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No complacency over big GDP
By Zhang Zhengfu |
December 29, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA revised its 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) upward to US$4.52 trillion at the average exchange rate of 2008, narrowing the gap with Japan, the world's second largest economy with a GDP of US$4.9 trillion for the same year.
"It is only a matter of time before China's economic volume surpass that of Japan," said Xu Lianzhong, a researcher with the National Development and Reform Commission. "What matters more is the per capita figure, and in the case of China, the total figure has to be divided by 1.3 billion."
Zuo Xiaolei, chief economist with Galaxy Securities, said: "It is not so important to compare the total GDP with that of the Japan or other developed nations." In 2008, China's per capita GDP was US$3,200, less than a third of the world's average or a 10th of Japan's US$38,000, according to the World Bank's estimates.
Zuo said China should place more emphasis on lifting the quality of economic development and solving structural problems in the economy.
These cool-headed interpretations were echoed by ordinary people in Beijing. Zhang Ning, a civil servant at the Beijing Municipal Government, said: "The total amount may be pleasing to the ear, but you have to divide that by a huge denominator."
"China has a lot of work to do in improving the people's living standards and building a better social security system," said Gao Shan, a college student in the Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.
China currently has 150 million people living in poverty and is faced with daunting challenges in poverty alleviation.
China was also burdened with the daunting task of cutting greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level, and the marginal cost was set to rise in the future, said Zou Ji, a professor with Renmin University of China.
(The author is a Xinhua writer.)
"It is only a matter of time before China's economic volume surpass that of Japan," said Xu Lianzhong, a researcher with the National Development and Reform Commission. "What matters more is the per capita figure, and in the case of China, the total figure has to be divided by 1.3 billion."
Zuo Xiaolei, chief economist with Galaxy Securities, said: "It is not so important to compare the total GDP with that of the Japan or other developed nations." In 2008, China's per capita GDP was US$3,200, less than a third of the world's average or a 10th of Japan's US$38,000, according to the World Bank's estimates.
Zuo said China should place more emphasis on lifting the quality of economic development and solving structural problems in the economy.
These cool-headed interpretations were echoed by ordinary people in Beijing. Zhang Ning, a civil servant at the Beijing Municipal Government, said: "The total amount may be pleasing to the ear, but you have to divide that by a huge denominator."
"China has a lot of work to do in improving the people's living standards and building a better social security system," said Gao Shan, a college student in the Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.
China currently has 150 million people living in poverty and is faced with daunting challenges in poverty alleviation.
China was also burdened with the daunting task of cutting greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level, and the marginal cost was set to rise in the future, said Zou Ji, a professor with Renmin University of China.
(The author is a Xinhua writer.)
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