China residents have stronger sense of gain: statistical report

“We had a stronger sense of gain in the past year,” Chinese residents told People’s Daily in a recent interview. The residents’ voice is indicated in the Statistical Communiqué on China’s 2018 National Economic and Social Development issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). According to the report, China secured a better-than-expected number of newly increased employed people, achieved synergetic growth of resident income and GDP, and witnessed a consumption surge in “happiness-building industries” such as tourism, fitness, as well as film and television over the last year.

Employment serves as the foundation of people’s livelihood. Faced with downward economic pressure, China was amid wide concerns over its employment from home and abroad last year. However, the country has eliminated such concerns with a set of powerful data. The Statistical Communiqué indicates that the number of employed people in China was 775.86 million at the end of 2018, and that in urban areas was 434.19 million. Thanks to its continuous policies support, China realized its projected goal of employment last year. Lu Aihong, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, attributed the stable employment to sustained economic development.

In 2018, China’s economic aggregate rose to a new level, with its GDP topping 90 trillion yuan ($14 trillion), an increase of 6.6 percent over the previous year. “The economy kept expanding, and the capacity of employment was enlarged accordingly, which lays a solid foundation for the employment growth,” Lu said. Apart from the better-than-expected increase in employment, China’s resident income also experienced a stable rise last year. According to NBS data, in 2018, China’s per capita disposable income stood at 28,228 yuan, an increase of 8.7 percent or a real increase of 6.5 percent after deducting price factors. It exceeded the growth of CPI and kept the same pace as that of the GDP.

Besides, standards for social security were steadily raised last year, too. Pensions of enterprise retirees and those from state organs and public institutions were increased by 5 percent in general. It was the fourteenth time in a row for China to raise the pension for this group. With increased income and improved social security, Chinese residents showed a stronger willingness to buy. In 2018, consumption maintained the primary driving force of China’s economic growth. Statistics showed that China’s total retail sales of social consumer goods exceeded 38 trillion yuan in 2018. In a global context of sluggish economic growth, the booming purchase power of Chinese consumers is of vital importance. It not only unleashes the potential of the domestic market but also injects impetus to the global market. China has become the largest source of outbound tourists around the world. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, about 100,000 Chinese tourists went to Russia, ranking one of the top three sources of inbound tourists for Russia.

In last Double Eleven shopping carnival, which fell on November 11, products such as cosmetics of Kao from Japan and Dyson Airwrap hairstyles from the UK all hit a sales volume of 10 million yuan within one hour. A Bloomberg article commented that China has transformed from a world factory to a global supermarket. Chinese people’s life is getting even richer as their days are filled with shopping, tourism, fitness training, and shows. The fast-developing economy is earning Chinese people a stronger sense of gain and happiness.

By Kong Dechen & Wang Hailin

(People’s Daily)