2.3%, amazing positive growth!

　　Late rice sickle harvesting in Longji Town, Sihong County, Suqian, Jiangsu Province. Photo by Zhang Lianhua (image China)

　　In Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, the contestants are welding. Photo by Ding Genhou (Image China)

　　An ocean-going freighter slowly left Shenzhen before the gulf Bonded Port Area. Photo by Shi Jiamin (People’s Vision)

　　"China’s economy has made extraordinary achievements in an extraordinary year, handing over an answer sheet that satisfies the people, attracts worldwide attention and can go down in history." Ning Ji Zhe, director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said on the 18th that China’s GDP will increase by 2.3% year-on-year in 2020, and it is expected to become the only major economy in the world to achieve positive economic growth. The total economic output has reached a new level of 100 billion yuan, and the social productive forces have reached a new level.

　　Comprehensive national strength has leapt to a new level, and the main objectives of macro-control have been achieved.

　　What does it mean for GDP to exceed 100 trillion yuan?

　　"This means that China’s economic strength, scientific and technological strength and comprehensive national strength have leapt to a new big step. It is of great symbolic significance for building a well-off society in an all-round way and starting a new journey of building a socialist modern country in an all-round way. " Ning Jizhen said.

　　Looking back at history, China’s economy has grown sturdily. In 2000, the total economic output reached 10 trillion yuan, exceeded 50 trillion yuan in 2012 and exceeded 100 trillion yuan in 2020. Within 20 years, the scale of economic aggregate will be expanded to 10 times. Looking around the world, the proportion in the world continues to increase. Per capita GDP has exceeded $10,000 for two consecutive years, ranking among the upper-middle income countries.

　　The economic aggregate has reached a new level, and the main objectives of macro-control have also been achieved.

　　The employment situation is generally stable, achieving 131.8% of the annual target. In 2020, there will be 11.86 million new jobs in cities and towns in China, which is significantly higher than the expected target of more than 9 million.

　　The price situation is generally stable, and the income growth of residents is basically in sync with economic growth. In 2020, the consumer price index (CPI) will increase by 2.5% over the previous year, which is lower than the expected target of about 3.5%; The per capita disposable income of the national residents actually increased by 2.1%, which was basically in step with the economic growth.

　　The overall balance of payments has improved, and the unit energy consumption has decreased. At the end of 2020, the balance of China’s foreign exchange reserves was $3,216.5 billion, an increase of $108.6 billion over the end of last year. In 2020, China’s energy consumption per unit GDP will drop by 0.1% compared with the previous year.

　　The economic aggregate has reached a new level and great historical achievements have been made in building a well-off society in an all-round way.

　　Decisive victory was achieved in the decisive battle against poverty. By the end of 2020, all rural poor people will be lifted out of poverty under the current standards in China, and all 832 poverty-stricken counties will be stripped of their hats.

　　The effect of pollution prevention and control is remarkable. In 2020, the proportion of average excellent days of air quality in 337 cities at prefecture level and above will reach 87%, an increase of 5 percentage points over the previous year.

　　The prevention and resolution of major risks have achieved results, financial risks are generally controllable, and the balance of local government debts is controlled within the limits approved by the National People’s Congress.

　　People’s living standards have improved significantly. China has built the largest social security system in the world, with basic medical security covering over 1.3 billion people and basic old-age security covering nearly 1 billion people.

　　Make overall plans for epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and take the lead in achieving positive economic growth in the world.

　　"These achievements were made when the COVID-19 epidemic ravaged the world, the world economy fell into a serious recession, and the external environment became more complicated and severe. It was hard to come by and it was only difficult to achieve." Talking about the report card, Ning Ji Zhe said.

　　At the beginning of 2020, the epidemic broke out suddenly, and China’s GDP in the first quarter dropped by 6.8% year-on-year. The CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core has taken the overall situation into consideration, made scientific decisions, made overall plans for epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and led China’s economic giant to break the waves.

　　We will promote the resumption of work and production in an orderly manner, and the flow of people, logistics and capital will turn in an orderly manner. In April 2020, the growth rate of industrial added value above designated size turned positive, the growth rate of service industry turned positive in May, and the growth rate of foreign trade import and export turned positive in June … … China is the first in the world to realize economic growth from negative to positive.

