2023 was the opening year for the comprehensive implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and a year for economic recovery and development after three years of COVID-19 prevention and control. Faced with a complex and severe international environment and arduous domestic reform, development, and stability tasks, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, all regions and departments adhered to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, comprehensively implemented the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC and the Second Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, followed the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, upheld the general work guideline of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, comprehensively, accurately, and fully implemented the new development philosophy, accelerated the construction of a new development paradigm, focused on promoting high-quality development, comprehensively deepened reform and opening up, increased the intensity of macroeconomic regulation and control, focused on expanding domestic demand, optimizing structure, boosting confidence, and preventing and resolving risks. The national economy showed signs of recovery and improvement, high-quality development made solid progress, the construction of a modern industrial system made significant progress, scientific and technological innovation achieved new breakthroughs, reform and opening up advanced in depth, the foundation for safe development was consolidated and strengthened, people's livelihood was effectively guaranteed, the overall social situation was harmonious and stable, and significant steps were taken in the comprehensive construction of a socialist modern country.

I. Overview

According to preliminary calculations, the annual GDP[2] was 126,058.2 billion yuan, an increase of 5.2% over the previous year. Of this, the added value of the primary industry was 8,975.5 billion yuan, an increase of 4.1% over the previous year; the added value of the secondary industry was 48,258.9 billion yuan, an increase of 4.7%; and the added value of the tertiary industry was 68,823.8 billion yuan, an increase of 5.8%. The added value of the primary industry accounted for 7.1% of GDP, the added value of the secondary industry accounted for 38.3%, and the added value of the tertiary industry accounted for 54.6%. Final consumption expenditure contributed 4.3 percentage points to GDP growth, total capital formation contributed 1.5 percentage points, and net exports of goods and services subtracted 0.6 percentage points. In terms of quarters, GDP grew by 4.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, 6.3% in the second quarter, 4.9% in the third quarter, and 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Per capita GDP for the year was 89,358 yuan, an increase of 5.4% over the previous year. Gross national income[3] was 125,129.7 billion yuan, an increase of 5.6% over the previous year. Total factor productivity[4] was 161,615 yuan/person, an increase of 5.7% over the previous year. (See Figure 1)(See Figure 2)(See Figure 3)

At the end of the year, the national population[5] was 1,409.67 million, a decrease of 2.08 million from the end of the previous year, of which 932.67 million were urban residents. The number of births for the year was 9.02 million, with a birth rate of 6.39‰; the number of deaths was 11.1 million, with a death rate of 7.87‰; and the natural population growth rate was -1.48‰. (See Table 1)

At the end of the year, the national employed population was 740.41 million, of which 470.32 million were employed in urban areas, accounting for 63.5% of the national employed population. The year saw the addition of 12.44 million new urban jobs[7], 380,000 more than the previous year. The average national urban registered unemployment rate for the year was 5.2%. The national urban registered unemployment rate at the end of the year was 5.1%. The total number of rural migrant workers[8] was 297.53 million, an increase of 0.6% over the previous year. Of these, 176.58 million were migrant workers from outside their hometowns, an increase of 2.7%; and 120.95 million were local rural migrant workers, a decrease of 2.2%. (See Figure 4)

The resident consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.2% year-on-year. The producer Price Index (PPI) for industrial products fell by 3.0%. The purchase Price Index (PPI) for industrial products fell by 3.6%. The producer Price Index for agricultural products[9] fell by 2.3%. In December, among the 70 large and medium-sized cities, 20 cities saw year-on-year increases in new commercial housing sales Prices, 2 cities saw no change, and 48 cities saw declines; 1 city saw a year-on-year increase in the sales Prices of second-hand houses, and 69 cities saw declines. (See Figure 5)(See Table 2)

At the end of the year, the country's foreign exchange reserves were US$323.8 billion, an increase of US$11.03 billion from the end of the previous year. The average RMB exchange rate for the year was 7.0467 RMB per US dollar, a depreciation of 4.5% compared to the previous year. (See Figure 6)

New drivers of growth expanded significantly. Among large-scale industrial enterprises[11] for the year, the added value of the equipment manufacturing industry[12] grew by 6.8%, accounting for 33.6% of the added value of large-scale industrial enterprises; the added value of the high-tech manufacturing industry[13] grew by 2.7%, accounting for 15.7% of the added value of large-scale industrial enterprises. The output of new energy vehicles reached 9.443 million units, an increase of 30.3% year-on-year; the output of solar cells (photovoltaic cells) reached 540 million kilowatts, an increase of 54.0%; the output of service robots reached 7.833 million units, an increase of 23.3%; and the output of 3D printing equipment reached 2.789 million units, an increase of 36.2%. Among large-scale service industries[14], the operating income of strategic emerging service industries[15] increased by 7.7% year-on-year. Investment in high-tech industries[16] increased by 10.3% year-on-year, and investment in manufacturing industry technological transformation[17] increased by 3.8%. E-Business transaction volume[18] reached 46,827.3 billion yuan, an increase of 9.4% year-on-year. Online retail sales[19] reached 15,426.4 billion yuan, an increase of 11.0% year-on-year. The year saw the establishment of 32.73 million new business entities, with an average of 27,000 new enterprises established per day.

