STATISTICAL COMMUNIQUE OF

THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

ON THE 1999 NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China

In 1999, facing the complicated domestic and international political and economic environment, people of all nationalities, under the correct leadership of the Central Party Committee and the State Council, implemented in real earnest a series of policies aiming at expanding domestic demand. Various difficulties were overcome, attention was focused on economic construction and cultural and ethical progress. New progress was achieved in economic and social development, various targets of development and reforms were met.

I. General Outlook

National economy kept steady growth. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the year was 8,205.4 billion yuan, up by 7.1 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the value-added of the primary industry was 1,421.2 billion yuan, up by 2.8 percent. The value-added of the secondary industry was 4,080.6 billion yuan, up by 8.1 percent. The value-added of the tertiary industry was 2,703.6 billion yuan, up by 7.5 percent. The overall productivity across all sectors of the economy was 11,677 yuan for the year, up by 6.3 percent over 1998. 

The overall level of market prices continued to decline. The consumer prices of households for the year were down by 1.4 percent, and prices for most commodities were lower than those in the previous year. Analyzed by category of commodities, the prices for food declined by 4.2 percent; for clothing, down by 2.7 percent; for household appliance, down by 2.3 percent; and for transportation and communication articles, down by 5.5 percent. However, the prices for service items went up 10.6 percent. The retail prices of commodities declined by 3 percent over 1998.

Work on employment was further strengthened. By the end of 1999, the total of employed people in China numbered 705.86 million, or 6.29 million more than at the end of 1998. Of this total, 210.14 million were employed in urban areas, an increase of 3.36 million persons over that at the end of 1998 (of which 39.4 million people were employed in private enterprises or self-employed in urban areas, an increase of 7.08 million). New progress was made in the implementation of reemployment project. The newly increased laid-off workers of state-owned enterprises were 5.64 million, while 4.92 million laid-off workers found new jobs through various measures, and another 320 thousand persons were either retired or died of natural causes. By the end of the year, the total number of laid-off workers of state-owned enterprises reached 6.5 million, or 400 thousand more than at the end of the previous year. By the end of 1999, the urban unemployment rate through unemployment registration was 3.1 percent, keeping the same level as that at the end of 1998.

The exchange rate of RMB was stable, and China's foreign exchange reserve continued to grow. By the end of 1999, the foreign exchange reserve reached 154.7 billion US dollars, an increase of 9.7 billion as compared with the figure at the end of 1998. The exchange rate stood at 1 US dollar = 8.2793 RMB yuan at the end of the year, an depreciation of 4 basic points.

Major problems that remained in economic performance and social development included: the lack of effective social demand, the still prominent irrational economic structure, the high pressure for employment, and the slow increase of farmers' income.

II. Agriculture 

In 1999, overall progress was registered in agricultural production, and the planting structure of farm products was adjusted to some extent. 

The output of grain was basically stable. The output of grain for the whole year was 508 million tons, declined by 3.97 million tons over the previous year, or down by 0.8 percent. Of the total grain output, that of summer grain and early rice increased by 5.7 million tons. Influenced by severe drought in northern areas, the output of autumn grain declined by large margin.  

Production of some of cash crops such as cotton, sugar, hemp and jute declined while that of others increased. Influenced by reduced planting areas, the output of cotton was 3.83 million tons, down by 14.9 percent as compared with that in the previous year, and the output of sugar was 84 million tons, down by 14.2 percent.  Growth was seen in the output of oil-bearing crops, fruits, and tea. Output of oil-bearing crops was 26 million tons, up 12.4 percent over the previous year; of fruits, 61 million tons, or up 11.9 percent. The output of tea reached 680,000 tons, up 2.3 percent. The planting areas of vegetables continued to increase. The actual planting areas of the whole year were 13.11 million hectares, up 7 percent over the previous year. 

Continued growth was made in animal husbandry and fishery industry. The total meat production of the year was 59.53 million tons, up 4 percent, and the production of aquatic products was 41 million tons, up 5 percent. 

New progress was achieved in afforestation. The total afforested area in 1999 was 4.8 million hectares, while attention was paid to converting farming land back into forests or grassland. 

Farmland irrigation construction was further enhanced. Flood-controlling projects along large rivers were carried out smoothly, and the ability to protect agriculture from floods and drought was strengthened. 

