 groups of resident institutional units are identified in the
flow of fund tables, namely, non-financial corporations, financial
institutions, governments, households and the rest of the world.
Institutional
Sectors refer groups of
institutional units that are classified by their nature. Following groups (or
institutional sectors) are identified in the flow of fund accounts: the sector
of non-financial corporations, the sector of financial institutions, the sector
of governments and the sector of households.
Non-Financial
Corporations and the Sector of Non-Financial Corporations Non-financial corporations refer to
resident corporations that are engaged in the production of goods and the
provision of non financial services in the market, mainly covering corporate
enterprises of various types.All non-financial corporations make up the sector
of non-financial corporations.
Financial
Institutions and the Sector of Financial Institutions Financial institutions refer to resident
institutions that are engaged in the financial services or auxiliary financial
activities, mainly covering central banks, commercial banks, policy-related
banks, non-banking credit institutions and insurance companies.All financial
institutions make up the sector of financial institutions.
Government
Units and the Sector of Governments Government units refer to legal entities and their
auxiliary units within the territory of China that are established through
political process and are empowered with legislative, administrative or
judicial rights over other institutional units in a given region.The main
function of government units is to acquire funds through taxation or other
means, to provide public services to the society and households, and to conduct
redistribution of income and properties of the society through transfer
payment.Government units cover mainly administrative and institutional units of
various types.All government units make up the sector of governments.
Households
and the Sector of Households
Households refer to resident individuals or groups of resident individuals who
share common living facilities, pool together entire or part of their income
and properties at their common disposal, and share their housing, food and
other consumer goods and services.All households make up the sector of
households.
Non-resident
Units and the Sector of the Rest of the World Non-resident units refer to of units that are of a
non-resident nature.All non-resident units that have transactions with resident
units make up the sector the rest of the world.
Total
Income of Primary Distribution Primary distribution refers to
the distribution of value-added in the form of compensation for labours,
depreciation of fixed assets, production taxes and property income.The sum of
income obtained through primary distribution is called the total income of
primary distribution.
Current
Transfers refers to
one-way transfers with physical and fund form in sectors. include payment to
social securities, social allowances remittance from overseas Chinese, grants,
donations and reparations and so on.
Total
Disposable Income refers
to income received by institutional sectors on the basis of total income of
primary distribution and through current transfers.This is the income that is
used for final consumption and savings.
Total
Savings is the difference
between total disposable income and the final consumption.
Capital
Transfer refers to the
free payment from one sector to another sector for capital formation, and is a
transaction that seeks no return from the recipient. The capital transfer
differs from the current transfer in 2 aspects.Firstly, the objective of the
transfer is investment rather than consumption.Secondly, capital transfer
features the transfer of the ownership of the capital rather than the
utilization right of the capital.Capital transfer in cludes investment
subsidies and other capital transfers.Under the current situation in China,
investment subsidies refer to investment allocations from government finance,
i.e.the financial allocations that are used for capital construction, updating
and transformation projects and other investment in fixed assets.
Net
Financial Investment
refers to total savings plus the net income from capital transfer minus the
gross capital formation from the point of view of physical transaction.In terms
of monetary transaction, it is the increased value of financial assets minus
the increase of the financial liabilities.
Currency
in Circulation refers to
currency that is in circulation in the market, including notes and fractional
currency.
Savings
Deposit refers to deposits
of all types, including current deposit, fixed deposit, household savings
deposit, government deposit, foreign exchange deposit and other deposits.
Loans refer to loans of all forms provided by
financial institutions to non-financial sectors, including short-term loans,
medium and long-term loans, government loans, foreign exchange loans and other
loans.
Securities include bonds and stocks.
Insurance
Reserve Funds refer to
reserve fund for life insurance, the net pension fund, advance payment of
premium and non-claimed reserves.
Settlement
Fund refers to bank fund
that is in the process of remittance.
Transactions
Between Financial Institutions refer to flow of capital between financial institutions, including
inter-bank deposits and loans.
Reserve
Funds refer to savings of
financial institutions in the central bank and designated reserves to the
central bank.
Loans
from the Central Bank
refer to loans from the central bank to financial institutions.
Current
Account includes goods,
services, earnings and current transfers.
Goods
refer to imported or
exported goods through Chinese customs.Figures in the Yearbook are based on customs
statistics, adjusted in line with the concepts and definitions of the balance
of payment statistics and with the change in the ownership of
commodities.Statistics on both exports and imports are valued at f.o.b.prices.
Services
include transportation,
tourism, communications, construction, insurance, international financial
services, computer and information service, royalty for patent, trademarks and
other special rights, commercial services, personal cultural and recreational
services and government services.
Earnings include compensation of employees and
earnings from investment (including earnings from and expenses on direct
investment, security investment and other investment, as well as reinvestment
of earnings from direct investment).
Capital
Account includes capital
transfers such as immigration transfer, reduction or exemption of debts, etc..
Financial
Account includes direct
investment, security investment and other investments.
Direct
Investment refers to
investment, made in forms of exclusive investment, joint investment, contracted
operation and cooperative development, by foreign investors or investors from
Security
Investment refers to the
purchase of stocks and securities issued by central and local governments and
enterprises in China by institutions or individuals of foreign countries or
from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan ( and the re-purchase by Chinese
institutions), and the purchase and selling of stocks and securities issued in
foreign countries and in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan by Chinese governments,
enterprises and individuals.
Other
Investment includes trade
credits, loans, currency, savings and other assets, provided by foreign
countries to
Reserve
Assets, Net Increase
refers to the net balance between the end of the reference year and the end of
the previous year, in the gold reserve, foreign exchange reserve, reserve and
special drawing rights in the International Monetary Fund, and the use of the
Fund’s credits.The increase in the reserve assets is expressed as a negative
figure.