The pace of rural-urban integration and regional coordinated development remained steady. At the end of the year, the national urbanization rate of permanent residents was 66.16%, an increase of 0.94 percentage points from the end of the previous year. By region[20], the GDP of the eastern region was 65208.4 billion yuan, an increase of 5.4% year-on-year; the GDP of the central region was 26989.8 billion yuan, an increase of 4.9%; the GDP of the western region was 26932.5 billion yuan, an increase of 5.5%; and the GDP of the northeastern region was 5962.4 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8%. For the year, the GDP of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was 10444.2 billion yuan, an increase of 5.1% year-on-year; the GDP of the Yangtze River Economic Belt was 58427.4 billion yuan, an increase of 5.5%; and the GDP of the Yangtze River Delta region was 30504.5 billion yuan, an increase of 5.7%. The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, and other major regional strategies were advanced significantly. (See Figure 7)

The green and low-carbon transition was advanced significantly. For the year, national carbon dioxide emissions per 10,000 yuan of GDP[21] remained stable compared to the previous year. The power generation of clean energy sources such as hydropower, nuclear power, wind power, and solar power reached 3,190.6 billion kilowatt-hours, an increase of 7.8% year-on-year. Among the 339 cities at or above the prefecture level that were monitored, 59.9% met air quality standards and 40.1% did not. Among the 3,641 national surface water assessment sections, 89.4% had excellent water quality (Ⅰ—Ⅲ category), 8.4% were in category Ⅳ, 1.5% in category Ⅴ, and 0.7% in category 劣Ⅴ.

II. Agriculture

The area of grain planting for the year was 118.97 million hectares, an increase of 0.64 million hectares over the previous year. Of this, the area of rice planting was 28.95 million hectares, a decrease of 0.5 million hectares; the area of wheat planting was 23.63 million hectares, an increase of 0.11 million hectares; the area of corn planting was 44.22 million hectares, an increase of 1.15 million hectares; and the area of soybean planting was 10.47 million hectares, an increase of 0.23 million hectares. The area of cotton planting was 2.79 million hectares, a decrease of 0.21 million hectares. The area of oilseed planting was 13.92 million hectares, an increase of 0.78 million hectares. The area of sugar crop planting was 1.42 million hectares, a decrease of 0.03 million hectares.

The annual grain output was 695.41 million tons, an increase of 8.88 million tons over the previous year, an increase of 1.3%. Of this, summer grain output was 146.15 million tons, a decrease of 0.8%; early rice output was 28.34 million tons, an increase of 0.8%; and autumn grain output was 520.92 million tons, an increase of 1.9%. The output of grains was 641.43 million tons, an increase of 1.3% over the previous year. Of this, rice output was 206.6 million tons, a decrease of 0.9%; wheat output was 136.59 million tons, a decrease of 0.8%; and corn output was 288.84 million tons, an increase of 4.2%. Soybean output was 20.84 million tons, an increase of 2.8%. (See Figure 8)

Cotton production totaled 5.62 million tons for the year, a decrease of 6.1% compared to the previous year. Oilseed production reached 38.64 million tons, an increase of 5.7%. Sugarcane production amounted to 115.04 million tons, a 2.4% increase. Tea production reached 3.55 million tons, up by 6.1%.

The total output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry meat reached 96.41 million tons, a 4.5% increase compared to the previous year. This includes 57.94 million tons of pork (a 4.6% increase), 7.53 million tons of beef (a 4.8% increase), 5.31 million tons of mutton (a 1.3% increase), and 25.63 million tons of poultry meat (a 4.9% increase). Poultry egg production reached 35.63 million tons, a 3.1% increase. Milk production reached 41.97 million tons, a 6.7% increase. The year-end hog inventory stood at 434.22 million heads, a 4.1% decrease from the end of the previous year; the total hog slaughter for the year reached 726.62 million heads, a 3.8% increase compared to the previous year.

Total aquatic product output for the year reached 71 million tons, a 3.4% increase compared to the previous year. This includes 58.12 million tons from aquaculture (a 4.4% increase) and 12.88 million tons from fishing (a 1.0% decrease).

Timber production for the year totaled 119.44 million cubic meters, a decrease of 2.0% compared to the previous year.

The area of newly built and upgraded high-standard farmland reached 5.74 million hectares, with an additional 1.64 million hectares of efficient water-saving irrigation.

III. Industry and Construction

The total industrial added value for the year reached 39.9103 trillion yuan, a 4.2% increase compared to the previous year. The added value of large-scale industries increased by 4.6%. Among large-scale industries, by economic type, the added value of state-controlled enterprises increased by 5.0%; joint-stock enterprises increased by 5.3%; foreign-funded and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan-invested enterprises increased by 1.4%; and privately-owned enterprises increased by 3.1%. By category, mining increased by 2.3%, manufacturing increased by 5.0%, and the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas, and water increased by 4.3%. (See Figure 9)

Among large-scale industrial enterprises for the year, the added value of agricultural and sideline food processing increased by 0.2% compared to the previous year, textiles decreased by 0.6%, chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing increased by 9.6%, non-metallic mineral products decreased by 0.5%, ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing increased by 7.1%, general equipment manufacturing increased by 2.0%, special equipment manufacturing increased by 3.6%, automobile manufacturing increased by 13.0%, electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing increased by 12.9%, computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing increased by 3.4%, and the production and supply of electricity and heat increased by 4.3%. (See Table 3)

The total profit of large-scale industrial enterprises for the year reached 7.6858 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2.3% compared to the previous year. By economic type, the profit of state-controlled enterprises was 2.2623 trillion yuan, a decrease of 3.4% compared to the previous year; joint-stock enterprises, 5.6773 trillion yuan, a decrease of 1.2%; foreign-funded and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan-invested enterprises, 1.7975 trillion yuan, a decrease of 6.7%; and privately-owned enterprises, 2.3438 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.0%. By category, the profit of the mining industry was 1.2392 trillion yuan, a decrease of 19.7% compared to the previous year; manufacturing, 5.7644 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2.0%; and the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas, and water, 0.6822 trillion yuan, an increase of 54.7%. The cost per 100 yuan of operating revenue for large-scale industrial enterprises was 84.76 yuan, an increase of 0.04 yuan compared to the previous year; the operating revenue profit margin was 5.76%, a decrease of 0.20 percentage points. The asset-liability ratio of large-scale industrial enterprises at the end of the year was 57.1%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the end of the previous year. The capacity utilization rate of large-scale industries for the year[24] was 75.1%.

