Nation's GDP grew by 8% last year
Economy up in almost all areas with mitigation of Asian crisis

China's economy basically cast off the negative effects of the Asian financial crisis and took a turn for the better in 2000, said Zhu Zhixin, director of the National Bureau of Statistics.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown 8 per cent to 8.9 trillion yuan (US$1.07 trillion) in 2000, surpassing US$1 trillion for the first time in the nation's history, at the current exchange rate.

From 1996 to 2000, the country's GDP increased by an average of 8.3 per cent annually.

During the first 11 months of 2000, the industrial output reached 2.13 trillion yuan (US$256.9 billion), an increase of 11.5 per cent over that for the same period a year ago.

The growth rate was 2.5 percentage points higher that for the same period in 1999. The accumulated profits of China's industrial enterprises amounted to 371.4 billion yuan (US$44.7 billion) during the first 11 months of 2000, an increase of 92 per cent over that for the same period a year ago. The figure includes 208.3 billion yuan (US$25.1 billion) earned by State-owned and State-controlled enterprises, up 140 per cent from their performance for the first 11 months of last year.

However, China's grain output is estimated to have dropped 9 per cent in 2000, because of a decrease in the acreage sown in grain crops and severe droughts.

China invested 1.8 trillion yuan (US$219.2 billion) in fixed assets during the first 11 months of 2000, an increase of 11.7 per cent over that of the same period of 1999.

The investment in western areas increased 17.9 per cent, 2.7 and 6.1 percentage points higher than the growth rate in the central and eastern areas.

During the first 11 months, China's retail sales reached 3 trillion yuan (US$367.1 billion), up 9.8 per cent from the figure for the previous year.

The growth rate of retail sales in urban areas was 2.4 percentage points higher than that in rural areas.

The country's consumer price rose 0.2 per cent year-on-year during the first 11 months, reversing the sustained drop during the past several years.

China's foreign trade amounted to US$430.9 billion during the first 11 months, an increase of 33.4 per cent over that for the same period in 1999.

Exports for the period reached US$227.2 billion, up 30.1 per cent over those for the same period a year earlier, while imports stood at US$203.7 billion, up 37.4 per cent.

The trade surplus reached US$23.6 billion, US$203.7 billion less than that in the same period in 1999. During the period, the country's contracted foreign direct investment reached US$48.6 billion, up 36.3 per cent from the previous year, while actual direct foreign investment was US$36.2 billion, down 2.3 per cent.