In 2019, GDP in China’s eastern areas was 51,116.1 billion yuan, an increase of 6.2% compared with the previous year; the central areas, 21,873.8 billion yuan, up by 7.3%; the western areas, 20,518.5 billion yuan, up by 6.7%; and the northeastern areas, 5,024.9 billion yuan, up by 4.5%.

In 2019, the GDP in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region reached 8,458.0 billion yuan, up by 6.1% over the previous year; that in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, 45,780.5 billion yuan, up by 6.9%; and that in the Yangtze River Delta, 23,725.3 billion yuan, up by 6.4%.

The value added of the primary industry was 7,046.7 billion yuan accounting for 7.1% of total GDP, up by 3.1%; the secondary industry was 38,616.5 billion yuan (39% of total GDP), up by 5.7%; and, the tertiary industry was 53,423.3 billion yuan (53.9%), up by 6.9%.

The contribution of the final consumption expenditure to GDP was 57.8%, that of the gross capital formation 31.2 percent and that of the net exports of goods and services 11.0 percent.

The per capita GDP in 2019 was 70,892 yuan, up by 5.7% compared with the previous year. The gross national income in 2019 was 98,845.8 billion yuan, up by 6.2% over the previous year.

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The national energy consumption per 10,000 yuan worth of GDP went down by 2.6 percent over 2018, and the overall labor productivity reached 115,009 yuan per person in 2019, up by 6.2% over the previous year.

By the end of 2019, the total number of Chinese population at the mainland reached 1,400.05 million, an increase of 4.67 million over that at the end of 2018. Of this total, urban permanent residents totaled 848.43 million, accounting for 60.60% of the total population (the urbanization rate of permanent residents), 1.02 percentage points higher than 2018.

The urbanization rate of the population with household registration was 44.38%, 1.01 percentage points higher than 2018. The year 2019 saw 14.65 million births, a crude birth rate of 10.48 per thousand, and 9.98 million deaths, a crude death rate of 7.14 per thousand.

The natural growth rate was 3.34 per thousand. The population who lived in places other than their household registration areas reached 280 million, of which 236 million were floating population.

At the end of 2019, the number of employed people in China was 774.71 million, and that in urban areas was 442.47 million, accounting for 57.1%, 1.1 percentage points higher than the end of 2018.

The newly increased employed people in urban areas reached 13.52 million, 90 thousand less than the previous year. The surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2% at the year end, and the registered urban unemployment rate was 3.6%.

The total number of migrant workers in 2019 was 290.77 million, up by 0.8% over that of 2018. Specifically, the number of migrant workers who left their hometowns and worked in other places was 174.25 million, up by 0.9%, and those who worked in their own localities reached 116.52 million, up by 0.7%.

The consumer prices in 2019 went up by 2.9% over the previous year. The producer prices for industrial products went down by 0.3% and the purchasing prices for industrial producers down by 0.7 percent. The prices for investment in fixed assets increased by 2.6 percent. The producer prices for farm products increased by 14.5%.

In December 2019, out of the 70 large-and-medium-sized cities, 68 cities experienced a year-on-year rise in sales prices of new commercial residential buildings and two cities experienced a decline.

At the end of 2019, China’s foreign exchange reserves reached US$3,107.9 billion, an increase of US$35.2 billion compared with 2018. The average exchange rate of the year was 6.8985 RMB to 1 USD dollar, depreciated by 4.1% over that of 2018.

By the rural poverty line of annual per capita income of 2,300 yuan (at 2010 constant prices), the rural population living in poverty at the end of 2019 was 5.51 million, 11.09 million less compared with that at the end of 2018, and the incidence of poverty was 0.6 percent, 1.1 percentage points lower than that of the previous year.

In 2019, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in impoverished areas was 11,567 yuan, an increase of 11.5% over 2018, or a real increase of 8.0% after deducting price factors.

Industry and Construction

In 2019, the total value added of the industrial sector was 31,710.9 billion yuan, up by 5.7% over the previous year. The value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size increased by 5.7 percent.

Of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, in terms of ownership, the value added of the state-holding enterprises grew by 4.8%, that of the share-holding enterprises up by 6.8%, that of the enterprises funded by foreign investors and investors from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan up by 2.0% and that of private enterprises up by 7.7%.

In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining industry was up by 5.0 percent, that of manufacturing up by 6.0 percent and that of production and supply of electricity, heat power, gas and water up by 7.0 percent.

In 2019, of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, the value added for processing of food from agricultural and sideline products was up by 1.9 percent over the previous year;

• for textile industry up by 1.3 percent;
• for manufacture of raw chemical materials and chemical products up by 4.7 percent;
• for manufacture of non-metallic mineral products up by 8.9 percent;
• for smelting and pressing of ferrous metals up by 9.9 percent;
• for manufacture of general purpose machinery up by 4.3 percent;
• for manufacture of special purpose machinery up by 6.9 percent;
• for manufacture of automobiles up by 1.8 percent;
• for manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus up by 10.7 percent;
• for manufacture of computers, communication equipment and other electronic equipment up by 9.3 percent;
• for production and supply of electricity and heat power up by 6.5 percent

In 2019, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size were 6,199.6 billion yuan, down by 3.3 percent over the previous year.

By ownership, the profits of state-holding enterprises were 1,635.6 billion yuan, down by 12.0 percent over the previous year; those of share-holding enterprises were 4,528.4 billion yuan, down by 2.9 percent; those of enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan were 1,558.0 billion yuan, down by 3.6 percent; and those of private enterprises were 1,818.2 billion yuan, up by 2.2 percent.

In terms of different sectors, the profits of mining were 527.5 billion yuan, up by 1.7 percent over the previous year; those of manufacturing were 5,190.4 billion yuan, down by 5.2 percent; and those of the production and supply of electricity, heat power, gas and water were 481.6 billion yuan, up by 15.4 percent. In 2019, the cost for per-hundred-yuan business revenue of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 84.08 yuan, or 0.18 yuan more than that of 2018; the profit rate of the business revenue was 5.86 percent, down by 0.43 percentage points.

In 2019, the value added of construction enterprises in China was 7,090.4 billion yuan, up by 5.6 percent over the previous year. The profits made by construction enterprises qualified for general contracts and specialized contracts reached 838.1 billion yuan, up by 5.1 percent over the previous year, of which the profits made by state-holding enterprises were 258.5 billion yuan, up by 14.5 percent.