Preliminary calculations show that the total primary energy production for the year was 4.83 billion tons of standard coal, a 4.2% increase compared to the previous year. (See Table 4)

At the end of the year, the national installed power generation capacity was 2,919.65 million kilowatts, a 13.9% increase from the end of the previous year. Among these[26], thermal power generation capacity was 1,390.32 million kilowatts, an increase of 4.1%; hydropower generation capacity was 421.54 million kilowatts, an increase of 1.8%; nuclear power generation capacity was 56.91 million kilowatts, an increase of 2.4%; grid-connected wind power generation capacity was 441.34 million kilowatts, an increase of 20.7%; and grid-connected solar power generation capacity was 609.49 million kilowatts, an increase of 55.2%.

The added value of the construction industry for the year reached 856.91 billion yuan, a 7.1% increase compared to the previous year. The profit of national general contracting and specialized contracting construction enterprises with qualification grades was 832.6 billion yuan, an increase of[27] 0.2% compared to the previous year, of which state-controlled enterprises accounted for 401.9 billion yuan, an increase of 4.3%. (See Figure 10)

IV. Service Industry

The added value of the wholesale and retail industry for the year reached 12.3072 trillion yuan, a 6.2% increase compared to the previous year; transportation, warehousing, and postal services, 5.7820 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.0%; accommodation and catering, 2.1024 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.5%; finance, 10.0677 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.8%; real estate, 7.3723 trillion yuan, a decrease of 1.3%; information transmission, software, and information technology services, 5.5194 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.9%; and leasing and business services, 4.4347 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.3%. The operating revenue of large-scale service enterprises increased by 8.3% compared to the previous year, and the total profit increased by 26.8%. (See Figure 11)

The total volume of goods transportation[28] for the year reached 55.7 billion tons, an increase of 8.1% compared to the previous year. The goods transportation turnover reached 24771.3 billion ton-kilometers, an increase of 6.3%. Ports completed a cargo throughput of 17 billion tons, an increase of 8.2% compared to the previous year, of which foreign trade cargo throughput was 5 billion tons, an increase of 9.5%. Port container throughput reached 31.034 million standard containers, an increase of 4.9%. (See Table 5)

The total passenger transportation volume for the year reached 9.3 billion person-times, an increase of 66.5% compared to the previous year. Passenger transportation turnover reached 2861 billion person-kilometers, an increase of 121.4%. (See Table 6)

At the end of the year, the national stock of civilian vehicles was 336.18 million (including 7.06 million three-wheeled vehicles and low-speed trucks), an increase of 17.14 million compared to the end of the previous year, of which private cars accounted for 294.27 million, an increase of 15.53 million. The stock of civilian cars reached 186.68 million, an increase of 9.28 million, of which private cars accounted for 175.41 million, an increase of 8.56 million.

The total volume of postal services for the year[29] reached 162.5 billion pieces, an increase of 16.8% compared to the previous year. The postal sector completed 970 million pieces of postal mail, 20 million pieces of parcel business, and 132.07 billion pieces of express delivery business, with express delivery revenue reaching 1.2074 trillion yuan. The total volume of telecommunications services for the year[30] reached 1.8327 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.8% compared to the previous year. The number of mobile phone base stations at the end of the year[31] was 11.62 million, including 6.29 million 4G base stations and 3.38 million 5G base stations. The total number of telephone users nationwide was 1899.92 million, including 1726.60 million mobile phone users. The mobile phone penetration rate was 122.5 sets per 100 people. Fixed internet broadband access users[32] reached 636.31 million, an increase of 46.66 million compared to the end of the previous year, of which users with speeds of 100M or higher[33] reached 601.36 million, an increase of 47.56 million. Cellular Internet of Things terminal users[34] reached 2.332 billion, an increase of 488 million. The number of internet users was 1.092 billion, of which 1.091 billion accessed the internet via mobile phones. The internet penetration rate was 77.5%, of which the internet penetration rate in rural areas was 66.5%. The total mobile internet user access traffic for the year was 3015 billion GB, an increase of 15.2% compared to the previous year. The software and information technology services industry[35] completed software business revenue of 12.3258 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.4% compared to the previous year. (See Figure 12) (See Figure 13)

V. Domestic Trade

Total retail sales of consumer goods reached 47,149.5 billion yuan for the year, up 7.2% year-on-year. By operating location, retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas totaled 40,749 billion yuan, up 7.1%; and in rural areas, 640.05 billion yuan, up 8.0%. By consumption type, commodity retail sales totaled 41,860.5 billion yuan, up 5.8%; and catering revenue reached 528.9 billion yuan, up 20.4%. Service retail sales [36] increased by 20.0% year-on-year. (See Figure 14)

Among retail sales of goods by units above designated size for the whole year, the retail sales of grain, oil, and food increased by 5.2% year-on-year, beverages by 3.2%, tobacco and alcohol by 10.6%, clothing, shoes, hats, and textiles by 12.9%, cosmetics by 5.1%, gold and silver jewelry by 13.3%, daily necessities by 2.7%, household appliances and audio-visual equipment by 0.5%, Chinese and Western medicines by 5.1%, cultural and office supplies by -6.1%, furniture by 2.8%, communication equipment by 7.0%, petroleum and its products by 6.6%, automobiles by 5.9%, and building and decoration materials by -7.8%.

