The following is the full text of the Report on the Implementation of the 2007 Plan for National Economic and Social Development and on the 2008 Draft Plan for National Economic and Social Development, which was submitted on March 5 for review by the First Session of the 11th National People's Congress:
REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2007 PLAN FOR NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ON THE 2008 DRAFT PLAN FOR NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
First Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress
March 5, 2008
National Development and Reform Commission
Fellow Deputies,
The National Development and Reform Commission has been entrusted by the State Council to report on the implementation of the 2007 plan for national economic and social development and on the 2008 draft plan for national economic and social development for your deliberation and approval at the First Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress (NPC), and also for comments and suggestions from members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
I. Implementation of the 2007 Plan for National Economic and Social Development
Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the people of all our ethnic groups thoroughly applied the Scientific Outlook on Development, followed the plan for national economic and social development adopted at the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress, strengthened and improved macroeconomic regulation, promoted reform and opening up, and sped up the pace of change in the pattern of economic development in 2007, enabling China's economy to continue the positive trends of rapid growth and continued improvement in structure and efficiency accompanied by improvement in the lives of the people. The plan for 2007 was satisfactorily implemented on the whole.
1. The quality and efficiency of economic growth improved.
Economic performance continued to improve markedly. Total national revenue for 2007 was 5.13 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.25 trillion yuan or 32.4 percent. Large industrial enterprises generated 2.2951 trillion yuan in profits from January through November 2007, an increase of 36.7 percent. Energy consumption per unit of GDP fell by 3.27 percent in 2007, a significantly better achievement than that of the year before. Water consumption per 10,000 yuan of added value of industry dropped by 9.5 percent. For the first time in recent years, sulfur dioxide emissions and chemical oxygen demand both decreased, with SO2 dropping by 4.66 percent and C.O.D. by 3.14 percent. Initial results were achieved in efforts to slow down the sharp decline in the total amount of farmland.
Figure 1. National Revenue Growth
Figure 2. Changes in Energy Consumption Per Unit of GDP (Kg of standard coal/10,000 yuan, calculated in constant 2005 prices)
Economic growth was more balanced. The role of consumption in fueling economic growth was strengthened. Retail sales of consumer goods in 2007 totaled 8.921 trillion yuan, up 16.8%. The difference between the growth rate for consumption and that of investment decreased by 2.2 percentage points. Consumption, investment and net exports contributed to economic growth by 4.5, 4.4 and 2.5 percentage points respectively in 2007. This was for the first time in the past seven years that the proportion accounted for by consumption outstripped that of investment. Primary, secondary and tertiary industries grew steadily, up 3.7%,13.4% and 11.4% respectively, and the growth rate of tertiary industry was 0.6 percentage points greater than that of the previous year and 0.2 percentage points higher than that of secondary industry. There was continued improvement in the balance of development among different regions. Economic and social development in the central and western regions was significantly faster and the movement of factors of production between regions was beneficial to all regions.
China's GDP reached 24.6619 trillion yuan in 2007, up 11.4% from the year before. Annual GDP growth rate has fluctuated little over the past five years, and fluctuations between quarters during each year were around 1 percentage point.
Figure 3. GDP Growth