Editor’s note: China recently published their annual National Report for 2013. The statistics provided in the report give an interesting insight into China’s recent and future growth. With the nation looking to become the next world leader, the figures tell a story of growth, mass government earning, rich resources and a healthy trade environment. As is the nature of reports that are purely numbers and statistics, its is pretty dry. But give it a try, and you might learn something new. Also, the ability to whip out stats during a debate is always helpful.

Source:  INABA Tomoaki

Population

In China’s latest National Report the country’s population stood at 1.34 billion, with 178 million, or 13.26%, above the age of 60. Of these, half are empty nesters, meaning that loneliness and solitude are large problems. In China, 300 million people are unemployed, 200 million are migrants and 180 million are single. 58 million rural children have been left behind by their parents in the countryside. 97% of citizens are not literate in science and technology. 

China is the world’s most populous country but only has a population density of 135 people per square kilometre. South Korea has a population density of 470 people per square kilometre, Japan has 336, Germany has 235, and the United Kingdom has 245. In terms of population, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam among others have population densities that are higher than that of China’s. In addition to these larger nations, the following smaller countries have a more dense population than China (in terms of people per square kilometre): Belgium (342), Israel (309), Netherlands (342), Luxembourg (181), and Switzerland (188).  For comparison here are various regional population densities: Mongolia (1.73), Inner Mongolia (1.73), Hainan (216), Taiwan (620), North Korea (192), and South Korea (496).

Living Costs

In 2011, China entered a period of national anxiety as house prices increased, medical costs rose, and retirement pensions became a source of worry. China is ranked 159th in the world in terms of income, 71% of people live a difficult life, 65% households depend on the old to raise the young, 74% of citizens cannot care for their elderly parents, 94.5% of people feel that they do not have food security. 99.6% believe that their number of friends is dwindling and 75.5% believe that friendship is fleeting.

68.5% of Chinese citizens believe that rising home prices are difficult to accept, rent in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou has skyrocketed to half the wages of a white-collar worker. There are 3.8 million vacant houses in Beijing, and 2.4 million units of rental housing in the suburbs with a rental population of 7 million.

Marriage Stability

40% of Chinese women have had extramarital affairs, with 36-40 year old women having the highest rate of extramarital sexual activity.

Government statistics show that every day 5,000 families are broken up by extramarital affairs. 

Resources – Grassland compared

China is rich in resources with 60 million acres of grassland, of which 43 million acres is available grassland, this number is only surpassed by India. However, China has only 0.304 hectares of grassland per capita, which is almost half the world average. According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO), the world has 3.48 billion hectares of permanent grasslands, which is equal to 0.54 hectares per capita.

Resources – Arable land compared

With 0.712 hectares of arable land per capita, China’s amount of arable land is ranked 35th out of 52 countries. China’s amount of arable land per capita is less than the average of 17 other countries. The amount of arable land per capita in the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea and other countries is less than the amount per capita in China. Agricultural powerhouse the Netherlands only has 0.057 hectares of arable land per capita.

According to the FAO, 666 counties in China have less than 0.053 hectares of arable land per capita however these counties are mostly in the eastern part of Guangdong, Zhejiang and other developed regions.

India has 1.36 times the amount of arable land per capita than China, however in 2003, China’s grain production had a minimum of 431 million tons and India’s grain output was only 249 million tons, less than the output China produced in 1980. China’s 2003 meat, eggs, fish and fruit production were also much higher than India. As such, it is clear agricultural and arable land per capita does not determine the economic and social development of a country.

Government Income/Expenditure

Finally the China’s national report looked at government expenditure, declaring the Chinese government especially wealthy. Government revenue includes multiple parts: taxes, land revenue, social security income, lottery revenue, SOE bonuses, government fees and fines. Tax revenue refers to tax from state-owned enterprises as well as income and land tax. Government income is negligibly influenced by taxes, land revenue and bonuses from state enterprises. It seems that the latter two are incorporated into the budget and managed internally and not regarded as public finances. According to Deng Yuwen’s calculations, the actual 2007 income of the Chinese government was 10.6 trillion RMB with 4.7 trillion RMB in tax revenue, 569.1 million RMB in non-tax revenue, 1.28 trillion RMB in land revenue, 965.6 billion RMB in social security fund revenue, 33.25 billion RMB in lottery income, 1.23 trillion RMB in extra income and 1.38 trillion RMB in other income.

The Chinese government’s revenue, by indirect method of calculation, is 10.28 trillion RMB with a total expenditure of 10.86 trillion RMB; this difference is relatively small. According to these results, even if debt is not considered, the Chinese government’s income surpassed 10 trillion RMB, which is 5.1 trillion RMB higher than the figure announced by the Ministry of Finance.

Source: gushangzaokj.blog

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Keywords: national statistics China’s latest national report 2013