III. Industry and Construction

In 1999, governments at all levels made full efforts in implementing a series of policies on reform and development of state-owned enterprises set forth by the CPC. Substantial steps were taken in the reform and adjustment of state-owned enterprises, resulting in the improvement in the quality of industrial production.

The strategic reorganization of state-owned enterprises achieved initial result. The key sectors set up a number of large enterprise groups. The defense industry sector organized 10 large enterprise groups, each with different specialization such as nuclear energy, spacecraft, aircraft, shipping, weaponry and so on. The non-ferrous metal industry set up three large enterprise groups specializing in aluminum, in copper, lead and zinc and in rare metals. Another four large enterprise groups of the information sector were in the course of organization. The pace of structural adjustment and reorganization of enterprises was accelerated in textile, coal, metallurgy and defense sectors. Some of the enterprises that met necessary criteria began the debt-to-equity swap program, and their debt-asset ratio was improved.  

The industrial production kept steady growth. In 1999, the total value-added of the industrial sector was 3,535.7 billion yuan, up by 8.5 percent over the previous year. The value-added of state-owned industrial enterprises and those non-state-owned industrial enterprises with an annual sales income over 5 million yuan (referred to as industrial enterprises above designated size hereafter) was 2,030.7 billion yuan, up by 8.9 percent. Of this total, the value-added created by state-owned enterprises and joint-ownership enterprises where state held the controlling share was 1,160.3 billion yuan, up 7.4 percent. The value-added of collective enterprises was 346.2 billion yuan, up 7 percent; of joint-stock enterprises, 298.6 billion yuan, up 11.2 percent; of enterprises invested by foreigners or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, 420.1 billion yuan, up 12.9 percent; and of other types of ownership, 77.5 billion yuan, up 13.3 percent. In terms of light and heavy industry, the value-added of light industry was 869 billion yuan, up by 8.3 percent, and that of heavy industry was 1,161.7 billion yuan, up by 9.3 percent.

Encouraging progress was scored in the adjustment of the structure of industry. Achievement was made in coal sector by closing mines and reducing production. Some 31,000 illegally operated and irrational small coal mines were shut down, the production of township enterprises reduced by 250 million tons, meeting the target set at the beginning of the year. The total reduced cotton spindles in textile sector reached 9.06 million, one year ahead of the planned timetable. Some small enterprises from metallurgy, construction material, non-ferrous metal and chemical sectors with old equipment, backward technology, low-quality of products, heavy pollution and high-energy consumption were closed. The growth slowed down in the production of general consumption products and some machinery and electronic products whose supply exceeding demand. At the same time, output of some of the products which were in short supply on domestic markets increased; in particular, the development of hi-tech industry speeded up significantly. The growth of the production of micro-computers, mobile communication equipment, and program-controlled switchboards increased by 12--43.6 percent.

Production and marketing situation improved to some extent. The sales ratio of industrial enterprises above designated size was 97.16 percent, or 0.56 percentage points higher over the previous year. The output value of new industrial products was up 12.1 percent over the previous year.

Economic efficiency of the industrial sector improved. Under the situation of continued decline of prices, the sales income of industrial enterprises above designated size reached 6,753.5 billion yuan, up 10.2 percent, their profits totaled 220.2 billion yuan, up by 52 percent. The losses by loss-suffering enterprises stood at 130 billion yuan, down by 15.2 percent over that in the previous year. The overall efficiency index for industrial enterprises was 99.3 percent, or 8.4 percentage points higher than the figure for the previous year. Changes were seen in reducing losses and increasing profits in state-owned industrial enterprises. Some large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises got out of the difficult situation. Textile, construction material, non-ferrous metal, railway and civil aviation sectors made up the deficits and got surplus. Large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises in old industrial bases in the northeast three provinces cast off the situation of long years of loss-suffering. In 1999, the profits made by state-owned and state-holding enterprises was 96.7 billion yuan, up 77.7 percent, representing the best in the last five years. The losses of loss-suffering enterprises were 85.1 billion yuan, down by 15.9 percent. By the end of the 1999, the inventory of manufactured products reached 344.1 billion yuan, up 2.2 percent. However, the improvement of the efficiency of industrial enterprises in 1999 had the feature of recovery, the efficiency of some of the enterprises was still unsatisfactory, and the total volume of losses by loss-suffering enterprises was still huge.