Service Sector

In 2019, the value added of the wholesale and retail trades was 9,584.6 billion yuan, up by 5.7 percent over the previous year; that of transport, storage and post was 4,280.2 billion yuan, up by 7.1 percent; that of hotels and catering services was 1,804.0 billion yuan, up by 6.3 percent; that of financial intermediation was 7,707.7 billion yuan, up by 7.2 percent; that of real estate was 6,963.1 billion yuan, up by 3.0 percent; that of information transmission, software and information technology services was 3,269.0 billion yuan, up by 18.7 percent; and that of leasing and business services was 3,293.3 billion yuan, up by 8.7 percent.

In 2019, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size grew by 9.4 percent over the previous year, and the operating profits grew by 5.4 percent.

The turnover of telecommunication services totaled 10,678.9 billion yuan, up by 62.9 percent over the previous year.

By the end of 2019, there were 1,792.38 million phone subscribers in China, 1,601.34 million of which were mobile phone subscribers. Mobile phone coverage rose to 114.4 sets per 100 persons.

The number of fixed broadband internet users reached 449.28 million, an increase of 41.90 million over the end of the previous year. Of this total, fixed fiber-optic broadband internet users amounted to 417.40 million, an increase of 49.07 million.

The mobile internet traffic in 2019 was 122.0 billion gigabytes, up by 71.6 percent over the previous year. Software revenue from software and information technology services industry in 2019 was 7,176.8 billion yuan, up by 15.4 percent over 2018.

China retail in 2019

Investment in Fixed Assets

The total investment in fixed assets of the country in 2019 was 56,087.4 billion yuan, up by 5.1 percent over the previous year.

Of the total, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 55,147.8 billion yuan, up by 5.4 percent. By regions, the investment in eastern areas was up by 4.1 percent over the previous year, central areas up by 9.5 percent, western areas up by 5.6 percent, and northeastern areas down by 3.0 percent.

In 2019, the investment in real estate development was 13,219.4 billion yuan, up by 9.9 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the investment in residential buildings reached 9,707.1 billion yuan, an increase of 13.9 percent, that in office buildings was 616.3 billion yuan, up by 2.8 percent, and that in buildings for commercial business was 1,322.6 billion yuan, down by 6.7 percent.

China Import & Export

The total value of imports and exports of goods in 2019 reached 31,550.5 billion yuan, up by 3.4 percent over that of the previous year.

Of this total, the value of goods exported was 17,234.2 billion yuan, up by 5.0 percent; the value of goods imported was 14,316.2 billion yuan, up by 1.6 percent. The surplus of trade in goods reached 2,918.0 billion yuan, up by 593.2 billion yuan over that of the previous year.

The total value of imports and exports between China and countries along the Belt and Road was 9,269.0 billion yuan, an increase of 10.8 percent over that of the previous year. Of the total, the value of goods exported was 5,258.5 billion yuan, an increase of 13.2 percent; that of goods imported was 4,010.5 billion yuan, an increase of 7.9 percent.

Households Income and Consumption

In 2019, the per capita disposable income nationwide was 30,733 yuan, an increase of 8.9 percent over that of the previous year or a real increase of 5.8 percent after deducting price factors.

The median of per capita disposable income nationwide was 26,523 yuan, up by 9.0 percent.

In terms of usual residence, the per capita disposable income of urban households was 42,359 yuan, up by 7.9 percent over that of 2018, or a real growth of 5.0 percent after deducting price factors.

The median of per capita disposable income of urban households was 39,244 yuan, up by 7.8 percent.

The per capita disposable income of rural households was 16,021 yuan, up by 9.6 percent over that of the previous year, or 6.2 percent in real terms after deducting price factors. The median of per capita disposable income of rural households was 14,389 yuan, up by 10.1 percent.

Grouped by income quintile, the per capita disposable income of low-income groups reached 7,380 yuan, the lower-middle-income group 15,777 yuan, the middle-income group 25,035 yuan, the upper-middle-income group 39,230 yuan and the high-income group 76,401 yuan.

The per capita monthly income of migrant workers was 3,962 yuan, increased by 6.5 percent over that of the previous year.

Science & Technology

Expenditures on research and experimental development activities (R&D) were worth 2,173.7 billion yuan in 2019, up by 10.5 percent over that of 2018, accounting for 2.19 percent of GDP.

Download the Dossier: China’s Economy in 2019

Danke has 407 thousand apartment units operated in 13 tier-1 and tier-2 cities in China. Its Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is 360% over the three years period of 2015 to 2018.

China’s residential rental market is expected to nearly double its size from 2018 to reach RMB3.0 trillion in 2023 according to iResearch. Danke provides solutions to both property owners and renters through its “new rental” business model, which is defined by the following features:

Centralization. Danke centrally operates the apartments sourced from property owners and rents them out to its residents.

Standardization. It standardizes the design, renovation, and furnishing of its apartment units, and provides high-quality, reliable one-stop services.

Online. Their entire business process is empowered by technology to enable seamless online experience for both property owners and residents. Danke doesn’t have any physical storefront since inception.

History of Danke Apartment

Danke started operations in China through Zi Wutong (Beijing) Asset Management Co., Ltd, or Zi Wutong, in January 2015.

In June 2015, it incorporated Phoenix Tree Holdings Limited under the laws of Cayman Islands, which became its ultimate holding company through a series of transactions.

In March 2019, Danke acquired 100% equity interest in Hangzhou Aishang Danke Technology Co., Ltd., or Aishangzu, a residential rental apartment operator that primarily operated in Hangzhou, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qing Wutong Co., Ltd. Danke primarily operates its business through the subsidiaries, consolidated VIEs and their subsidiaries in China.

As of September 30, 2019, Danke has a total of 5,205 employees.

Danke Brands

Danke Apartment operates two branded products, “Danke Apartment” and “Dream Apartment”.

Danke Apartment has been the primary focus of its business since its inception in 2015.

Danke source and lease apartments from individual property owners on a long-term basis, design, renovate and furnish such apartments in a standardized and stylish manner, and rent them out to individual residents, either as private rooms within an apartment or an entire apartment.

Leveraging its experience in operating Danke Apartment, Danke introduced Dream Apartment in November 2018 to target the large but underserved blue-collar apartment segment.

