IV. The Growth of Market Sales was Steady and Fast, Sales of Selected Products Increased Rapidly. In 2009, the total sales of consumer goods reached 12,534.3 billion yuan, a growth of 15.5 percent, or a real growth of 16.9 percent after deducting price factors, which was 2.1 percentage points higher than that in the previous year. Of this total, the retail sales of consumer goods in cities stood at 8,513.3 billion yuan, up 15.5 percent, while the retail sales at and below county level reached 4,021.0 billion yuan, up 15.7 percent. Grouped by different sectors, the sales by wholesale and retail businesses was 10,541.3 billion yuan, up by 15.6 percent; and that by lodging and catering industry was 1,799.8 billion yuan, up by 16.8 percent. Of the total retail sales by wholesale and retail businesses above designated size, except that of the communication equipment, the rest 20 types of commodities all registered large margin growth. Of which, the growth of clothing, shoes, hats and textiles was 18.8 percent, that of furniture, 35.5 percent and 32.3 percent growth for automobiles.

V. The Consumer Price and Producer Price Witnessed Decline for the Whole Year, Picking up Was Shown at the End of the Year. In 2009, the CPI was down by 0.7 percent. Of this total, the CPI declined by 0.9 percent in cities and down by 0.3 percent in rural areas. Grouped by categories, four of the total eight categories witnessed price rise and the rest four had declines, the prices for tobacco and liquor, went up by 1.5 percent, that of the medical care services and personal articles, up by 1.2 percent, that of food went up by 0.7 percent, and that of household appliance and maintenance services, up 0.2 percent; the prices of housing down by 3.6 percent, that of transportation and communication, down by 2.4 percent, clothing, down by 2.0 percent and 0.7 percent decrease for recreation, education, cultural articles and services. The year-on-year change of CPI in November reversed from negative one to positive one, which was up 0.6 percent in November, it was up by 1.9 percent in December. In 2009, the year-on-year change of producers’ prices for manufactured goods down by 5.4 percent, in December it was up 1.7 percent reversing the trend of declining. The purchasers’ prices for raw material, fuel and power down by 7.9 percent for the whole year; the retail prices for commodities dropped down by 1.2 percent.

VI. The Total Value of Imports and Exports Dropped in 2009, It Shifted from Declining to Rising in November. The total value of imports and exports for the whole year reached US$2,207.3 billion, a drop of 13.9 percent over that in the previous year. In November, the year-on-year change of total value of imports and exports shifted from negative one to a positive one, which was up by 9.8 percent, it was up 32.7 percent in December. The total value of exports for the whole year was US$1,201.7 billion, down by 16.0 percent; that of the imports was US$1,005.6 billion, down by 11.2 percent; China had a trade surplus of US$196.1 billion, or US$99.4 billion less over that in the previous year.

VII. Urban and Rural Residents’ Income Increased Steadily, the Employment Situation was Better than Expected. In 2009, the per capita income of urban household was 18,858 yuan. Of this total, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 17,175 yuan, up by 8.8 percent, or a real increase of 9.8 percent after deducting price factors. Of the per capita income of urban household, the growth of wage income was 9.6 percent; that of operating net income was 5.2 percent; property income, 11.6 percent, transferred income, 14.9 percent. The per capita net income of rural residents was 5,153 yuan, up by 8.2 percent over that in the previous year, or a real increase of 8.5 percent after deducting price factors. Of this total, the growth of wage income was 11.2 percent; the production operating income from the primary industry was 2.2 percent, and that from the secondary and tertiary industries was 10.0 percent; the property income was 12.9 percent and 23.1 percent growth for the transferred income. The total newly increased employment in urban areas was 9.10 million people. By the end of the year, there were 149 million rural migrant workers; it was 1.7 million people more than that at the end of the first quarter of 2009.

VIII. Money Supply Grew Rapidly, Newly Increased Credits Increased by a Large Margin. At the end of December, the broad money (M2) was 60.6 trillion yuan, it was up 27.7 percent as compared with that at the end of 2008, the growth rate was 9.9 percentage points higher over that in the previous year; the narrow money (M1) was 22.0 trillion yuan, up by 32.4 percent, or 23.3 percentage points higher; the cash in circulation (M0) was 3,824.6 billion yuan, a rise of 11.8 percent, or down by 0.9 percentage points. The amount of outstanding loans of all financial institutions was 40.0 trillion yuan, increased by 9.6 trillion yuan over that at the beginning of this year, or an increase of 4.7 trillion yuan as compared with the same period last year.

At present, the base of world economy recovery is relatively weak; there are uncertainties in domestic economic development. Facing the complex situation of coexistence of difficulties and opportunities, we should unswervingly carry out various plans set by the central government on economic work; thoroughly apply the scientific outlook of development; maintain the consistency and stability of the macro economic policy; put forth effort to enhance the pertinence and flexibility of policies; further improve the quality and efficiency of economic growth; accelerate the change of economic growth mode and the adjustment of economic structures; actively push forward reform, opening-up and independent innovation; attach importance to the improvement of people’s livelihood and maintain a harmonious and stable social climate; take both international and domestic situation into consideration and plan accordingly; and achieve a steady and fast growth of national economy.

(National Bureau of Statistics January 21, 2010)