 The construction industry developed steadily, and the economic efficiency was turning for the better. In 1999, the value-added of construction enterprises was 545 billion yuan, up by 4.6 percent over the previous year. The profits made by construction enterprises at and above grade four reached 12.1 billion yuan, up by 3.4 percent; the taxes turned over stood at 32.2 billion yuan, up by 6.7 percent. The total floor space of buildings under construction during the year was 1,410 million square meters, an increase of 38.77 million square meters. Floor space of buildings completed during the year was 670 million square meters, an increase of 15.01 million square meters. The numbers of loss-suffering enterprises of construction industry were 9,221, or 391 less as compared with that in the previous year. 

Significant progress was achieved in geological prospecting. Geological survey was carried to cover 113,000 square meters of areas, the geological features of which were illustrated on 1:50,000 scale maps. Some 185 new mineral deposits were discovered. Forty-one minerals were found to have increased (or prospective) reserves, including 660 million tons of crude oil, 92.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 400 million tons of coal. The geological prospecting enterprises completed a total of 3,350,000 meters of drilling. 

IV. Investment in Fixed Assets

In 1999, central government continued to carry out the active fiscal policies by issuing more long-term state treasury bond to strengthen input in infrastructures, bringing about the sustained growth of investment in fixed assets. The completed investment in fixed assets of the country in 1999 was 2,987.6 billion yuan, representing an increase of 5.2 percent over the previous year. In terms of different economic entities, the investment of state-owned units and other type of units was 2,171.9 billion yuan, up by 6.1 percent. That of collective units was 419 billion yuan, keeping the same level as in the previous year. The investment of urban and rural residents was 396.7 billion yuan, up 6 percent. Analyzed by purposes, investment in capital construction was 1,261.9 billion yuan, up by 5.9 percent, that in technical updating and transformation reached 441.9 billion yuan, down by 2.2 percent, and that in real estate development was 40.1 billion yuan, up by 11 percent. New progress was made in the construction of city infrastructure facilities and residential buildings. Active results were also seen in the reconstruction of rural power grid. 

Further improvement was scored in the investment structure. Among the investment of state-owned enterprises and other economic entities, the completed investment in the primary industry (including water conservancy) was 80.4 billion yuan, up by 22.6 percent. Investment in the secondary industry was 716.7 billion yuan, down by 0.9 percent. Investment in the tertiary industry was 1,374.8 billion yuan, up by 9.3 percent. 

The newly-increased annual production capacity in 1999 through capital construction projects included: 20.7 million tons of coal mining, 17.03 million kilowatts of power generation by large and medium-sized generators, 66.46 million kilovolt-amperes of power transformer equipment each with a capacity of or over 110,000 kilovolts (of which, 32.34 million kilovolt-amperes was updated power grid in urban and rural areas), 16.18 million tons of oil extraction, and 2.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas extraction. The year 1999 also saw the operation of 1,040 kilometers of new trunk railways, 1,293 kilometers of double-track railways, 607 kilometers of electrified railways, 2,672 kilometers of newly constructed express highways, and 18.69 million tons of cargo-handling capacity of coastal harbors. Reconstruction of rural power grid was completed in about 2,002 counties, totaling 357,000 kilometers of power lines in operation. 

V. Education and Science

In 1999, education of all levels and forms made big progress. The enrollment of higher education increased by a large margin, and the reform of the management system of higher education institutions made important advancement. The pace of vocational higher education speeded up, the enrollment of general senior high school students increased. At the same time, steadily development was scored in education aiming at improving the overall quality of students, in compulsory education and in elimination of illiteracy. Attention was also paid to pre-school education and special education. Sound development was registered in various vocational education at all levels. Sustained development was seen in running education programs by non-government resources.  

