China 2014 retail sales up 12% & China's industrial output grows 8.3% in 2014

[TaiShang]

China 2014 retail sales up 12%
Xinhua, January 20, 2015

China's retail sales rose 12 percent year on year in 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

In December, retail sales grew 11.9 percent from a year earlier, quickening from 11.7 percent in November.


China's industrial output grows 8.3% in 2014
Xinhua, January 20, 2015

Industrial output in China grew 8.3 percent in 2014 from a year ago, down from the 9.7-percent growth seen in 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Tuesday.

China uses industrial production (officially called industrial value added) to measure the activity of designated large enterprises, each with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan (3.27 million U.S. dollars).

China 2014 outbound investment tops 100 bln USD
2015-01-16

BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's outbound investment reached 102.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, smashing through the 100-billion mark for the first time, Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan revealed on Friday.

This is a 14.1 percent rise from the previous year and much better than the 1.7 percent gain recorded in foreign direct investment in China, which was 119.6 billion dollars.

The data did not cover investment in the financial sector.

"Judging from the current speed, China will soon become a net outbound investor, which will be a historic turning point," Zhong said at a news briefing.

The government has been encouraging domestic companies to "go global" as the economy grows increasingly more integrated with the world. Overseas investment is predicted to grow by an annual rate of 17 percent during the 2011-2015 period, according to earlier projections from the ministry.

China's total investment in overseas non-financial sectors came in at 90.17 billion dollars in 2013, while total inbound investment reached 117.59 billion dollars.

Zhong said the ministry will focus on integrating the "Belt and Road Initiative", which refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, to actively expand investment in related regions.


Interview: China attracts more attention due to growing weight in global matters: Schwab
2015-01-16

GENEVA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), has said that China is attracting more and more global attention given its growing weight in global matters and reaffirmed his optimistic expectations on China's economy.

Schwab made the remarks in a written interview with Xinhua in advance of the upcoming WEF Annual Meeting 2015, scheduled from Jan. 21 to 24 at Davos in northeastern Switzerland will explore solutions to major world challenges under the theme "The New Global Context".

When asked about how to define a new context for the world, Schwab explained that in current global landscape, complexity, fragility and uncertainty were on the rise.

"We are confronted by profound political, economic, social and, above all, technological transformations. They are altering long-standing assumptions about our prospects, resulting in entirely new parameters for decision-making," he said.

The forthcoming meeting is to be framed around 10 major global challenges pending solutions, according to WEF.

Schwab named rising income disparity and social inequality, less cooperation on geopolitical matters as well as climate change and its potentially devastating impact as ones among the most pressing challenges.

Referring to China, he hailed its rapid speed of development and the profound cooperation between the country and the forum.

"I'm proud that the Forum has been a trusted partner, most visibly by organizing the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, or 'Summer Davos', in Dalian and Tianjin. This is the largest and most important meeting of the World Economic Forum outside of Davos", Schwab told Xinhua.

"With China's growing weight in global matters, it is only logical that the interest in the country's political path, economic development and the evolution of its social model is growing around the world as well," he further stressed.

Schwab reiterated his optimistic expectations on the outlook of China's economy.

"Even with 7 percent growth - the government's target for 2015 - China is likely to remain the largest contributor to global economic growth. That is impressive, considering many of China's key trade partners, including Europe and Russia, are experiencing sluggish growth. It is also a sign of the strength of China's growing internal demand," said Schwab.

Anti-corruption is listed by WEF among the ten clearly defined challenges.

"Corruption hampers growth, weakens institutions and creates unfair and illegal imbalances in societies. The rule of law is an essential building block to any just and prosperous society and economy," he noted.

Over 2,500 participants from more than 140 countries and regions representing business, government, international organizations, academia, civil society and the media are expected to attend the four-day Davos meeting featuring 280 sessions and workshops.

Related:

WEF summit to look for answers to major global challenges

GENEVA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2015 scheduled from Jan. 21 to 24 in Davos of Switzerland would serve as a platform looking for solutions to major challenges faced by the world, said the organization on Wednesday.

Over 2,500 participants from more than 140 countries representing business, government, international organizations, academia, civil society and the media are expected to participate in this year's annual gathering, the WEF said.Full Story

Chinese Premier to attend WEF annual meeting, visit Switzerland

BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will attend the 45th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and pay a working visit to Switzerland from Jan. 20 to 22, a Foreign Ministry spokesman announced on Tuesday.

Li is visiting at the invitation of WEF founder and chairman Klaus Schwab and the Federal Council of Switzerland, said spokesman Hong Lei at a routine press briefing

 

[Aepsilons]

Truly, truly, an unprecedented achievement.

@LeveragedBuyout , you might want to read this.

