Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) refers to the final products at
market prices produced by 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. GDP in its
value form refers to the total value of all goods and services produced by all
resident units during a certain period of time, minus the total value of input
of goods and services of the nature of non-fixed assets; in other term, it is
the sum of the value-added of all resident units. GDP in the form of income
includes the income created by all resident units and distributed to resident
and non-resident units. GDP in the form of products refers to the value of all
goods and services for final consumption by all resident units minus the 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 Classification of economic activities
into three branches of industries is a common practice in the world, although
the grouping varies to some extent form country to country. In
Primary industry: refers
to agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.
Secondary industry: refers
to mining and quarrying, manufacturing, production and supply of electricity,
water and gas, and construction.
Tertiary industry: refers
to all other economic activities not included in primary or secondary industry.
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, housing fund paid by the employers. 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 difference 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 the use
of some factors of production, such as fixed assets, land and labour force in the production activities they are engaged
in. In contrast to the taxes on production, the subsidies on production refer
to the unilateral government transfer to the production units and are therefore
regarded as negative taxes on production. They include subsidies on the loss
due to implementation of government policies, price subsidies, 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. In government agencies and
institutions not managed as enterprises 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.
GDP by Expenditure Approach refers to the method of
measuring the final results of production activities of a country (region)
during a given period from the perspective of final use. It includes final
consumption, total capital formation and net export of goods and services,
i.e.:
GDP by expenditure
approach = final consumption + total capital formation + net export of goods
and services
Final Consumption refers to the total expenditure
of 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
broken down into household consumption and government consumption.
Households Consumption refers to the total expenditure
of resident households on the final consumption of goods and services. In
addition to the consumption of goods and services bought by the households
directly with money, the households consumption also includes expenditure on
goods and services obtained by the households in other ways, i.e. the so-called
imputed consumption expenditure, which includes the following: (a) the goods
and services provided to the households by the employer in the form of payment
in kind and transfer in kind; (b) goods and services produced and consumed by
the households themselves, in which the services refer only to the
owner-occupied housing and domestic and individual services provided by the
paid household workers; (c) financial intermediate services provided by
financial institutions; (d) insurance services provided by 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 free of charge or at low prices. The former equals
to the output value of the government services minus the value of operating
income obtained by the government departments. 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 of and the net value of inventory, including the
total fixed capital formation and the increase in inventory.
Total Fixed Capital Formation refers to the value of fixed
assets acquired minus those disposed of during a given period. Fixed assets are
the assets produced through production activities with specified unit value
which could be used for over one year, excluding natural assets. Total fixed
capital formation can be categorized into total tangible capital formation and
total intangible capital formation. The total tangible capital 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, animals for milk,
wool and for recreational purpose, and the newly increased forest with economic
value during a given period. The total intangible capital formation includes
the prospecting of minerals, the acquisition of computer software minus the
disposal of them.
Increase in Inventory refers to the market value of
the change in inventory of resident units during a given period, i.e. the
difference of value between the beginning and the end of the period minus the
current gains due to the change in prices. 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 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.
Direct Input Coefficient refers to the volume of products
and services of industry i, which is consumed
directly by industry j in the course of its production or business, recorded as
aij (i,j=1,2, … ,n). The
direct input coefficient table or direct input coefficient matrix, usually
denoted as A, is a table that presents direct input coefficients of all
industries.
Total Input Coefficient refers to the volume of products
and services of industry i which is consumed directly
and indirectly by industry j in producing each unit of final use. The total
input coefficient table or total input coefficient matrix, usually denoted as
B, is a table that presents total input coefficients of all industries.
Institutional Units refer to economic entities that
are in a position to own assets and incur liabilities, to engage independently
in economic activities, and to conduct transactions with other entities.
Institutional Sectors refer groups of institutional
units that are homogenous in nature. Following 4 institutional sectors are
identified in the flow of fund accounts: non-financial corporations, financial
institutions, governments and households, Also treated
as an institutional sector is the rest of the world, which is composed of
non-resident units that have economic relations with the resident units.
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 engaged in the above-mentioned
activities. 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
intermediate services or auxiliary financial activities that are closed related
with financial intermediate services, 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
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 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 net results from production activities among the owners of
factors of production and the governments. Factors of production include labour force, land and capitals. Owners of labour force gain remuneration by providing labour. Owners of land receive rents from leasing of land.
