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July 2003
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| CHINA BY THE NUMBERS |
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Industry Profits Jump 57%
(July 25, 2003) China's industrial companies earned profits of 363.8 billion
yuan (US$43.8 billion) during the first half of this year, an increase of 131.7
billion yuan (US$15.9 billion) or 56.7 per cent compared with a year ago, the
National Bureau of Statistics said on July 24.
The profit growth, which was slower than the 62.8 per cent rise between January
and May and the 94.3 per cent surge in the first quarter, is still much faster
than the 20.6 per cent rise recorded for the whole of 2002.
Profits made by State-owned industrial firms and firms in which the State holds
a majority share totalled 186 billion yuan (US$22.4 billion) during the period,
a year-on-year increase of 77.4 per cent, the bureau said in a statement.
Industrial enterprises handed in 335.3 billion yuan (US$40.4 billion) of taxes
to the State, a year-on-year increase of 18.2 per cent.
During the first six months, sales income earned by industrial firms reached
6,237.3 billion yuan (US$751.5 billion), a year-on-year increase of 27.3 per
cent.
Companies in the red lost a net amount of 63 billion yuan (US$7.6 billion)
during the period, a drop of 3.8 per cent compared with a year ago.
Yao Jingyuan, chief economist at the bureau, said the whole industrial sector's
strong performance was partly due to the rapid growth in fixed asset investment.
Fixed asset investment rose a year-on-year 31.1 per cent to 1,934.8 billion yuan
(US$233.6 billion) during the first half of this year.
Industry's healthy profits were also attributed to the upgrade of domestic
consumption structure, industry restructuring and price changes on the
international market, said Yao.
He said most sectors in this area increased profits during the January-June
period.
Crude oil and natural gas producers earned 32.2 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion)
more during the first six months of this year compared with a year ago.
And the transport sector, including automaking, returned 20.2 billion yuan
(US$2.4 billion) more in profits, while ferrous metal smelters boosted their
earnings by 14.9 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion), Yao said.
Profits of chemical raw material companies rose 8.8 billion yuan (US$1.1
billion), while earnings from electricity producers increased 6.6 billion yuan
(US$795 million).
The crude oil, natural gas, electricity, ferrous metal smelting, chemical raw
materials and transport sectors accounted for 62.3 per cent of the profit growth
across all industries, Yao said.
Wang Zhao, a researcher with the State Council's Development Research Centre,
said the fast profit growth suggests the Chinese economy is developing smoothly.
Source: China Daily
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Urban People's Income Up 9% in First Half of 2003
(July 31,2003) The income of Chinese people in cities increased by 9 per cent in
the first half of this year, but there was a remarkable fluctuation in
consumption due to the SARS.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics website, the per capita
disposable income of urban residents in the first half of the year was 4,301
yuan (US$520), a 9-per cent rise over the same period last year.
Salaries made up the bulk of urban people's disposable income. The per capita
salary was 3,254 yuan (US$393), an increase of 10.6 per cent compared with that
of the first half of last year.
Per capita consumer spending in the first half of this year stood at 3,110 yuan
(US$376), up 6.7 per cent over the same period last year.
However, the increase could have been higher had it not been for the SARS
epidemic.
The epidemic, which peaked in May, made everyone in SARS-hit areas reluctant to
go to public places such as shopping centres, cinemas or tourist attractions.
As a result, per capita consumer spending in May increased by only 0.6 per cent
compared to the same month last year, while the year-on-year increase was as
high as 8.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year and 8.7 per cent in
April.
In June, when the outbreak became to ebb and people started to feel more
relaxed, per capita spending increased by 3.8 per cent compared with last June.
But the outbreak had little impact on non-consumer spending, which includes
spending on housing and insurance.
Per capita non-consumer spending was 1,086 yuan (US$131) in the first half of
this year, a year-on-year increase of 15.1 per cent.
Of that amount, per capita spending on ready-built homes or houses under
construction was 331 yuan (US$40), an increase of 24.9 per cent.
The statistics bureau also said that social security measures were gradually
paying off. In the first half of this year, unemployment benefit payments rose
by 39.9 per cent.
Source: People's Daily
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