There were 4.13 million enrolled undergraduate students in general universities, including 1.6 million new entrants, or 510,000 new entrants more than the figure in 1998;  3.06 million enrolled students in institutions of adult higher education, including 1.16 million new entrants; and 230,000 enrolled postgraduate students, including 90,000 new entrants, in universities or institutions that offered courses leading to postgraduate degrees, an increase of 20,000. At the secondary education level, there were 10.5 million students studying in ordinary senior secondary schools, including 3.96 million new entrants, an increase of 370,000; 14.43 million students in secondary vocational or technical schools of various types, including 4.81 million new entrants. Students enrolled in junior secondary schools totaled 58.12 million, including 21.83 million new entrants, with an enrollment rate of 88.5 percent, and pupils enrolled in primary schools numbered 135.48 million, including 20.3 million new entrants, with the enrollment rate of primary-school-age children being 99.1 percent. Special education schools accommodated 370,000 students, including 50,000 new entrants. There were 23.26 million children in kindergartens. The adult technical training schools offered courses to 101.57 million persons. A total of 2.99 million people completed basic literacy courses in 1999. 

In 1999, central government further carried out the strategy of revitalizing the country through science, technology and education, pushed forward the technical innovation, developed hi-tech industry and accelerated the pace of industrialization of science and technology. 

Headway was made in scientific research and technical innovation. By the end of 1999, China had 2.71 million professionals and technicians engaged in scientific or technical activities, of whom 1.5 million were scientists or engineers. The expenditure on scientific and technological activities for the whole year was 125 billion yuan, up 10.8 percent over the previous year. In 1999, the state organized 663 key technical innovation projects and 1,329 key pilot production projects of new products. Another 26 key projects concerning the development and approval of major technical equipment were conducted. In 1999, China gained 29,500 key scientific results, of which 602 results received prizes from the state. The year 1999 also saw the successful launching of 4 satellites. The successful launch of China's first unmanned spacecraft "Shenzhou" designed and developed by Chinese scientists indicated significant step forward by China towards the eventual launching of astronaut-carrying spacecraft into space. A total of 134,240 applications for patents were received from domestic and overseas applicants, while 100,154 patents were authorized, up 10 percent and 47.5 percent respectively.  

Further improvement was made in technical services such as quality inspection, standardization, metrology and weather forecast. By the end of 1999, there were altogether 5,500 institutions in China that were responsible for the inspection and supervision of the quality of manufactured products, including 229 state inspection centers. There were altogether 4,393 authorized measurement inspection institutions, which enforced compulsory inspection on 21.68 million measuring instruments. A total of 900 national standards of various types were formulated or amended, including 172 compulsory standards and 477 new standards. The year 1999 also saw the operation of 1,118 urban and rural weather forecast service and transmission stations, and 277 satellite cloud map receiving stations throughout China. There were 1,285 seismology monitoring stations and 28 remote monitoring network stations. Some 20.86 million records of marine data were collected through 672 marine monitoring spots. Surveying and mapping departments published 1,344 kinds of maps and 310 kinds of books.

VI. Transportation, Posts and Telecommunications

Transportation, posts and telecommunications registered steady development. The value-added of these sectors in 1999 was 446 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3 percent over the previous year.  

Total volume of cargo transported by various means was 4,117 billion ton-kilometers, up 8.2 percent as compared with 1998. Of this total, the cargo transportation by railways was 1,284.1 billion ton-kilometers, up 2.6 percent; by highways, 579.3 billion ton-kilometers, up 5.6 percent; by waterways, 2,185.7 billion ton-kilometers, up 12.6 percent; and by airways, 4.23 billion ton-kilometers, up 26.5 percent. The volume of passenger transportation was 1,125 billion person-kilometers, an increase of 5.7 percent. Of this total, the volume transported by railways was 413.1 billion person-kilometers, up by 9.3 percent; by highways, 614.5 billion person-kilometers, up 3.4 percent; by waterways, 11.72 billion person-kilometers, down by 2.5 percent; and by airways, 85.7 billion person-kilometers, up 7.1 percent. Major coastal ports handled 1.04 billion tons of cargo, including 380 million tons of merchandise for foreign trade, up 13 percent and 11.8 percent respectively. 

The business transactions of postal and telecommunication services in 1999 totaled 331.1 billion yuan, up 32.1 percent over the previous year. The telephone office exchanges increased their capacity by 23 million gates, making the total capacity reaching 160 million gates. There were 13 telephones per 100 population in China, or 2.5 telephones more than the figure of the previous year (with 28.4 telephones per 100 urban inhabitants). About 79.8 percent of administrative villages in rural areas had access to telephone services. There were 3.5 mobile telephones per 100 population. Users of Internet service reached 8.9 million in China. 