Total online retail sales of physical goods reached 13,017.4 billion yuan for the year. In comparable terms, this was an increase of 8.4% year-on-year, accounting for 27.6% of total retail sales of consumer goods.

VI. Fixed Asset Investment

Total fixed asset investment across society reached 50,970.8 billion yuan for the year, up [37]2.8% year-on-year. Fixed asset investment (excluding farmers) reached 50,303.6 billion yuan, up 3.0%. In fixed asset investment (excluding farmers), by region [38], investment in the eastern region increased by 4.4%, the central region by 0.3%, the western region by 0.1%, and the northeast region decreased by 1.8%.

In fixed asset investment (excluding farmers), investment in the primary industry totaled 1,008.5 billion yuan, down 0.1% year-on-year; in the secondary industry, 16,213.6 billion yuan, up 9.0%; and in the tertiary industry, 33,081.5 billion yuan, up 0.4%. Infrastructure investment [39] increased by 5.9%. Investment in the social sector [40] increased by 0.5%. Private fixed asset investment [41] totaled 25,354.4 billion yuan, down 0.4%; among which, private investment in manufacturing increased by 9.4%, and private investment in infrastructure by 14.2%. (See Figure 15) (See Table 7) (See Table 8)

Real estate development investment totaled 11,091.3 billion yuan for the year, down [43]9.6% year-on-year. Of this, residential investment totaled 8,382 billion yuan, down 9.3%; office building investment, 453.1 billion yuan, down 9.4%; and commercial and business building investment, 805.5 billion yuan, down 16.9%. The area of newly built commercial housing sold during the year [44] reached 11,173.5 million square meters. The area of pre-signed second-hand house transactions [45] reached 7,088.2 million square meters. The area of unsold newly built commercial housing at the end of the year was 67,295 million square meters, of which 33,119 million square meters was residential housing. (See Table 9)

Nationwide, 1.59 million units of various types of shantytown renovation projects were started, and 1.93 million units were basically completed; 2.13 million units (sets) of affordable rental housing were started and collected. 53,700 old urban residential communities were renovated, involving 8.97 million households.

VII. Foreign Economic Relations

Total import and export of goods reached 41,756.8 billion yuan for the year, up 0.2% year-on-year. Of this, exports reached 23,772.6 billion yuan, up 0.6%; and imports, 17,984.2 billion yuan, down 0.3%. The trade surplus of goods reached 57,883 billion yuan, an increase of 1,938 billion yuan compared to the previous year. Import and export volume with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative [46] reached 19,471.9 billion yuan, up 2.8% year-on-year. Of this, exports reached 10,731.4 billion yuan, up 6.9%; and imports, 8,740.5 billion yuan, down 1.9%. The import and export volume with other member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) [47] reached 12,596.7 billion yuan, down 1.6% year-on-year. Import and export volume for private enterprises reached 22,360.1 billion yuan, up 6.3% year-on-year, accounting for 53.5% of total import and export volume. (See Figure 16) (See Table 10) (See Table 11) (See Table 12) (See Table 13)

Total import and export of services reached 6,575.4 billion yuan for the year, up 10.0% year-on-year. Of this, exports reached 2,685.7 billion yuan, down 5.8%; and imports, 3,889.8 billion yuan, up 24.4%. The trade deficit in services reached 1204.1 billion yuan.

For the year, 53,766 new foreign-invested enterprises were established, up 39.7% year-on-year. The actual amount of utilized foreign direct investment was 1,133.9 billion yuan, down 8.0%, or US$ 163.3 billion, down 13.7%. Among them, 13,649 new enterprises were established with foreign direct investment from countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (including investment in China through some free ports), up 82.7%; foreign direct investment in China totaled 122.1 billion yuan, down 11.4%, or US$ 17.6 billion, down 16.7%. The actual use of foreign investment in high-tech industries was 423.3 billion yuan, down 4.9%, or US$ 61 billion, down 10.8%. (See Table 14)

For the year, the amount of outward non-financial direct investment was 917 billion yuan, up 16.7% year-on-year, or US$ 130.1 billion, up 11.4%. Of this, outward non-financial direct investment in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 224.1 billion yuan, up 28.4%, or US$ 31.8 billion, up 22.6%. (See Table 15)

For the year, the turnover of overseas contracting engineering projects reached 1,133.9 billion yuan, up 8.8% year-on-year, or US$ 160.9 billion, up 3.8%. Among them, the turnover of projects in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative reached US$ 132.1 billion, up 4.8%, accounting for 82.1% of the total turnover of overseas contracting engineering projects. 350,000 various types of labor personnel were sent out for overseas labor cooperation.

VIII. Finance and Fiscal Affairs

Total general public budget revenue reached 21,678.4 billion yuan for the year, up 6.4% year-on-year; of which, tax revenue reached 18,112.9 billion yuan, up 8.7%. Total general public budget expenditure reached 27,457.4 billion yuan, up 5.4% year-on-year. Over 2.2 trillion yuan in tax cuts, fee reductions, and tax rebates and deferrals were added for the year. (See Figure 17)

At the end of the year, the balance of broad money supply (M2) was 292.3 trillion yuan, up 9.7% year-on-year; the balance of narrow money supply (M1) was 68.1 trillion yuan, up 1.3%; and the balance of currency in circulation (M0) was 11.3 trillion yuan, up 8.3%.