　　Do a solid job in the "six guarantees" and fully implement the "six guarantees" task. Increase the fiscal deficit by 1 trillion yuan, issue 1 trillion yuan of special anti-epidemic treasury bonds, increase taxes and reduce fees by 2.5 trillion yuan, and promote the financial system to make a reasonable profit of 1.5 trillion yuan to the real economy … … A series of policy combination boxing will make the supply chain of the industrial chain basically stable. In 2020, the added value of 25 industries in 41 major industries above designated size will increase; In December 2020, the national 25-mdash; The urban survey unemployment rate of the 59-year-old employed population was 4.7%, which returned to the same level of the previous year, and the employment of residents was guaranteed; In the first 11 months of 2020, the expenditure on social security, employment, housing security and poverty alleviation related to the "three guarantees" at the grass-roots level increased by 9.8%, 9.5% and 9.2% respectively, and the grass-roots operation was well maintained.

　　We will further promote the structural reform of the supply side, and the vitality potential of market players will be fully generate. In 2020, "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Building a More Perfect System and Mechanism for Market-oriented Allocation of Factors" and "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Improvement of the Socialist Market Economic System in the New Era" were successively issued, and the pilot reform of mixed ownership of state-owned enterprises was further promoted, and the reform of power and oil and gas systems continued to deepen … … With the continuous advancement of comprehensive deepening reform, the effect of the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform continues to show. In the first November of 2020, there were 22,000 new enterprises established daily, with an average daily net increase of 12,000; In the fourth quarter, the national industrial capacity utilization rate reached 78%, up 1.3 percentage points from the third quarter, the highest point since 2013.

　　There are many favorable factors supporting the stable recovery of the economy this year.

　　The total economic output exceeded 100 trillion yuan, which laid a solid foundation for China to build a new development pattern. "The key to accelerating the construction of a new development pattern with the domestic big cycle as the main body and the domestic and international double cycles promoting each other lies in tapping the potential of domestic demand, especially consumer demand." Ning Jizhen said.

　　From the total amount, consumption is still the ballast stone for stable economic operation. In 2020, the proportion of final consumption expenditure to GDP will still reach 54.3%, which is 11.2 percentage points higher than the total capital formation.

　　From the incremental point of view, the pulling effect of consumption on economic growth is increasing quarter by quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 4.6%, and the growth rate was 3.7 percentage points faster than that in the third quarter.

　　From the perspective of potential, there is still much room for improvement in giving play to the basic role of consumption. 2013— In 2019, the average contribution rate of China’s final consumption expenditure to economic growth is about 60%, while that of developed economies is generally 70%— 80%。

　　"From the situation in 2021, China’s economy has the foundation and conditions to continue the steady recovery." Ning Ji Zhe pointed out that although the pressure of "importing foreign defense and rebounding internal defense" in epidemic prevention and control is still great, the long-term positive fundamentals of China’s economy have not changed and are emerging.

　　Strong material foundation. China’s agricultural base position has been consolidated, and the total grain output has exceeded 1.3 trillion Jin for six consecutive years; The leading role of industry has been enhanced, and the industrial added value has exceeded 30 trillion yuan; Infrastructure is improving day by day, and the functions of transportation, communication, energy and water conservancy are enhanced.

　　The industrial system is complete. China has built the most complete industrial system in the world, and is the only country in the world with all the industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification. The total volume of trade in goods ranks first in the world and it is the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions. In 2021, facing the test of uncertainty, China’s complete production cooperation system and supporting capacity will continue to play an effective role.

　　The market space is vast. With a population of 1.4 billion, more than 400 million middle-income groups and a land area of 9.6 million square kilometers, China has the most growing domestic demand market in the world, and the advantages of super-large-scale market are obvious.

　　Strong scientific and technological strength. China’s total R&D investment has reached the second place in the world, and innovative achievements have emerged one after another, making it the largest international patent applicant in the world. The accelerated development of high-tech industries and strategic emerging industries has become an innovative driving force for high-quality economic development.

　　Rich in human resources. China’s labor supply scale ranks among the top in the world, 16-mdash; The 59-year-old working-age population is nearly 900 million, with 200 million skilled personnel, and the total number of R&D personnel ranks first in the world. This provides a steady stream of human capital and intellectual support for China’s high-quality economic development.

　　"In particular, the party’s strong leadership and remarkable institutional advantages are the fundamental guarantee for economic stability and social stability." Ning Jizhen said, "We will implement fiscal, monetary, employment, investment, consumption, regional and industrial policies more accurately and effectively in accordance with the requirements of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19 th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference to achieve sustained and healthy economic development."