VII. Domestic Trade

In 1999, sales of commodity at domestic market were stable and becoming brisk,  as a result of various favorable factors, including policies on increasing the income of urban low-income households, expanding consumption loans and abolishing regulations that restrict consumption, and the consecutive cut of interest rate. In 1999, the total retail sales of consumer goods was 3,113.5 billion yuan, up 6.8 percent over the previous year (representing a real growth of 10.1 percent if price factor was deducted). In terms of urban and rural areas, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 1,909.2 billion yuan, up 7.1 percent, and the retail sales of consumer goods at and below county level was 1,204.3 billion yuan, up 6.3 percent. In terms of different sectors, the sales of the wholesale and retail establishments was up 7.1 percent, that of the catering industry was up 13.6 percent, and the sales of other sectors was up 3.3 percent. The sales at the market for means of production picked up. The total sales of means of production by wholesale and retail establishments above designated size were 939.2 billion yuan, up 7.8 percent. Transactions at fair markets were brisk. 

The economic efficiency of key wholesale and retail enterprises continued to decline. The annual net sales of 1,300 state key wholesale and retail enterprises reached 335.6 billion yuan, up 1 percent over 1998, while their total profits for the year was 1.2 billion yuan, a drop of 40 percent over the previous year. 

VIII. Foreign Economic Relations

In 1999, the central government adopted a series of policies on encouraging export, including raising the tax-refund on exports. At the same time, the economy of nations and regions that were once hit by the Asian financial crisis showed sign of recovery. As a result, china?????ìo???ì??ìs export shifted from declining to increase. Total volume of export and import in 1999 reached 360.7 billion US dollars, up 11.3 percent over the previous year. The value of export was 194.9 billion US dollars, up 6.1 percent. Of this total, the export of general trade rose by 6.6 percent, and that of manufacturing trade increased by 6.1 percent. The value of import was 165.8 billion US dollars, up 18.2 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of 29.1 billion US dollars. The structure of exports was further adjusted; the export of machinery and electronic products was up 14.7 percent, with its share in the total export rising from 36.5 percent to 39.5 percent. In terms of destination, the export to Africa and to Asia was up 1.3 percent and 4.5 percent respectively; that to Europe, North America and Oceania was up 6.1 percent, 10.8 percent and 16 percent respectively, while the export to Latin America was down by 1 percent. 

Foreign direct investment declined. In 1999, 17,100 foreign direct investment projects were approved, down by 13.8 percent over the previous year. The actually utilized foreign capitals stood at 40.4 billion US dollars, down by 11.4 percent. 

Growing momentum was kept in construction projects, labor projects, design and consultancy services contracted by China with foreign counterparts. In 1999, contracts were signed with the overseas involving 13 billion US dollars, up 10.4 percent over the previous year. The accomplished business revenue reached 11.2 billion US dollars, up 10.9 percent. By the end of 1999, 380,000 Chinese workers were working overseas, 30,000 persons more than the figure at the end of 1998. 

Rapid growth was scored in international tourism. In 1999, China received 72.8 million tourists from overseas, up by 14.7 percent over the previous year, of whom 27.04 million tourists stayed for more than one night, up 8 percent. Of all tourists visiting China, 8.43 million were foreigners, up 18.6 percent, and 64.26 million were Chinese compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, up 14.2 percent. Income of foreign exchange from tourism reached 14.1 billion US dollars, up 11.9 percent. 

IX. Banking, Security and Insurance 

In 1999, People's Bank of China made efforts to bring into full play of the monetary policy by adopting measures of lowering interest rate and the reserve of deposits of commercial banks and properly increasing the money supply. The target of monetary regulation set forth at the beginning of the year was achieved and it had advocated the economic growth.  

Money supply increased properly, enhancing the liquidity of money to some extent. According to statistics from domestic financial institutions in terms of RMB, by the end of 1999, the money supply of broad sense (M2) was 11,989.8 billion yuan, up 14.7 percent over the previous year, and that of narrow sense (M1) was 4,583.7 billion yuan, up 17.7 percent. The cash money in circulation (M0) amounted to 1,345.6 billion yuan, an increase of 225.1 billion yuan or 20.1 percent. Savings deposits and loans increased steadily. Savings deposits in various forms in all banking institutions at the end of 1999 totaled 10,877.9 billion yuan, an increase of 1,316.2 billion yuan or 13.7 percent. Of this total, savings of enterprises accounted for 3,718.2 billion yuan, up 14.5 percent, and the savings deposits by urban and rural residents reached 5,962.2 billion yuan, up 11.6 percent. diversification of savings deposits speeded up to some extent. The balance of various loans stood at 9,373.4 billion yuan, up 12.5 percent. Of this total, the long-term and medium-term loans totaled 2,396.8 billion yuan, up 15.7 percent. 

