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.