It leases entire buildings or floors in a building, transforms them into dormitory-style apartments, and rent them to corporate clients for employee accommodation. For all of its residents, Danke provides high-quality one-stop services, including cleaning, repair, and maintenance, WiFi as well as 24/7 resident support.

Danke Business Model

It runs Danke like a data science company.

As its founders are technology veterans, technology is deeply rooted in the DNA. At the core of its technology system is its proprietary artificial intelligence decision engine, or “Danke Brain,” which makes real-time and unbiased decisions based on data analytics to guide each step of its business operations and generate valuable business intelligence.

Pricing decisions represent a core competency for a co-living platform, yet pricing is complex due to the heterogeneous nature of apartments, neighborhoods, and cities. Its technology system enables to make tens of thousands of pricing decisions each day with an approximately 95% accuracy rate of the estimated lease-out price, without the need to rely on the local expertise of individual agents.

Danke can effectively manage an extensive network of renovation contractors to simultaneously renovate 50,000 apartment units scattered in thousands of neighborhoods across 13 cities and maintain consistent quality according to its filing files.

They use proprietary technologies to achieve precise budgeting, accurate time estimates, and seamless workflow coordination across Danke supply chain.

Danke currently generates revenues primarily from rents and service fees. Its revenues increased by 307.3% from RMB656.8 million in 2017 to RMB2,675.0 million (US$374.3 million) in 2018, and by 198.8% from RMB1,673.0 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2018 to RMB4,999.7 million (US$699.5 million) in the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

There are massive opportunities for co-living platforms that centralize the leasing and operation of rental properties. In particular, affordability is the biggest issue for young renters today, particularly in tier 1 and tier 2 cities in China.

In the conventional residential rental market, the smallest unit available for rent is often an entire apartment, as individual property owners are generally unable or otherwise unwilling to bear the burden and risk of renting out private rooms.

Co-living platforms reduce the smallest unit available for rent to a private room, thereby providing an affordable alternative. For instance, Danke enables renters to enjoy substantial savings by offering private rooms at less than half of the price of renting a studio or one-bedroom apartment in the same neighborhood in Beijing in the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

Co-living platforms are rapidly gaining popularity in China, benefiting from the sharing economy, online consumption, consumption upgrade and increasing acceptance by property owners.

Currently, properties operated by co-living platforms offering standardized renovation, furnishing and services only accounted for approximately 2% of all residential rental properties in China as of December 31, 2018.

In the United States and Japan, the percentage of renovated or serviced rental apartments operated by institutions was around 57% and 80%, respectively.

As co-living platforms achieve scale, they accumulate a large, captive pool of renters to whom value-added services can be provided. Typical renters spend more than ten hours each day at home, and during their stay, they may demand a wide range of services including cleaning, repair and maintenance, laundry, relocation, food delivery, smart home, and online insurance, among others. These services represented a nearly RMB2.4 trillion market in China in 2018, according to iResearch.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of China was 45,093.3 billion yuan (US$6,565.68 billion) in the first half of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 6.3% at comparable prices according to the preliminary estimates of National Bureau of Statistics of China. The year-on-year GDP growth for the first quarter was 6.4 percent, and 6.2% for the second quarter.

The value-added of the primary industry was 2,320.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 3.0%; the secondary industry was 17,998.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 5.8%; and the tertiary industry was 24,774.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 7.0%.

Agricultural Production

In the first half of 2019, the value-added of crop farming grew by 3.9% year on year, 0.5 percentage point slower than the first quarter. The overall output of summer grain was 141.74 million tons, an increase of 2.93 million tons over last year, up by 2.1 percent, hitting the highest record as that of 2017.

The structure of crop farming was further optimized, as planting area for cotton and soybean increased. In the first half, the output of eggs grew by 3.6% year on year, and that of milk grew by 1.7%. The output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry was 39.11 million tons, down by 2.1 percent, among which, the output of beef, mutton and poultry grew by 2.4 percent, 1.5% and 5.6% year on year respectively, while the output of pork went down by 5.5%.

Industrial Production

In the first half, the year-on-year growth rate of total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.0 percent, 0.5 percentage point slower than the first quarter.

In June, the year-on-year growth rate of total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.3 percent, 1.3 percentage points faster than that of May, up by 0.68% month on month.

An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value-added of the state holding enterprises went up by 5.0% year on year; that of share-holding enterprises up by 7.3%; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan up by 1.4%.

In terms of sectors, the value-added of the mining grew by 3.5% year on year, the manufacturing grew by 6.4% and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas, and water grew by 7.3%. The value-added of strategic emerging industries grew by 7.7 percent, 1.7 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size.

The value-added of high-tech manufacturing grew by 9.0 percent, 3.0 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, accounting for 13.8% of the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size, 0.8 percentage point higher than that of the same period last year.

The output of new energy vehicles and solar cells grew by 34.6% and 20.1% year on year.

In the first five months of 2019, the total profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size was 2,379.0 billion yuan, down by 2.3% year on year, 1.1 percentage points less than that of the first four months. The profits of industrial enterprises above the designated size in May grew by 1.1 percent, while that for April was down by 3.7% year on year.

The profit rate of the business revenue of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 5.72 percent, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of the first four months in 2019.

Service Sector Grew Fast

In the first half, the service sector maintained good momentum. The value-added of information transmission, software, and information technology services, that of leasing and business services, that of transport, storage and postal services, and that of financial intermediation grew by 20.6 percent, 7.8 percent, 7.3% and 7.3% year on year respectively, or 13.6 percentage points, 0.8 percentage point, 0.3 percentage point and 0.3 percentage point faster than that of the tertiary industry.

In the first half of 2019, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.3% year on year, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of the first quarter; specifically, that for June grew by 7.1 percent, 0.1 percentage point faster than that of May.

In June, the Business Activity Index for services was 53.4 percent, continuing to stay above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction. The Business Activities Expectation Index for services was 60.3 percent, staying at a high level.

In the first five months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size increased by 10.1% year on year, 0.3 percentage point faster than that of the first four months; specifically, the business revenue of strategic emerging services, high-tech services and technology services demonstrated fast growth, which increased by 12.5 percent, 12.3% and 12.0% respectively, or 2.4 percentage points, 2.2 percentage points and 1.9 percentage points faster than the growth of the service enterprises above the designated size.