Stock market was further standardized and developed. In 1999, 98 companies issued A shares and another 117 companies issued A shares rights at Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, with capital paid-in topped 87.7 billion yuan, an increase of 10.3 billion over 1998. The issue of B shares and H shares helped to draw 610 million US dollars worth of foreign capital. The issue of convertible A shares bonds totaled 1.5 billion yuan. The capitals raised through issuing of shares and rights were 94.1 billion yuan, up 12 percent over the previous year. The number of listed companies (with A, B and H shares) in China stock markets rose from 876 at the end of 1998 to 976 at the end of 1999, worth of 2,647.1 billion yuan, up 36 percent. The total issue of state treasury bonds reached 371.5 billion yuan, an increase of 40.4 billion yuan over the previous year. 

Progress was made in insurance service. In 1999, the insurance premium totaled 139.3 billion yuan (including foreign institutions), up 10.2 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the premium of property insurance was 52.1 billion yuan, that of life insurance was 76.8 billion yuan, and that of health and unforeseen accident insurance was 10.4 billion yuan. The insurance companies paid an indemnity of 51 billion yuan as reparations in insurance programs, of which the indemnity of property insurance and short-term life insurance was 31.8 billion yuan. Another 19.2 billion yuan was paid as reparations in life insurance programs. 

X. Culture, Public Health and Sports

Cultural and art undertakings made rapid progress. By the end of 1999, there were 2,614 art-performing groups, 2,899 culture centers, 2,765 public libraries and 1,371 museums in China. Radio broadcasting stations covered 90.4 percent of the population, and the television transmitting and relaying stations covered 91.6 percent of the population. The cable television users reached 77 million.  National and provincial newspapers issued 20.1 billion copies; magazines, 2.9 billion copies; and books, 7.3 billion copies. There were 3,733 archives in China where 40.09 million documents were made accessible to the public. 

Continued development was made in public health undertakings. By the end of 1999, there were 310,000 health care institutions (including clinics), with a total of 3.16 million beds and 4.46 million health workers. China also had 5,900 anti-epidemic and disease prevention stations employing 220,000 health workers, and 2,630 maternal and child health-care institutions employing 73,000 health workers. Rural villages with medical-care stations made up 90 percent of all villages in China, employing 1,330,000 rural doctors and health workers. 

Steady progress was scored in sports. In 1999, Chinese athletes won 92 world champions at national and international sport games. Sixteen athletes broke 24 world records on 50 occasions, 10 athletes broke 7 Asian records on 16 occasions, and 43 athletes and 3 teams broke 52 national records on 68 occasions. The National Fit-keeping Program was further promoted. 

XI. Environment Protection 

Environment protection was further enhanced, and its development speeded up.

By the end of 1999, there were 116,000 people working in environ­ment protection agencies in China. Some 2,111 environment monitoring stations were in operation employing 36,000 workers. New achievement was made in the protection of nature, as was illustrated by the pilot establishment of 154 ecological demonstration zones. China had 1,146 natural protection areas, covering 88.13 million hectares or 8.8 percent of the total land areas of the country, among which 137 were state-level natural protection areas. The legal construction for environment protection achieved new progress with further enforcement of environment-related laws. By the end of 1999, about 426 standards concerning environment protection were formulated. Among all construction projects started in 1999, 90.5 percent of them implemented the evaluation program on the impact of the projects in question against the environment. About 95 percent of all projects put into operation in 1999 had pollution control facilities. A total of 12,010 projects against environment pollution were completed within the specified time frame during the year, absorbing a total investment of 7.1 billion yuan. Two thousand three hundred and sixty-four smoke/dust control zones were established in 536 cities, covering an area of 16,000 square kilometers; and there were another 2,040 zones covering 8,975 square kilometers in 431 cities, where the noise pollution was put under specified level.  