 

[Yizhi]

salute to all the hardworking Chinese people!

photos:
China's GDP grows 7.4% in 2014 - Xinhua | English.news.cn

 

[Yizhi]

China's economic structure improves in 2014
English.news.cn 2015-01-20



BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China made progress in improving its economic structure in 2014, though its annual economic growth rate came in at a 24-year low, the country's statistics authority said Tuesday.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement that the country's service sector represented 48.2 percent of China's gross domestic output (GDP) in 2014, up 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier.

The share of the industrial sector was 42.6 percent of GDP, while the agricultural sector accounted for 9.2 percent, the NBS said.

The contribution of final consumption to GDP growth reached 51.2 percent last year, up 3 percentage points from a year earlier.

For years, China has intensified efforts to restructure its economy by optimizing industrial structure and demand structure, promoting balanced regional development and pushing forward urbanization.

The disposable income of rural residents rose 9.2 percent year on year, compared with 6.8 percent for urban residents.

The NBS added that energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped by 4.8 percent from a year earlier in 2014.

China's GDP grew 7.4 percent last year, in line with the government target of around 7.5 percent, but still the weakest annual expansion in 24 years.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

China's economic structure improves in 2014
English.news.cn 2015-01-20



BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China made progress in improving its economic structure in 2014, though its annual economic growth rate came in at a 24-year low, the country's statistics authority said Tuesday.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement that the country's service sector represented 48.2 percent of China's gross domestic output (GDP) in 2014, up 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier.

The share of the industrial sector was 42.6 percent of GDP, while the agricultural sector accounted for 9.2 percent, the NBS said.

The contribution of final consumption to GDP growth reached 51.2 percent last year, up 3 percentage points from a year earlier.

For years, China has intensified efforts to restructure its economy by optimizing industrial structure and demand structure, promoting balanced regional development and pushing forward urbanization.

The disposable income of rural residents rose 9.2 percent year on year, compared with 6.8 percent for urban residents.

The NBS added that energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped by 4.8 percent from a year earlier in 2014.

China's GDP grew 7.4 percent last year, in line with the government target of around 7.5 percent, but still the weakest annual expansion in 24 years.

Truly excellent news.

Consumption is now the leading driver of Chinese economic growth, and the Service sector is much larger than the manufacturing sector and agricultural sector.

Our economic transition seems to be going very smoothly.

 

[asquare]

Truly excellent news.

Consumption is now the leading driver of Chinese economic growth, and the Service sector is much larger than the manufacturing sector and agricultural sector.

Our economic transition seems to be going very smoothly.

Congratulations!

If you can pull off a smooth transition to a truly consumption led economy, despite the current challenges, it will be a remarkable achievement (and a lesson to the rest of the world). Going by China's track record, you will likely pull it off. Unfortunately, the number of mainstream economists studying China is still too small (barring research on political economy issues). There is a complete absence of macroeconomic models that are applicable to the Chinese economy. The channels of macroeconomic policy that the Chinese government is able to control simply don't exist in the models.

Once that is achieved, the only threat to China's economy in the long term will be handling the inevitable political transition. It runs contrary to my intuition that the political transition will be smooth. However, again, I wouldn't put it past China. The most unprecedented feature of China's development is that an unelected polity has acted, largely, in the interest of the people. The greatest test of this polity is wether they will preside over a peaceful devolution of their own political power.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Congratulations!

If you can pull off a smooth transition to a truly consumption led economy, despite the current challenges, it will be a remarkable achievement (and a lesson to the rest of the world). Going by China's track record, you will likely pull it off. Unfortunately, the number of mainstream economists studying China is still too small (barring research on political economy issues). There is a complete absence of macroeconomic models that are applicable to the Chinese economy. The channels of macroeconomic policy that the Chinese government is able to control simply don't exist in the models.

Once that is achieved, the only threat to China's economy in the long term will be handling the inevitable political transition. It runs contrary to my intuition that the political transition will be smooth. However, again, I wouldn't put it past China. The most unprecedented feature of China's development is that an unelected polity has acted, largely, in the interest of the people. The greatest test of this polity is wether they will preside over a peaceful devolution of their own political power.

The political transition in the future will be smooth.

See the recent protests in Hong Kong for example, and compare them to the riots in Ferguson, USA.

Or for examples in the Mainland, see the mass protests in Dalian (resulting in the closing of a chemical plant), Qidong (resulted in the closing of a waste pipeline) or in Wukan (resulted in the arrest of local officials and compensation to the locals).

Violent protest is not our way, these matters are too important to throw away by being violent.

 

[TaiShang]

Once that is achieved, the only threat to China's economy in the long term will be handling the inevitable political transition. It runs contrary to my intuition that the political transition will be smooth. However, again, I wouldn't put it past China. The most unprecedented feature of China's development is that an unelected polity has acted, largely, in the interest of the people. The greatest test of this polity is wether they will preside over a peaceful devolution of their own political power.

Those risks are true for any polity, be it single party-representative or dual or multi-party. China's historical experience and pragmatism will provide the best leadership and course of action for each leadership. That's the faith of the general public in China.