Owners of capitals get income of various forms depending on the type of
capitals: bankers receive income from interest and share holders receive
dividends or non-distributed profits. Governments either gain production tax or
pay for subsidies by participating directly or indirectly in the production
process. Results of primary distribution generate the total income of primary
distribution of each sector, and the sum of the total income of primary
distribution of all sectors make up the gross national income, or the gross
national product.
Current Transfers Transfer refers to the transaction
of provision of goods, services or assets by an institutional unit to another
institutional unit without receiving any goods, services or assets in return
from the recipient. Current transfers refer to all kinds of transfers other
than capital transfers, including income tax, payment to social securities,
social allowances and other current transfers.
Total Disposable Income Total income of primary
distribution is re-distributed through current transfer, resulting in the total
disposable income of various institutional sectors. The sum of total disposable
income of all institutional sectors makes up the total national disposable
income.
Total Savings refer to the total disposable
income minus the final consumption. Total savings of all sectors make up the
total national savings.
Capital Transfer refers to the free payment from
one sector to another sector for non-financial capital formation, and is a
transaction that seeks no return from the recipient. The capital transfer
differs from the current transfer in 2 aspects: 1) The
purpose of the capital transfer is investment rather than consumption. 2) The
capital transfer features the transfer of the ownership of the assets other
than inventory and cash, and the capital transfer in its monetary form involves
the disposal of assets other than inventory. Capital transfer includes
investment subsidies and other capital transfers.
Net Financial Investment
reflects the surplus or shortage of capitals of institutional sectors
or of the economy in general. It refers to total savings plus the income from
capital transfer minus payment for capital transfer and the non-financial
investment from the point of view of physical transaction. In terms of monetary
transaction, it is the difference between the increase
in financial assets minus the increase of the financial liabilities.
Currency in Circulation refers to currency that is in
circulation in the market, including local and foreign currencies.
Deposits
refer to credit transactions by which financial institutions accept deposits
from clients who could withdraw their deposit at any time or by agreed time
frame. They include current deposit, fixed deposit, household savings deposit,
government deposit, foreign exchange deposit and other deposits.
Loans
refer to credit transactions by which financial institutions lend their
capital to clients at certain level of interest rates, which the latter will
repay by agreed time frame. They include short-term loans, medium and long-term
loans, government loans, foreign exchange loans and other loans.
Securities (excluding stocks) refer to written certificates
representing creditors’ rights, purchased by bond holders or owned by selling
products, which can be transacted at the financial markets. They include
government bonds, financial bonds, corporation bonds, commercial drafts,
preferential stocks that provide fixed income without the right to share the
residual value of corporations, etc.
Stocks and Other Holding Rights refer to the rights by
stockholders and direct investors on the net assets of corporations they
invested in. Stocks refer to negotiable securities on creditor’s rights, issued
by stock companies certifying the investment by stockholders and their rights
and duties depending on their stocks. Other holding rights refer to the direct
investment by institutional units to other units in forms other than stocks and
negotiable securities on creditor’s rights, including tangible assets such as
land, buildings, machines and equipment, inventory, resources, etc., and
intangible assets such as Trades marks, patents, rights on land use, licenses,
commodity credit, and the capitals. Documents on holding rights usually include
certificates on creditor’s right, certificates on investment or on
participation, etc.
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 of financial
institutions for settlement 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.
Import and Export of Goods refer to imported or exported
goods through Chinese customs. Both import and export of goods are valued at
free on board (f.o.b.) prices. Free on board prices can be regarded as the
purchaser’s prices paid by importers when claiming goods at the boarder of the
exporters. When the importer claim the imported goods, the goods have been
loaded in importer’s carriers or other carriers, and the exporter has paid
export duty or received export redeem.
Import and Export of Services refers services provided between
resident and non-resident units, including services on transportation, tourism,
communications, construction, insurance, banking, computer and information,
consultation, advertisements and publicity, as well as film, audio and video
services, royalty for patents, Tradesmarks and other
special rights, other commercial services, and government services.
Earnings refers income from provision of factors of
production between resident and non-resident units, including compensation of labours and earnings from investment. Earnings from
investment include 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 by foreign investors or investors from
Security Investment refers to the issue of stocks and
securities by
Other Investment refers to all external transactions on financial
assets and liabilities other than direct investment and security investment,
including Trades 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, special drawing rights in the International
Monetary Fund, and the use of the Funds credits. The increase in the reserve
assets is expressed in negative figure and the decrease in the reserve assets
is expressed in positive figure.