BEIJING - Preliminary statistics
show that in the first three months of this year
China's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 2.36 trillion
yuan (US$285 billion), up 9.9 percent from the same
period last year, according to reports released at a
press conference of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
on Thursday.
The strategic restructuring of
China's agriculture progressed well during the first quarter of
2003. NBS figures show that the cultivated-grain area in
2003 saw a further decrease, while that of cotton and
oil-yielding crops increased.
A total of 2.3
million hectares of grain land was cultivated this year,
down 2.2 percent from last year. In contrast, the land
of cotton and oil-yielding crops increased 16 percent
and 4.1 percent respectively, according to the NBS.
The NBS also reported growth in the cultivated
areas of vegetables, medicinal materials, wheat, and
corn.
Animal husbandry and fish farming also saw
a steady increase in the first quarter. Meat and aquatic
products increased 3.4 percent and 2 percent
respectively over the same period of last year.
China's industrial enterprises netted 98 billion
yuan in profit in the first two months, up 20 percent
year-on-year.
China's capital investment in
fixed assets totaled 615.5 billion yuan during the first
three months of 2003, an increase of 27.8 percent over
the same period last year.
The figures show the
growth was 8.2 percentage points higher than that of the
same period of 2002.
The NBS figures show
investment by the state-owned and other sectors of the
economy totaled 447.9 billion yuan from January to
March, up 31.6 percent year-on-year. Investment by the
collective and private sectors reached 167.6 billion
yuan, up 18.7 percent.
According to the
NBS, infrastructure investment increased 28 percent over
the same period of last year; investment for renovation
and upgrading rose 36.7 percent; and real-estate investment
went up by 34.9 percent. Figures show fixed assets
investment increased all over China.
China's
consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in the first
three months of this year, which is the first positive
growth since November 2001.
China's consumer
commodity retail volume reached 1.11 trillion yuan in
the first three months, rising 9.2 percent year-on-year.
The per capita disposable income of China's
urban residents stood at 2,355 yuan ($285) in the
first quarter, up 8.4 percent from the same period of
last year, and that of rural people at 737 yuan
($89), up 7.5 percent.
The figures also show
that at the end of March, Chinese residents' bank
savings reached 9.46 trillion yuan, rising by 253.1
billion yuan year-on-year.