Market Sales Demonstrated a Stable and Rising Trend with Higher Growth Rate and Share for Online Retail Sales

Investment Witnessed Steady Growth and the Investment in High-tech Industries Grew Fast

In the first half, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 29,910.0 billion yuan, up by 5.8% year on year, 0.2 percentage point faster than that of the first five months, or 0.5 percentage point slower than that of the first quarter.

Specifically, the private investment reached 18,028.9 billion yuan, up by 5.7%. The investment in the primary industry went down by 0.6%; the secondary industry went up by 2.9 percent, among which, that in manufacturing went up by 3.0%; the tertiary industry went up by 7.4 percent, among which, that in infrastructure was up by 4.1%.

The investment in the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 10.4 percent, 4.6 percentage points faster than the total investment; the investment in high-tech services went up by 13.5 percent, 7.7 percentage points faster than the total investment. In June, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) grew by 0.44% month on month.

In the first half, the total investment in real estate development was 6,160.9 billion yuan, up by 10.9 percent, or 0.9 percentage point slower than that of the first quarter. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 757.86 million square meters, down by 1.8% year-on-year. The total sales of commercial buildings were 7,069.8 billion yuan, up by 5.6 percent, maintaining the same speed as that of the first quarter.

Imports and Exports Showed Slight Growth

In the first half, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 14,667.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.9 percent, 0.2 percentage point faster than the first quarter.

The total value of exports was 7,952.1 billion yuan, up by 6.1%; the total value of imports was 6,715.5 billion yuan, up by 1.4%. The trade balance was 1,236.6 billion yuan in surplus, up by 41.6% year on year.

The import and export of general trade increased by 5.5 percent, accounting for 59.9% of the total value of the imports and exports, an increase of 0.9 percentage point compared with the same period last year.

The exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 5.3 percent, accounting for 58.2% of the total value of exports. The total value of imports and exports by private enterprises increased by 11.0 percent, accounting for 41.7% of the total value, 2.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

In June, the total value of imports and exports was 2,561.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%. The total value of exports was 1,453.5 billion yuan, up by 6.1 percent, and the total value of imports was 1,108.3 billion yuan, down by 0.4%.

In the first half, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 5,836.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%. In June, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 1,055.5 billion yuan, up by 1.9 percent, 1.2 percentage points faster than that of May.

Consumer Price

In the first half, the consumer price went up by 2.2% year on year, 0.4 percentage point faster than the first quarter.

Specifically, the price went up by 2.2% both in the urban and rural areas. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 3.9% year on year; clothing up by 1.8%; housing up by 2.0%; articles and services for daily use up by 1.1%; transportation and communication down by 1.0%; education, culture and recreation up by 2.5%; medical services and health care up by 2.6%; other articles and services up by 2.2%.

In terms of food, tobacco and alcohol prices, prices for grain went up by 0.5 percent, pork up by 7.7 percent, fresh vegetables up by 9.2%. Core CPI excluding the price of food and energy went up by 1.8% year on year, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of the first quarter.

In June, the consumer price went up by 2.7% year on year, increasing at the same speed as last month, and down by 0.1% month on month.

In the first half of 2019, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 0.3% year on year, 0.1 percentage point faster than the first quarter. In June, the producer prices for industrial products were unchanged compared with the same period last year, down by 0.3 percentage month on month.

In the first half, the purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 0.1% year on year, increasing at the same speed as the first quarter. In June, the prices dropped by 0.3% year on year and down by 0.1% month on month.

Employment

In the first half, the newly increased employed people in urban areas totaled 7.37 million, accounting for 67% of the whole-year target. In June, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.1 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month.

Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rate of the population aged from 25 to 59 was 4.6 percent, 0.5 percentage point lower than that of the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.0 percent, the same as the previous month.

In June, the employees of enterprises worked averagely 45.7 hours per week. At the end of the second quarter, the number of rural migrant workers reached 182.48 million, an increase of 2.26 million over the same period last year, up by 1.3 percent, and 0.1 percentage point faster than the first quarter.

Residents Income Grew Faster than Economic Growth and Urban-Rural Income Ratio Continued to Narrow Down.

In the first half, the nationwide per capita disposable income of residents was 15,294 yuan, a nominal growth of 8.8% year on year, 0.1 percentage point faster than that of the first quarter; the real increase was 6.5% after deducting price factors, 0.2 percentage point higher than the economic growth.

In terms of permanent residence, the per capita disposable income of urban households was 21,342 yuan, real growth of 5.7%. The per capita disposable income of rural households was 7,778 yuan, real growth of 6.6%.

The per capita disposable income of urban households was 2.74 times of the rural households, 0.03 less than that of the same period last year. The median of the nationwide per capita disposable income was 13,281 yuan, a nominal increase of 9.0% year-on-year.

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The gross domestic product (GDP) of China was 18,068.3 billion yuan (US$2,626.81 billion) in the first quarter of 2017, a year-on-year increase of 6.9% at comparable prices according to the preliminary estimates of National Bureau of Statistics of China.

The planting intention survey on 110,000 rural households showed that the planting area intended for rice went down by 0.3%; wheat down by 0.8%; corn down by 4.0%; soya up by 8.1%; and cotton down by 0.7%.

The output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry was 22.49 million tons, a year-on-year growth of 0.2 percent, among which the output of pork was 14.68 million tons, up by 0.2 percent. The number of pigs registered was 410.95 million, a year-on-year growth of 0.1 percent and 191.49 million pigs slaughtered, a year-on-year growth of 0.2 percent.

In Q1 2017, the year-on-year real growth rate of total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was 6.8%, 1.0 percentage point faster than Q1 2016; 0.8 percentage point faster than 2016.

An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of the state holding enterprises went up by 6.2% year on year; collective enterprises up by 0.5%; share-holding enterprises up by 6.9%; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan up by 6.9%.

In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining dropped by 2.4 percent on a year-on-year basis, the manufacturing grew by 7.4 percent and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas, and water grew by 8.9 percent.

The industrial structure continued to improve. The value added of high-tech industry and equipment manufacturing industry grew by 13.4% and 12.0% year on year respectively, 6.6 percentage points and 5.2 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above designated size as a whole, 2.6 percentage points and 2.5 percentage points higher than the whole of last year.