The incremental social financing scale [48] for the year reached 35.6 trillion yuan, 3.4 trillion yuan more than the previous year in comparable terms. The outstanding balance of the social financing scale at the end of the year [49] reached 378.1 trillion yuan, up 9.5% year-on-year in comparable terms, of which the outstanding balance of RMB loans issued to the real economy reached 235.5 trillion yuan, up 10.4%. At the end of the year, the total balance of deposits in various currencies of all financial institutions was 289.9 trillion yuan, an increase of 25.4 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year, of which the balance of RMB deposits was 284.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 25.7 trillion yuan. The total balance of loans in various currencies of all financial institutions was 242.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.2 trillion yuan, of which the balance of RMB loans was 237.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.7 trillion yuan. The outstanding balance of RMB inclusive small and micro loans [50] was 29.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.6 trillion yuan. The outstanding balance of RMB medium and long-term loans for manufacturing was 12.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.1 trillion yuan. (See Table 16)

At the end of the year, the outstanding balance of RMB loans from major rural financial institutions (rural credit cooperatives, rural cooperative banks, and rural commercial banks) was 29,358.4 billion yuan, an increase of 2636.3 billion yuan from the beginning of the year. The outstanding balance of RMB consumer loans of all financial institutions was 57,943.8 billion yuan, an increase of 10,992 billion yuan. Of this, the outstanding balance of short-term consumer loans for households was 10,354.1 billion yuan, an increase of 507.8 billion yuan; and the outstanding balance of medium and long-term consumer loans for households was 47,589.7 billion yuan, an increase of 591.4 billion yuan.

A total of 10.734 trillion yuan was raised through the issuance of A-shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges throughout the year[51], a decrease of 4.375 trillion yuan compared to the previous year. 236 A-shares were issued through initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, raising 3.418 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2.286 trillion yuan compared to the previous year. Among them, 67 stocks were issued on the STAR Market, raising 1.439 trillion yuan; A-share refinancing (including public offerings, private placements, share offerings, preferred stocks, and convertible bond conversions) totaled 7.316 trillion yuan on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, a decrease of 2.089 trillion yuan. The Beijing Stock Exchange issued 77 stocks, raising [52] 14.6 billion yuan. Throughout the year, various entities raised 13.0677 trillion yuan by issuing bonds (including corporate bonds, asset-backed securities, government bonds, local government bonds, and policy bank bonds) through the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing stock exchanges. Among them, 40 infrastructure real estate investment trusts (REITs) were issued and listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, raising 91.4 billion yuan. The National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ)[53] had 6,241 listed companies, with a total of 18 billion yuan raised through equity financing throughout the year.

A total of 13.8 trillion yuan in corporate credit bonds were issued throughout the year[54], an increase of 0.1 trillion yuan compared to the previous year.

The total premiums written by insurance companies throughout the year[55] reached 5.1247 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.1% year-on-year. This included 2.7646 trillion yuan in life insurance premiums, 999.3 billion yuan in health and accident insurance premiums, and 1.3607 trillion yuan in property insurance premiums. A total of 1.8883 trillion yuan in claims and benefits were paid out. This included 550.5 billion yuan in life insurance payouts, 420.7 billion yuan in health and accident insurance claims and payouts, and 917.1 billion yuan in property insurance claims.

IX. Residents' Income, Consumption and Social Security

The per capita disposable income of residents nationwide throughout the year was 39,218 yuan, an increase of 6.3% year-on-year; after adjusting for Price factors, the actual increase was 6.1%. The median per capita disposable income of residents nationwide[56] was 33,036 yuan, an increase of 5.3%. By place of residence, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 51,821 yuan, an increase of 5.1% year-on-year; after adjusting for Price factors, the actual increase was 4.8%. The median per capita disposable income of urban residents was 47,122 yuan, an increase of 4.4%. The per capita disposable income of rural residents was 21,691 yuan, an increase of 7.7% year-on-year; after adjusting for Price factors, the actual increase was 7.6%. The median per capita disposable income of rural residents was 18,748 yuan, an increase of 5.7%. The ratio of per capita disposable income between urban and rural residents was 2.39, a decrease of 0.06 compared to the previous year. According to the income quintile grouping of residents nationwide[57], the per capita disposable income of the low-income group was 9,215 yuan, the lower-middle income group was 20,442 yuan, the middle income group was 32,195 yuan, the upper-middle income group was 50,220 yuan, and the high-income group was 95,055 yuan. The average monthly income of rural migrant workers nationwide was 4,780 yuan, an increase of 3.6% year-on-year. The per capita disposable income of rural residents in poverty-stricken counties[58] was 16,396 yuan, an increase of 8.5% year-on-year; after adjusting for Price factors, the actual increase was 8.4%.

