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.