According to the preliminary figures released by China's National Bureau of Statistics, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of 2009 reached RMB 13.9862 trillion ($2.0477 trillion), up 7.1 percent year on year, a decline of 1.0 percentage point compared with the growth rate for the first quarter this year. China's GDP grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter of the current year and 7.9 percent in the second quarter.
The main details in the figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics are as follows:
1. China's summer grain output posted its sixth successive year of growth, rising 2.2 percent year on year.
2. Industrial output in China saw an acceleration, while a certain slowdown was recorded in profit decreases. In the first half of this year, the industrial output of major industrial enterprises with annual sales of more than RMB 5 million saw a rise of 7.0 percent, 9.3 percentage points lower than the increase rate for the first half of 2008.
In the January-May period this year, the aggregate profits of China's major industrial enterprises were down 22.9 percent to RMB 850.2 billion ($124.5 billion).
3. Fixed assets investments grew quickly. In the first half of this year, China's fixed assets investment rose 33.5 percent to RMB 9.1321 trillion ($1.337 trillion), up 7.2 percentage points on the H1 2008 increase rate. Urban fixed assets investments were up 33.6 percent to RMB 7.8098 trillion ($1.1434 trillion), up 6.8 percentage points year on year.
4. Domestic market consumption maintained steady and rapid growth. In the first six months of this year, China's retail sales went up 15.0 percent to RMB 5.8711 trillion ($859.6 billion).
5. Consumer prices continued to decline, with a bigger year-on-year decrease observed in producer prices. In H1, the consumer price index was down 1.1 percent year on year.
6. China's foreign trade volume remained on a downward trend, with a minor reduction seen in the trade surplus. In H1, China's combined imports and exports totaled $946.1 billion, down 23.5 percent year on year, with exports down 21.8 percent to $521.5 billion and imports down 25.4 percent to $424.6 billion. Meanwhile, China's trade surplus declined by $2.1 billion to $96.9 billion.
7. Incomes of both urban and rural inhabitants saw a continuous increase. In the first half of this year, the average per capita disposable income of China's urban population was RMB 8,856 ($1,296), up 9.8 percent year on year, representing an actual growth rate of 11.2 percent after discounting the effect of price factors. Meanwhile, rural residents saw their per capita income increase by 8.1 percent to RMB 2,733 ($400).
8. Monetary supply registered fast growth in the first half of 2009, with a rapid rise seen in loans. By the end of June, broad money M2 reached RMB 56.9 trillion ($8.33 trillion), up 28.5 percent year on year and up 10.6 percentage points over the previous year. Loans issued by Chinese financial institutions totaled RMB 37.7 trillion ($5.52 trillion) in the first half year, up RMB 4.9 trillion ($720 billion) year on year.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, with many difficulties and challenges faced by China in its economic development, the country will continue its positive fiscal policy and its sufficiently loose monetary policy so as to further enhance the economic rebound and achieve the steady and rapid growth of the national economy.