The per capita consumption expenditure of residents nationwide throughout the year was 26,796 yuan, an increase of 9.2% year-on-year; after adjusting for Price factors, the actual increase was 9.0%. Among this, per capita expenditure on services[59] was 12,114 yuan, an increase of 14.4% year-on-year, accounting for 45.2% of per capita consumption expenditure. By place of residence, the per capita consumption expenditure of urban residents was 32,994 yuan, an increase of 8.6% year-on-year; after adjusting for Price factors, the actual increase was 8.3%; the per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was 18,175 yuan, an increase of 9.3% year-on-year; after adjusting for Price factors, the actual increase was 9.2%. The Engel coefficient for residents nationwide was 29.8%, with 28.8% for urban residents and 32.4% for rural residents. (See Figure 18) (See Figure 19)

At the end of the year, the number of people participating in the urban employees' basic old-age insurance program nationwide was 521.21 million, an increase of 17.66 million compared to the end of the previous year. The number of participants in the urban and rural residents' basic old-age insurance program was 545.22 million, a decrease of 4.3 million. The number of people participating in the basic medical insurance program[60] was 1,333.87 million, including 370.94 million participating in the basic medical insurance for employees and 962.93 million participating in the basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents. The number of people participating in unemployment insurance was 243.73 million, an increase of 5.66 million. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance benefits was 3.52 million. The number of people participating in work-related injury insurance was 301.7 million, an increase of 10.54 million. The number of people participating in maternity insurance was 249.07 million. At the end of the year, there were a total of 6.64 million people enjoying minimum living allowances in cities nationwide, 33.99 million people enjoying minimum living allowances in rural areas, 4.35 million people receiving assistance and support for extremely impoverished people in rural areas[61], and 7.42 million people receiving temporary assistance[62] throughout the year. A total of 8.34 million retired military personnel and other beneficiaries received regular state pensions and living allowances throughout the year.

At the end of the year, there were a total of 44,000 civil affairs service institutions providing accommodation nationwide, including 41,000 elderly care institutions and 971 children's welfare and protection institutions. The number of beds in civil affairs service institutions[63] was 84.63 million, including 82.01 million beds in elderly care institutions and 98,000 beds in children's welfare and protection institutions.

X. Science, Technology and Education

Expenditure on research and development (R&D) throughout the year totaled 3.3278 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.1% year-on-year, representing 2.64% of GDP. Among this, the expenditure on basic research was 221.2 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3% year-on-year, accounting for 6.65% of R&D expenditure. The National Natural Science Foundation funded a total of 52,500 projects. By the end of the year, there were 207 national engineering research centers and 1,798 national enterprise technology centers under the new management sequence. The National Science and Technology Results Transformation Guiding Fund had established a total of 36 sub-funds, with a total fund size of 62.4 billion yuan. There were 1,606 national-level science and technology business incubators[64] and 2,376 national-level recorded maker spaces[65]. A total of 921,000 invention patents were granted throughout the year, an increase of 15.3% year-on-year. The number of PCT patent applications received[66] was 74,000. By the end of the year, there were 4.991 million valid invention patents, an increase of 18.5% compared to the end of the previous year. The number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people[67] was 11.8. A total of 4.383 million trademarks were registered throughout the year, a decrease of 29.0% year-on-year. A total of 950,000 technology contracts were signed throughout the year, with a total transaction value of 6.1476 trillion yuan, an increase of 28.6% year-on-year. The proportion of Chinese citizens with scientific literacy[68] reached 14.14%. (See Figure 20) (See Table 17)

A total of 66 space launches were successfully completed throughout the year. The Tianzhou 6, Shenzhou 16, and Shenzhou 17 missions were successively implemented, and the Chinese Space Station entered the application and development phase. The world's first liquid oxygen methane rocket, the Zhuque 2 Y2 launch vehicle, was successfully launched. The Jiu Zhang 3 quantum computing prototype was successfully built. The superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device achieved 403 seconds of steady-state high-confinement mode plasma operation. The world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant, the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor demonstration project, was put into commercial operation. The world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was connected to the grid. The C919 large passenger aircraft was officially put into commercial operation. The first domestically produced large cruise ship completed sea trials. The Fendouzhe manned submersible completed an extreme deep dive.

At the end of the year, there were a total of 877 national quality inspection centers. There were 1,242 product quality, system and service certification bodies nationwide, completing certifications for a total of 1.02 million enterprises. A total of 2,902 national standards were formulated and revised throughout the year, including 1,708 newly formulated standards. The product quality pass rate for the manufacturing industry throughout the year[69] was 93.65%.

Postgraduate enrollment totaled 1.302 million for the year, with 3.883 million postgraduate students enrolled and 1.015 million graduates. Undergraduate and vocational college enrollment reached 10.422 million, with 37.75 million students enrolled and 10.47 million graduates. Enrollment in secondary vocational education was 6.165 million, with 17.379 million students enrolled and 5.371 million graduates. Enrollment in ordinary high schools reached 9.678 million, with 28.036 million students enrolled and 8.604 million graduates. Junior high school enrollment totaled 17.546 million, with 52.437 million students enrolled and 16.236 million graduates. Enrollment in ordinary primary schools reached 18.779 million, with 108.36 million students enrolled and 17.635 million graduates. Special education enrollment was 155,000, with 912,000 students enrolled and 173,000 graduates. There were 40.93 million children enrolled in preschool education. The consolidation rate for nine-year compulsory education was 95.7%, and the gross enrollment rate for senior secondary education was 91.8%. (See Figure 21)

XI. Culture, Tourism, Health, and Sports

At the end of the year, there were 1,893 art performance groups under the cultural and tourism departments nationwide. Nationwide, there were 3,309 public libraries with a total circulation of 112.668 million; 3,508 cultural centers. There were 202 million cable television subscribers, of which 193 million were digital cable television subscribers. At the end of the year, the comprehensive population coverage rate for radio programs was 99.7%, and the comprehensive population coverage rate for television programs was 99.8%. 156 television dramas totaling 4,632 episodes were produced, as well as 93,811 minutes of television animation. 792 feature films, and 179 science, education, documentary, animation and special films were produced. 25.8 billion copies of newspapers, 1.8 billion copies of periodicals, and 11.9 billion copies (sets) of books were published; the per capita book ownership was 8.40 copies (sets). At the end of the year, there were 4,154 archives nationwide, with 238.27 million volumes (items) of various archives open to the public. The total operating revenue of large-scale cultural and related industries enterprises nationwide was 12.9515 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.2% over the previous year based on comparable figures.