The sales-output ratio of the industrial enterprises above designated size reached 97.2%. In March 2017, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size went up by 7.6% year on year, 1.3 percentage points faster than that in the first two months of 2017, or up by 0.83 percentage point month on month.

The index of national services production increased by 8.3% year on year, 0.1 percentage point higher than Q1 2016. Information transmission, software and information technology services, and transport, storage and postal services maintained high growth rates.

The growth rates of wholesale, retail trade, accommodation, and catering trade picked up considerably. In March 2017, the business activity index for sectors like retail trade, air transport, postal services, internet and software information technology services, monetary and financial services, capital market services, and insurance all kept within the expansion range of over 55%.

The investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 9,377.7 billion yuan (US$1,361.35 bn) in Q1 2017, a year-on-year growth of 9.2%, 1.1 percentage points faster than the whole year of 2016, 0.3 percentage point faster that than in the first two months of 2017.

The investment by the state holding enterprises reached 3,308.7 billion yuan (US$480.32 bn), up 13.6%; private investment reached 5,731.3 billion yuan, up by 7.7%.

The investment in infrastructure was 1,899.7 billion yuan, an increase of 23.5%. The investment in high-tech industry increased by 22.6%, 13.4 percentage points faster than the total investment. The funds in place for investment in fixed assets in the first quarter were 10,608.1 billion yuan, down by 2.9 percent. The total investment in newly-started projects was 6,201.5 billion yuan, a drop of 6.5% year on year. .

The total investment in real estate development in the first quarter was 1,929.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 9.1 percent, 2.2 percentage points faster than last year, and 0.2 percentage point faster than the first two months. The investment in residential buildings went up by 11.2%. The floor space started was 315.60 million square meters, up by 11.6% year on year. Specifically, the floor space of residential buildings newly started went up by 18.1%.

The floor space of commercial buildings sold was 290.35 million square meters, up by 19.5%. The floor space of residential buildings sold was up by 16.9%. The total sales of commercial buildings were 2,318.2 billion yuan, a growth of 25.1 percent. The sales of residential buildings were up by 20.2 percent. The land space purchased for real estate development was 37.82 million square meters, up by 5.7 percent year on year.

The total retail sales of consumer goods in China reached 8,582.3 billion yuan (US$1,245.89 bn) in Q1 2017, a year-on-year rise of 10.0%, 0.4 percentage point less than the whole of last year.

The total value of imports and exports in Q1 2017 was 6,198.6 billion yuan (US$899.85 bn), an increase of 21.8% year on year. The total value of exports was 3,326.8 billion yuan, up by 14.8%; the total value of imports was 2,871.8 billion yuan, an increase of 31.1%. The trade balance was 454.9 billion yuan in surplus.

The export of mechanical and electronic products increased by 15.1%, accounting for 58.1% of the total value of exports. The imports from and exports to some countries along One Belt, One Road went up. The exports to Russia, Pakistan, Poland, Kazakhstan and India increased by 37.0%, 18.7%, 19%, 69.3%, and 27.7%.

The consumer price in China went up by 1.4% year on year in Q1 2017, 0.7 percentage point less than the same period of last year.

The national per capita disposable income was 7,184 yuan (US$1,042.9), a nominal growth of 8.5% year on year or a real growth of 7.0% after deducting price factors. The growth rate of income was 0.1 percentage point higher than that of GDP.

The per capita disposable income of the urban residents was 9,986 yuan (US$1,449.66), a real growth of 6.3 percent after deducting price factors. The per capita disposable income of the rural residents was 3,880 yuan, up by 7.2 percent in real terms.

The per capita income of the urban residents was 2.57 times of that of the rural residents, 0.02 less than the same period last year. The median of the national per capita disposable income was 6,067 yuan, a nominal increase of 6.7 percent.

The per capita expenditure nationwide was 4,796 yuan, a nominal increase of 7.7%, or 6.2% after deducting price factors.

By the end of February, the number of rural migrant workers was 172.53 million, which was 4.54 million more than the same period last year, or up by 2.7 percent. The monthly income of migrant workers was 3,482 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.4 percent.

Some economists think official Chinese economic data understates performance using data on satellite-recorded nighttime lights as an independent benchmark for comparing various published indicators of the state of the Chinese economy.

“Alibaba economy” to generate about 30% of all jobs in 2035

According to National Bureau of Statistics of China, GDP of China was 63,646.3 billion yuan (USD 10,239.9 billion) in 2014, an increase of 7.4% at comparable prices.

The year-on-year GDP growth of the first quarter in 2014 was 7.4%, the second quarter 7.5%, the third quarter 7.3%, and the fourth quarter 7.3%. The gross domestic product of the fourth quarter of 2014 went up by 1.5% quarter-on-quarter.

Agricultural Production

China’s total grain output in 2014 was 607.10 million tons, an increase of 5.16 million tons, up by 0.9%.

• Summer grain: 136.60 million tons, an increase of 3.6%
• Early rice: 34.01 million tons, a decrease of 0.4%
• Autumn grain: 436.49 million tons, an increase of 0.1%
• Cereals: 557.27 million tons, an increase of 0.8%
• Cotton: 6.16 million tons, a decrease of 2.2%
• Pork, beef, mutton and poultry: 85.40 million tons, an increase of 2.0%
• Poultry eggs: 28.94 million tons, an increase of 0.6%
• Milk: 37.25 million tons, an increase of 5.5%

Industrial Production

The total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size in 2014 was up by 8.3% at comparable prices.

An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added growth of:

• the state-owned and state holding enterprises: 4.9%;
• collective enterprises: 1.7%;
• share-holding enterprises: 9.7 percent;
• enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: 6.3%

Out of the 464 kinds of industrial products, the output of 329 kinds realized an increase compared with last year. In 2014, the sales-output ratio of industrial enterprises above designated size reached 97.8%. The export delivery value of these enterprises reached 12,093.3 billion yuan, up by 6.4%.

In December, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 7.9% year-on-year or up by 0.75% month-on-month.

Investment in Fixed Assets

In 2014, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) in China was 50,200.5 billion yuan, the nominal year-on-year growth of 15.7% over last year (a real growth of 15.1% after deducting price factors).

• The investment by the state-owned and state holding enterprises: 16,162.9 billion yuan, a rise of 13.0%
• Private investment: 32,157.6 billion yuan, up by 18.1%, accounting for 64.1% of the total investment

The growth in eastern, central and western regions was 14.6%, 17.2% and 17.5% respectively.