Pollution prevention work continued in key river valleys and regions. Some 144 pollutant-discharging enterprises around Dianchi Lake with a daily discharge of over 100 tons of waste-water were requested to establish treatment measures within a specified time frame. An investment of 300 million yuan was put in the projects around the lake. Another 109 pollutant-discharging enterprises around Caohu Lake with a daily discharge of over 100 tons of waste-water were also requested to establish treatment measures with a specified time frame, involving an investment of 223 million yuan. The discharges of industrial effluent around the Dianchi Lake and Caohu Lake valleys had basically met the national environmental standards and the water quality improved.

The Program of Control of Aggregated Pollutants and China Trans-Century Green Program were carried out smoothly. By the end of November, 1999, 525 projects under such programs were completed, involving an investment of 68.04 billion yuan. 

However, the environment condition for the whole country was still serious. The pollution from daily life and from agriculture was severe, and the scope of destroyed ecological environment continued to expand, with devastating results in certain areas.  

XII. Population and People's Life 

The natural growth rate of population continued to decline. The year 1999 saw 19.09 million births with a crude birth rate of 15.23 per thousand, and 8.10 million deaths, representing a crude death rate of 6.46 per thousand. The net growth of population in 1999 was 10.99 million and the natural growth rate was 8.77 per thousand, or 0.76 per-thousand-points lower than that of 1998. By the end of 1999, the total population of China was 1,259.09 million. Of the total population, those living in urban areas were 388.92 million, accounting for 30.9 percent and those living in rural areas were 870.17 million, accounting for 69.1 percent. The proportion of population aged from 0 to 14 years was 25.4 percent, that aged 15-64 years was 67.7 percent. The proportion of population aged 65 and over was 6.9 percent with total aged population standing at 86.87 million. The average family size was 3.58 persons. 

The living standard of urban and rural households continued to improve.  The state raised the level of the "three security systems": the basic living expenses for urban laid-off workers, the unemployment insurance system and the minimum living expense assurance system in urban areas, and increased the wages for staff and workers in administrative units or institutional agencies. The income of urban households increased. The annual per capita disposable income of urban households was 5,854 yuan in 1999, a real increase of 9.3 percent if change in prices was taken into consideration. New progress was registered in poverty-relief program. In 1999, about 8 million people cast off poverty. The growth of farmers' income slowed down due to the sustained decline of prices of farm produce as a result of the change in supply-demand relation and the difficulty in marketing farm produce, in addition to the deterioration of economic efficiency of township enterprises. The per capita net income of rural households was 2,210 yuan (with 1,538 yuan of cash income), a real growth of 3.8 percent if price factor was deducted, the growth rate was 0.5 percentage points lower as compared with that in the previous year. Housing condition continued to improve in both urban and rural areas. A total of 500 million square meters of new residential buildings were completed in urban areas, and 870 million square meters of new houses were built in rural areas in 1999. Tourism became the new consumption fashion for residents, and the year 1999 saw a total of 719 million domestic tourists, up 3.6 percent over the previous year. The per capita expenditure on tourism was 227 yuan. 

Social security system was consolidated and improved. By the end of the year, about 93 percent of the laid-off staff and workers of state-owned enterprises entered the re-employment service center, and 90 percent of them got their basic living allowance. Some 94.33 million staff and workers and over 29 million retirees participated in the basic retirement security program, 99.12 million people participated in the unemployment insurance. Some 21 million staff and workers and retired pensioners participated in the general health care program for major diseases and general health care program. Reform on the basic health care insurance system was carried out in some regions. 

Social welfare work made new achievement. There were 1.08 million beds in social welfare institutions of various types in China in 1999, with 810,000 inmates. The community service network continued to expand in urban areas, with 180,000 community service facilities established, including 6,572 community service centers. Minimum life guarantee system had been established in over 667 cities and 1,682 counties, from which 5,257,000 people received minimum life guarantee relief. In 1999, 9.1 billion yuan worth of social-welfare lottery tickets were issued, raising 2 billion yuan worth of funds, and donations from the society reached 600 million yuan. 

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Notes: 

1)   All figures in the Communique are preliminary statistics.

2)   Statistics in the Communique do not include figures for Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, which will be released by the governments of Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR.

3)   Statistics in the Communique do not include figures of Taiwan Province.

4)   Figures in value terms on gross domestic product and value-added of various sectors quoted in the Communique are at current prices, whereas growth rates are calculated at comparable prices.