Domestic tourism reached 4.89 billion person-times, an increase of 93.3% year-on-year. Of this, 3.76 billion person-times were by urban residents, an increase of 94.9%, and 1.13 billion person-times by rural residents, an increase of 88.5%. Total domestic tourist spending reached 4.9133 trillion yuan, an increase of 140.3%. Of this, urban residents spent 4.1781 trillion yuan, an increase of 147.5%, and rural residents spent 735.3 billion yuan, an increase of 106.4%. There were 82.03 million inbound tourists, including 13.78 million foreigners and 68.24 million compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Total spending by inbound tourists reached US$53 billion. There were 100.96 million outbound trips by domestic residents, of which 96.84 million were private trips, and 77.04 million were trips to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. (See Figure 22)

At the end of the year, there were 1.071 million medical and health institutions nationwide, including 39,000 hospitals, of which 12,000 were public hospitals and 27,000 were private hospitals; 1.016 million primary-level medical and health institutions, including 34,000 township health centers, 37,000 Community Health Service Centers (stations), 362,000 clinics, and 583,000 village clinics; 12,000 specialized public health institutions, including 3,426 disease prevention and control centers and 2,791 health supervision offices (centers). There were 12.47 million health professionals, including 4.78 million licensed physicians and assistant physicians and 5.63 million registered nurses. Medical and health institutions had 10.2 million beds, including 8 million in hospitals and 1.51 million in township health centers. Total number of outpatient visits for the year was 9.56 billion, and the number of discharged patients was 300 million. (See Figure 23)

At the end of the year, there were 4.593 million sports venues nationwide, with a total area of 4.07 billion square meters, and a per capita sports ground area of 2.89 square meters. Throughout the year, Chinese athletes won 165 world championships in 32 events, setting 20 world records. At the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, Chinese athletes won 201 gold medals and a total of 383 medals, winning the top spot on the Asian Games gold medal list for the 11th time. Chinese athletes with disabilities won 231 world championships in 45 international competitions. At the 4th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, Chinese athletes won 214 gold medals and a total of 521 medals, winning the top spot on both the gold and medal lists for the 4th time.

XII. Resources, Environment, and Emergency Management

The total supply of state-owned construction land nationwide was 749,000 hectares, a decrease of 2.1% year-on-year. Of this, 175,000 hectares were for industrial, mining, and warehousing purposes, a decrease of 11.9%; 84,000 hectares for real estate, a decrease of 23.3%; and 490,000 hectares for infrastructure, an increase of 7.2%.

The total amount of water resources was 2,478 billion cubic meters. Total water use was 590.7 billion cubic meters, down 1.5% year-on-year. Of this, domestic water use increased by 0.5%, industrial water use increased by 0.2%, agricultural water use decreased by 2.9%, and artificial ecological environment water replenishment increased by 3.9%. Water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP was 50 cubic meters, a decrease of 6.4%. Water consumption per 10,000 yuan of industrial added value was 26 cubic meters, down 3.9%. Per capita water consumption was 419 cubic meters, down 1.4%.

Afforestation completed 4 million hectares, of which 1.33 million hectares were artificial afforestation, accounting for 33.4% of total afforestation. Grassland improvement area was 4.38 million hectares. By the end of the year, there were 5 national parks. An additional 63,000 square kilometers of soil and water loss control was completed throughout the year.

Preliminary calculations show that total energy consumption was 5.72 billion tons of standard coal, an increase of 5.7% year-on-year. Coal consumption increased by 5.6%, crude oil consumption increased by 9.1%, natural gas consumption increased by 7.2%, and electricity consumption increased by 6.7%. The proportion of coal consumption in total energy consumption was 55.3%, down 0.7 percentage points year-on-year; the proportion of clean energy such as natural gas, hydropower, nuclear power, wind power, and solar power in total energy consumption was 26.4%, up 0.4 percentage points. The comprehensive energy consumption per unit of calcium carbide in key energy-consuming industrial enterprises decreased by 0.8%, the comprehensive energy consumption per unit of ammonia synthesis increased by 0.9%, the comprehensive energy consumption per ton of steel increased by 1.6%, the comprehensive energy consumption per unit of electrolytic aluminum decreased by 0.1%, and the standard coal consumption per kilowatt-hour of thermal power generation decreased by 0.2%. Preliminary estimates show that after deducting raw material energy consumption and non-fossil energy consumption, the national energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP decreased by 0.5% year-on-year. The trading volume of carbon emission allowances in the national carbon emission rights trading market was 212 million tons, and the transaction value was 14.44 billion yuan. (See Figure 24)

Throughout the year, the area of near-shore seawater that met the national Class I and II seawater quality standards was 85.0%, Class III seawater was 4.5%, and Class IV and inferior Class IV seawater was 10.5%.

Among the 339 cities at and above the prefecture level that were monitored, the annual average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was 30 μg/m³, an increase of 3.4% year-on-year.