The total investment in real estate development in 2014 was 9,503.6 billion yuan, a nominal growth of 10.5% (a real growth of 9.9% after deducting price factors). In particular, the investment in residential buildings went up by 9.2%.

China Retail Market

In 2014, China’s total retail sales of consumer goods reached 26,239.4 billion yuan, a nominal annual rise of 12.0% (a real growth of 10.9 percent after deducting price factors).

The retail sales in urban areas reached 22,636.8 billion yuan, up by 11.8%; and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 3,602.7 billion yuan, up by 12.9%.

The income of catering industry was 2,786.0 billion yuan, up by 9.7%; and the retail sales of goods were 23,453.4 billion yuan, up by 12.2%.

In December, the nominal growth of total retail sales of consumer goods was 11.9% over last year (a real growth of 11.5% after deducting price factors), or 1.01% month-on-month.

In 2014, the online retail sales reached 2,789.8 billion yuan, an increase of 49.7% compared with last year and the online retail sales of the enterprises (units) above designated size stood at 440.0 billion yuan, up by 56.2%.

Imports and Exports: Slowed Down

The total value of imports and exports in 2014 was 26,433.5 billion yuan, an increase of 2.3%. The total value of exports was 14,391.2 billion yuan, up by 4.9%; the total value of imports was 12,042.3 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.6%. The trade balance was 2,348.9 billion yuan in surplus.

In December, the total value of imports and exports was 2,490.1 billion yuan, the year-on-year growth of 4.2%. Of this total, the value of exports was 1,397.3 billion yuan, up by 9.9%; and that of imports was 1,092.8 billion yuan, down by 2.3%.

Consumer Price: Increased at a Low Rate

In 2014, the consumer price went up by 2.0% in China. The price went up by 2.1% in urban areas and 1.8% in rural areas.

• Prices for food rose by 3.1%
• tobacco, liquor and related articles decreased by 0.6%
• clothing up by 2.4%;
• household facilities, articles and maintenance services up by 1.2%
• health care and personal articles grew by 1.3%
• transportation and communication down by 0.1%
• recreation, education, culture articles and services up by 1.9%
• housing up by 2.0%

Grain grew up by 3.1%, oil or fat down by 4.9%, pork down by 4.3%, fresh vegetables down by 1.5%.

In December 2014, the consumer prices went up by 1.5% year-on-year, or 0.3% up month-on-month. In 2014, the producer prices for industrial products went down by 1.9% compared with last year, while the price in December dropped by 3.3% year-on-year and 0.6% month-on-month. The purchasing price for industrial producers was down by 2.2% compared with last year and in December, the price was down by 4.0% year-on-year and 0.8% month-on-month.

Residents’ Income: Continued to Increase

Based on the integrated household survey, the national per capita disposable income was 20,167 yuan in 2014, a nominal growth of 10.1% or a real increase of 8.0% after deducting price factors.

In terms of permanent residence, the per capita disposable income of urban households was 28,844 yuan, a nominal growth of 9.0%, or a real growth of 6.8% after deducting price factors.

The per capita disposable income of rural residents was 10,489 yuan, up by 11.2% nominally, or 9.2% in real terms. The median of the national disposal income was 17,570 yuan, a nominal increase of 12.4%.

Taking the per capita disposable income of nationwide households by income quintiles, that of the low-income group reached 4,747 yuan, the lower-middle-income group 10,887 yuan, the middle-income group 17,631 yuan, the upper-middle-income group 26,937 yuan, and the high-income group 50,968 yuan.

The Gini Coefficient for national disposable income in 2014 was 0.469. The per capita net income of rural residents was 9,892 yuan, an increase of 9.2% after deducting the price factors. The number of rural migrant workers at the end of the year was 273.95 million, which was 5.01 million more than that in the previous year, or up by 1.9%. Specifically, the numbers of local and outside workers were 105.74 million and 168.21 million respectively, up by 2.8 and 1.3%. The average monthly income of migrant workers was 2,864 yuan, up by 9.8%.

Industrial Structural: Stable Progress

The industrial structure was further optimized. In 2014, the value of the tertiary industry accounted for 48.2% of GDP, 1.3 percentage points higher than last year, 5.6 percentage points higher than that of the secondary industry.

The structure of domestic demand was further improved. In 2014, the final consumption expenditure accounted for 51.2% of GDP in China, 3.0 percentage points higher than last year.

The income gap between urban and rural households was further narrowed. In 2014, the real growth of the per capita disposable income of rural households was 2.4 percentage points faster than that of urban households. The per capita income of urban households was 2.75 times of the rural households, 0.06 less than last year.

In 2014, the energy consumption per unit of GDP decreased by 4.8% compared with last year.

Money Supply

By the end of December 2014, the balance of broad money (M2) was 122.84 trillion yuan, an increase of 12.2% compared with that at the end of last year; the balance of narrow money (M1) was 34.81 trillion yuan, up by 3.2%; and the balance of cash in circulation (M0) was 6.03 trillion yuan, a rise of 2.9%.

At the end of December, the amount of outstanding loans was 81.68 trillion yuan, while the amount of outstanding deposits was 113.86 trillion yuan. In 2014, the newly increased loans reached 9.78 trillion yuan, an increase of 890.0 billion yuan; the newly increased deposits were 9.48 trillion yuan, or 3.08 trillion yuan less than last year. The social financing reached 16.46 trillion yuan, a decrease of 859.8 billion yuan.

Population and Employment

By the end of 2014, the total population of mainland China was 1,367.82 million (including population of 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and servicemen in CPLA; but excluding residents in Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, Taiwan Province and overseas Chinese), an increase of 7.10 million over that at the end of 2013.

In 2014, the number of births was 16.87 million and the birth rate was 12.37 in a thousand; the number of deaths were 9.77 million with a death rate of 7.16 in a thousand; the natural growth rate was 5.21 in a thousand, an increase of 0.29 in a thousand.

In terms of gender, the male population was 700.79 million, and female population was 667.03 million; the sex ratio of total population was 105.06 (the female is 100, male to female); the sex ratio at birth was 115.88.

