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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Growing out of control? China by numbers

As China raises interest rates for the third time in four months to fight inflation, here are the numbers keeping China's economy swimming along

As China raises interest rates for the third time in four months to fight inflation, here are the numbers that keep China's economy turning.
A baby born in China in 2008 can now expect to live until he or she is 73. This compares with a life expectancy of just 46.6 years in 1960. Photo: AFP

1.3bn – China’s population as at 2009.

10.3pc – China’s GDP growth in 2010.

$183.1bn (£113.4bn) – China’s trade surplus in 2010, a decline of 6.4pc compared with the previous year.

6.06pc – China’s official one-year lending rate, up 25 basis points from 5.81pc. China last raised interest rates on Christmas Day last year.

3pc – China’s official deposit rate.

4.6pc – China’s rate of inflation in December, down from a 28-month high of 5.1pc the month before. Inflation for 2010 as a whole was 3.3pc.

7.2pc – Official food price inflation in 2010.

73 years – Life expectancy of someone born in China in 2008, up from 71.3 years in 2000, and 46.6 years in 1960.

4.1pc – China's unemployment rate as at the end of December 2010.

42m – The projected population of China's newly-planned 'mega-city'. If projections are correct, the city would be 26 times bigger than the Greater London area and twice the size of the entire country of Wales.

94pc – Literacy rate of people aged 15+ in China. This compares with 65.5pc in 1982.

$36.4bn – Amount of new loans the biggest state-controlled commercial lenders gave out in 2010, much of it for property development.

70pc – Increase in sales of land-use rights to developers in 2010.

6.4pc – Amount property prices rose in 2010.

1m – Number of people living in underground bunkers in Beijing.

14.8pc – Increase in retail sales in China during 2010.

39 – Average age of Chinese millionaires, according to the Wall Street Journal.

8.4pc – Average annual pay increase at multinational companies in China last year, according to a report by Hewitt Associates

1m – Number of Chinese tourists who visited the US during 2010.

500bn yuan (£47.3bn) – the amount of direct economic losses caused by extreme weather in China in 2010, according to the chief of the National Climate Center.

Source: World Bank, National Bureau of Statistics – China, Bloomberg

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/8311283/Growing-out-of-control-China-by-numbers.html

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