Among the 326 cities where daytime urban area sound environment monitoring was conducted, 5.8% of the cities had good sound environmental quality throughout the year, 69.3% had relatively good quality, 23.9% had average quality, 0.9% had poor quality, and no cities had no quality assessment.

The average annual temperature was 10.71℃, an increase of 0.21℃ year-on-year. A total of 6 typhoons landed.

A total of 10.54 million hectares of farmland were affected by natural disasters throughout the year, with 0.98 million hectares completely lost. Direct economic losses amounted to 245.1 billion yuan due to floods and geological disasters, 20.6 billion yuan due to drought, 4.9 billion yuan due to low temperatures, freezing, and snowstorms, and 2.5 billion yuan due to marine disasters. A total of 11 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or above occurred, resulting in direct economic losses of 15.3 billion yuan. A total of 328 forest fires occurred, affecting approximately 0.4 million hectares of forest.

A total of 21,242 people died in various types of production safety accidents throughout the year, a decrease of 4.7% compared to the previous year. The death toll from production safety accidents among employees in industrial, mining, and commercial enterprises was 1.244 per 100,000 employees, an increase of 4.2% compared to the previous year; the death toll in coal mines was 0.094 per million tons, an increase of 23.7%. The death toll from road traffic accidents was 1.38 per 10,000 vehicles, a decrease of 5.5%.

Data Source:

Data on newly added urban employment, pension insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance, and technical schools in secondary vocational education in this communiqué are from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security; foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate data are from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange; data on business entities, quality inspection, national standard formulation and revision, and the qualified rate of manufactured products are from the State Administration for Market Regulation; environmental monitoring and carbon emission trading data are from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment; data on aquatic product output, newly built and upgraded high-standard farmland, and newly added efficient water-saving irrigation area are from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; data on timber output, afforestation area, grassland improvement area, and national parks are from the State Forestry and Grassland Administration; data on total water resources, water consumption, and newly added areas of soil and water loss control are from the Ministry of Water Resources; data on power generation capacity, newly added capacity of 220 kV and above AC substations, and electricity consumption are from the China Electricity Council; data on port cargo throughput, port container throughput, road transport, waterway transport, newly built and reconstructed expressway mileage, and newly added throughput capacity of berths of 10,000 tons and above are from the Ministry of Transport; data on railway transport, newly built railway lines put into operation, newly built and reconstructed railway double-track lines put into operation, and electrified railway lines put into operation are from China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.; data on civil aviation transport and newly added civil transport airports are from the Civil Aviation Administration of China; data on pipeline transport are from China National Petroleum Corporation, China Petrochemical Corporation, China Offshore Oil Corporation, and National Petroleum Pipeline Network Group Co., Ltd.; data on the number of civilian vehicles in use and road traffic accidents are from the Ministry of Public Security; postal service data are from the State Post Bureau; data on the telecommunications industry, software business revenue, and newly added optical cable lines are from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; data on the number of Internet users and Internet penetration rate are from the China Internet Network Information Center; data on the signed area of second-hand housing transactions, shantytown renovation, affordable rental housing, and renovation of old urban residential areas are from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development; data on import and export of goods are from the General Administration of Customs; data on service import and export, foreign direct investment, outward direct investment, foreign contracting projects, and foreign labor cooperation are from the Ministry of Commerce; fiscal data are from the Ministry of Finance; data on newly added tax cuts, fee reductions, and tax refunds and deferrals are from the State Taxation Administration; monetary and financial data and corporate credit bonds are from the People's Bank of China; data on financing from domestic trading venues are from the China Securities Regulatory Commission; insurance industry data are from the National Financial Regulatory Administration; data on medical insurance and maternity insurance are from the National Healthcare Security Administration; data on urban and rural low-income households, assistance and support for extremely impoverished rural residents, temporary assistance, and civil affairs services are from the Ministry of Civil Affairs; data on preferential treatment recipients are from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs; data on projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China are from the National Natural Science Foundation of China; data on the National Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Guiding Fund, national-level science and technology business incubators, nationally registered maker spaces, and technology contracts are from the Ministry of Science and Technology; data on national engineering research centers and national enterprise technology centers are from the National Development and Reform Commission; data on patents and trademarks are from the State Intellectual Property Office; data on the proportion of citizens with scientific literacy are from the China Association for Science and Technology; data on space launches are from the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence; education data are from the Ministry of Education; data on performing arts groups, public libraries, cultural centers, and tourism are from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; data on television and radio are from the National Radio and Television Administration; data on films are from the National Film Administration; data on newspapers, periodicals, and books are from the State Press and Publication Administration; archival data are from the National Archives Administration; data on residents' outbound travel are from the National Immigration Administration; medical and health data are from the National Health Commission; health supervision data are from the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention; sports data are from the General Administration of Sport of China; data on athletes with disabilities are from the China Disabled Persons' Federation; data on the supply of state-owned construction land and direct economic losses caused by marine disasters are from the Ministry of Natural Resources; data on average temperature and typhoon landings are from the China Meteorological Administration; data on farmland affected by natural disasters, direct economic losses caused by floods and geological disasters, direct economic losses caused by drought, direct economic losses caused by low temperatures, freezing, and snowstorms, the number of earthquakes, direct economic losses caused by earthquakes, forest fires, affected forest area, and production safety accidents are from the Ministry of Emergency Management; other data are from the National Bureau of Statistics.

(Related charts and notes can be found on pages eleven and twelve.)

People's Daily (March 1, 2024, page 10)