Population at the working age of 16-59 was 915.83 million, a decrease of 3.71 million as compared that at the end of 2013, and it accounted for 67.0% of the total population; population aged 60 and over was 212.42 million, which was 15.5% of the total population; population aged 65 and over was 137.55 million, accounting for 10.1% of the total population.

In terms of urban-rural structure, the urban population was 749.16 million, an increase of 18.05 million over the previous year; and the rural population was 618.66 million, a decrease of 10.95 million. The proportion of urban population to total population was 54.77%.

The population who reside in street communities but with permanent household registration elsewhere and having been away from that place for more than 6 months reached 298 million, which was 9.44 million more than that in the previous year. The migrant population was 253 million, or 8.00 million more. At the end of the year, the total number of employed persons was 772.53 million, or 2.76 million more than that at the end of 2013; the number of urban employed persons was 393.10 million, or 10.70 million more.

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According to National Bureau of Statistics of China, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in the first three quarters of 2014 was RMB 41,990.8 billion (USD 6,858.5 billion), a year-on-year increase of 7.4%.

China’s year-on-year growth was 7.4% for Q1 2014, 7.5% for Q2 and 7.3% for Q3. The value added of the primary industry was 3,799.6 billion yuan, up by 4.2 percent; that of the secondary industry was 18,578.7 billion yuan, up by 7.4 percent; and that of the tertiary industry was 19,612.5 billion yuan, up by 7.9 percent. The gross domestic product of the third quarter of 2014 went up by 1.9 percent on a quarterly basis.

Agricultural Production Showed Good Momentum.

The total output of summer grain was 136.60 million tons, an increase of 4.75 million tons, up by 3.6%. The output of early rice was 34.01 million tons, a decrease of 125 thousand tons, down by 0.4%. The autumn grain production is expected to get a good harvest again.

In the first three quarters of 2014, the total output of pork, beef, mutton and poultry reached 59.75 million tons, a year-on-year growth of 2.0%. The output of pork reached 39.72 million tons, up by 3.3%.

The Growth of Industrial Production Remained Stable

The total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size in the first three quarters was up by 8.5% at comparable prices, or 0.3 percentage point lower than that in the first half of the year. The value added growth of the state-owned and state holding enterprises went up by 5.2%; collective enterprises 2.6%; share-holding enterprises 9.9%; and 6.7% for enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan provinces.

The value added of the mining grew by 4.8% on a year-on-year base, the manufacturing by 9.6% and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water by 3.1%. The growth rates in eastern, central and western regions were up by 8.0%, 8.5% and 10.6% respectively.

Out of the 464 kinds of industrial products, 346 kinds realized year-on-year increase in output. In the first three quarters, the sales-output ratio of industrial enterprises above designated size was 97.7%, or 0.2 percentage point higher than that in the first half of the year. The export delivery value reached 8,748.3 billion yuan, up by 6.4%. In September, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 8.0% year-on-year, or 0.91% month-on-month.

In the first eight months of this year, the profits made by industrial enterprises above designated size stood at 3,833.0 billion yuan, up by 10.0% year-on-year. Of this total, the profit from primary activities was 3,587.0 billion yuan, up by 9.6%. The costs for per-hundred-yuan turnover of primary activities of the industrial enterprises above designated size reached 86.06 yuan and the profit rate of the primary activities was 5.52%.

Investment in Fixed Assets Slowed Down.

In the first three quarters, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 35,778.7 billion yuan, a growth of 16.1% (a real growth of 15.3% after deducting price factors), or 1.2 percentage points lower than that in the first half of the year.

Investment in the state-owned and state holding enterprises reached 11,236.9 billion yuan, a rise of 14.1%; private investment reached 23,150.9 billion yuan, up by 18.3%, accounting for 64.7% of the total investment.

The growth in eastern, central and western regions was 14.9%, 17.8% and 17.9% respectively. The investment in the primary industry was 864.2 billion yuan, up by 27.7%; the secondary industry 15,018.0 billion yuan, up by 13.7%; and the tertiary industry 19,896.5 billion yuan, an increase of 17.4%. The funds in place for investment in the first three quarters were 39,114.1 billion yuan, up by 12.4%. Specifically, the state budget went up by 14.1%, domestic loans up by 11.2%, self-raising funds up by 16.1%, and foreign investment down by 7.0%. The total planned investment in newly-started projects in the first three quarters was 30,372.9 billion yuan, an increase of 14.4%. In September, investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) grew by 0.77% month-on-month.

The total investment in real estate development in the first three quarters was 6,875.1 billion yuan, a nominal annual growth of 12.5% (a real growth of 11.7% after deducting price factors), or 1.6 percentage points lower than that in the first half of the year. In particular, the investment in residential buildings went up by 11.3%. The floor space started in the first three quarters was 1,314.11 million square meters, down by 9.3%. Specifically, the floor space of residential buildings went down by 13.5%. The floor space of commercial buildings sold was 771.32 million square meters, down by 8.6%. Specifically, the floor space of residential buildings sold was down by 10.3%. The total sales of commercial buildings were 4,922.7 billion yuan, down by 8.9%. Specifically, the sales of residential buildings were down by 10.8%. The land space purchased for real estate development was 240.14 million square meters, down by 4.6%. By the end of September, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale was 571.48 million square meters, up by 28.0%. The funds in place for real estate development enterprises in the first three quarters reached 8,986.9 billion yuan, up by 2.3%.

Sales on Domestic Markets Enjoyed a Steady Growth.

In the first three quarters, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 18,915.1 billion yuan, a nominal annual rise of 12.0% (a real growth of 10.8% after deducting price factors), or 0.1 percentage point lower than that in the first half of the year.

The retail sales of the enterprises (units) above designated size stood at 9,423.3 billion yuan, up by 9.5%. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 16,313.2 billion yuan, up by 11.9%, and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 2,601.9 billion yuan, up by 13.0%.

Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of catering industry was 1,993.4 billion yuan, up by 9.7%; and the retail sales of goods were 16,921.7 billion yuan, up by 12.3%. In particular, the retail sales of the enterprises (units) above designated size reached 8,841.4 billion yuan, an annual growth of 10.1%. In September, the total retail sales of consumer goods rose 11.6% year-on-year (a real growth of 10.8% after deducting price factors), or 0.85% month-on-month.

In the first three quarters, the online retail sales reached 1,823.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 49.9%, and the online retail sales of the enterprises (units) above designated size stood at 288.8 billion yuan, up by 54.8%.

