III. Economy

GDP: 333.34 billion yuan (2008)

GDP growth rate: 10.2 percent (2008)

Average GDP per capita: 8,824 yuan (2008)

Poverty alleviation plan:

At the end of 1997, 4.55 million people are listed as living under the poverty line, namely, farmers with an annual income below 600 yuan and grain below 300 kilograms. Detailed plans for alleviating poverty have been drawn and being carried out. Specifically, income of the poverty-stricken people will be raised substantially; 90 percent of the villages and towns in poverty-stricken areas will have access to electricity; program-controlled phone service will be made available to basically all towns in poverty-stricken areas. Primary education will be extended to school age children. Illiteracy among the young people will be eradicated. Most of the towns will have its own hospitals, and all villages will be served by their own clinics. Every town will establish its own cultural centers.

Revenues: total revenue in 2008 was 67.456 billion yuan

Foreign trade:

Total import and export volume in 2008 was US$3.37 billion, specifically, US$1.90 billion for export and US$1.47 billion for import. Foreign investment:

Imports by enterprises with foreign investment in 1998 was US$44.68 million while export was US$16.71 million. Newly signed agreement for foreign investment was 79 in the year with US$181 million actually used. Tourism income was US$48.31 million which meant an increase of 30.8 percent over the previous year.

Pillar industries:

1) Raw material industries. Total assets in this sector were worth 36 billion yuan in 1998, including 8.2 billion yuan for metallurgy, 7 billion yuan for nonferrous metals, 600 million yuan for gold industry and 16 billion yuan for chemical industry.

2) Machinery and electronics, including three military industrial bases of space, aeronautics and electronics. In addition, there are a number of large enterprise groups and backbone enterprises in the fields of auto-making, grinding materials and tools, engineering machinery, internal-combustion, industrial bearings, low-pressure electric equipment, precision optical instrument, industrial meter and instrument and precision machine tools for special use. Many products in these fields lead their counterparts in the nation in terms of technological level and quality. Guiyang is one of China¡¯s largest aluminum industrial bases, one of the five largest meter and instrument production bases, a major production base for grinding materials, grinding tools and cigarettes and one of the top ten electronic industrial cities in the western part of China.

3) Light and textile industries including name-brand liquors, cigarettes and mineral waters, cotton, woolen, linen, silk, synthetic fiber, leather processing and paper making. The province holds an important position in the country in cigarettes and liquor production. Its rich resources of mineral waters give the province a broad prospect for further development in the industry. Guizhou batik is gaining increasing favor of consumers both at home and abroad and enjoying a brisk market in Japan, Africa, Europe and America.