The Growth Rates of Imports and Exports Picked up.

The total value of imports and exports in the first three quarters was 19,422.3 billion yuan or 3,162.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 3.3%, or 2.1 percentage points higher than that in the first half of the year.

The total value of exports was 10,422.4 billion yuan, or 1,697.1 billion US dollars, up by 5.1%; the total value of imports was 8,999.8 billion yuan, or 1,465.5 billion US dollars, an increase of 1.3%. The trade surplus was 1,422.6 billion yuan or 231.6 billion US dollars.

In September, the total value of imports and exports was 2,441.7 billion yuan or 396.4 billion US dollars, up by 11.3%. The total value of exports was 1,315.9 billion yuan or 213.7 billion US dollars, up by 15.3%; and that of imports was 1,125.8 billion yuan or 182.7 billion US dollars, up by 7.0%.

The Growth of Consumer Price was Generally Stable.

In the first three quarters, the consumer price went up by 2.1% year-on-year, or 0.2 percentage point lower than that in the first half of the year. Specifically, the price went up by 2.2% in urban areas and 1.9% in rural areas.

Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food rose by 3.3%; tobacco, liquor and articles down by 0.6%; clothing up by 2.4%; household facilities, articles and maintenance services up by 1.2%; health care and personal articles grew by 1.2%; transportation and communication up by 0.1%; recreation, education, culture articles and services grew by 2.2% and housing went up by 2.3%.

In terms of food prices, grain grew up by 3.1%, oil or fat down by 5.0%, pork down by 4.5% and fresh vegetables down by 1.3%. In September, the consumer prices went up by 1.6% year-on-year, or 0.5% month-on-month.

In the first three quarters, the producer prices for industrial products went down by 1.6% year-on-year, while the price in September dropped by 1.8% year-on-year and 0.4% month-on-month. The purchasing price for industrial producers was down by 1.8% year-on-year. In September, the price was down by 1.9% year-on-year and 0.4% month-on-month.

Residents’ Income Kept Steady Growth.

In the first three quarters, the per capita cash income of rural households was 8,527 yuan, up by 11.8% nominally, or 9.7% in real terms. The per capita disposable income of urban households was 22,044 yuan, a nominal growth of 9.3%, or a real growth of 6.9% after deducting price factors.

Based on the integrated household survey, in the first three quarters of 2014, the national per capita disposable income was 14,986 yuan, a nominal growth of 10.5% or a real increase of 8.2%. The median of the national per capita disposable income was 13,120 yuan, a nominal increase of 12.1%.

By the end of September, the number of rural migrant workers was 175.61 million, which was 1.69 million more than that in the same period last year, or up by 1.0%. The average monthly income of migrant workers was 2,797 yuan, up by 10.0%.

Structural Adjustment Achieved Considerable Progress.

The industrial structure was more optimized. In the first three quarters, the value added of the tertiary industry accounted for 46.7% of the GDP, which was 1.2 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year, or 2.5percentage points higher than that of the secondary industry.

The structure of domestic demand continued to be improved. In the first three quarters, the final consumption expenditure accounted for 48.5% of the GDP growth, which was 2.7 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year. The income gap between urban and rural households was further narrowed.

In the first three quarters, the real growth of the per capita cash income of rural households was 2.8 percentage points higher than the per capita disposable income of urban households. The per capita income of urban households was 2.59 times that of the rural households, 0.05 less than that of the same period last year. Energy conservation and consumption reduction continued to make new achievements. In the first three quarters, the energy consumption per unit of GDP went down by 4.6%.

Money Supply Maintained a Steady Growth.

By the end of September, the balance of broad money (M2) was 120.21 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 12.9%; the balance of narrow money (M1) was 32.72 trillion yuan, up by 4.8%; and the balance of cash in circulation (M0) was 5.88 trillion yuan, a rise of 4.2%.

At the end of September, the amount of outstanding loans was 79.58 trillion yuan, while the amount of outstanding deposits was 112.66 trillion yuan. In the first three quarters, the newly increased loans reached 7.68 trillion yuan, an increase of 404.5 billion yuan; the newly increased deposits were 8.27 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2.99 trillion yuan year-on-year. The social financing reached 12.84 trillion yuan, a decrease of 1.12 trillion yuan year-on-year.

China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in more than five years in Q3 2014 though the data still beats estimates.

Read more: China Consumer Prices Index Up by 1.6% YoY in September

There are about 2.7 million HNWIs (High Net Worth Individuals) in China each of whose assets totals over $0.95 million. And, the number of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs), each with personal assets worth over $15.8 million, reached 63,500. 

Over 60% of HNWIs in China are collectors; and, watches are their favorites. The collections mainly are from their personal interest.

Hong Kong is really a paradise to shop and 73% of Chinese HNWIs like to shop there during a year.

Watches are favored by males and cosmetics are favored by females in overseas shopping.

UHNWIs are tending to favor yachts and jets more recently.

HNWIs would like to send watches as best choices for gifts. They usually spend $24,000 per year on giving out gifts.

Although China’s real estate is not running so well in recent years, it is still HNWIs’ favorite personal investment.

Over one third of HNWIs in China have pets and 5% of pets owners have chinchillas.

Travel accounts for 19% of HNWIs’ total spending, and it is estimated that they will spend more on travel in the future.

Education is another huge spend of HNWIs, 85% of HNWIs like to send their children abroad for further education.

18% of Chinese have belief in Buddhism; 29% of HNWIs have belief in Buddhism.

Although most Chinese HNWIs are not used to online shopping, Internet is the first choice for them to know details of their necessary goods.

Most HNWIs are Beijing, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and ect.

Also read: Alibaba Chairman Jack Man is the Richest Man in China

Over the 12 months ended March 2014, buyers from China purchased U.S. properties estimated at $22 billion in total value, approximately a quarter of total international sales according to Realtor.

Highlights of Realtor Findings

• The median price was $523,148, and the mean price was $590,826
• 76% of purchases were reported as all-cash purchases
• Chinese buyers preferred urban (37%) and suburban areas (46%)
• About half of purchases are for vacation/residential rental purposes; 39% for primary residence, and 5% for commercial rental use
• The five markets of greatest interest to potential Chinese buyers were Los Angeles, San Francisco, Irvine, New York, and Las Vegas