Chinese financial statistics

Any snapshot of how a country's economy is performing relies on statistics. These give an excellent overview, with all the complex machinations involved in trade, commerce and retail trends drilled right down to the bare bones of the facts and figures.

Chinese Exports Exports in China are reported by the General Administration of Customs. According to that office, Chinese exports increased to 1992.30 hundred million US dollars from 1793.81 hundred million US dollars between November and December 2012.

Chinese Imports The same organisation stated that the same period imports to China increased from 1597.47 hundred million US dollars to 1676.11hundred million US dollars.

Consumer spending Figures on consumer spending in China are collated by the National Bureau of Statistics, China. The figures increased from creased from 133290.90 CNY HML to 164945.20 CNY HML from 2010 to 2011.

Balance of trade According to the General Administration of Customs, the Chinese economy recorded a trade surplus of 316.18 hundred million US dollars during December 2012.

Consumer Price Index The China Consumer Price Index, or CPI, increased by 102.50 index points from 102 between November and December 2012, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics, China.

Inventories The Bureau of Statistics also recorded that changes in inventories in China had increased from 9988.70 CNY HML to 11963.50 CNY HML from 2010 to 2011.

Prime Lending Rate The bank lending rate in China remained at 6%in January of this year, compared to 6% in December 2012. The bank lending rate is reported by the People's Bank of China.

Export prices Export Prices in China increased to 99.50 Index Points in November of 2012 from 99.30 Index Points in October of 2012. Export Prices in China is reported by the National Bureau of Statistics, China.

Capital Flows As reported by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China, Chinese capital flows increased to 2210.56 hundred million US dollars in 2011 from 286.86 hundred million US dollars in 2010.

Foreign Exchange Reserves The People's Bank of China.reported that China's Foreign Exchange Reserves rose to 3310000 hundred million US dollars in December of 2012 from 3285095 hundred million US dollars in September of 2012.

Chinese economic forecasts

It is difficult to gauge exact outcomes in terms of longer-term predictions for the Chinese economy, mainly due to the sheer size of the market. Much of the reaction to trade potential in the vicinity could justifiably be described as ‘knee jerk', leading to traditional markets being underweighted in most institutional portfolios. However, China will be enjoying the status of the primary long-term investment destination of choice due to the vast potential market. The Pearl River Delta alone, the biggest manufacturing region on the planet, offers a pool of consumers that western nations can only dream of, numbering over 450 million.

Chinese economists will be looking to whether or not inflationary concerns will be outstripping growth and employment as priorities for the nation. The monetary policy of China will impact the growth of internal economies, which will have a knock-on effect on marginal investment, as well as net capital flowing into the China markets.

Western speculators remain concerned about the longer-term impact of China's currency revaluation that will determine competitiveness and trade balances. Various governments are continuing to apply political pressure on China to take this step for one simple reason. It could seriously level the playing field for manufacturers, boosting profits throughout a range of the expectant industrialised nations waiting in the wings. Investors will also be paying attention to other emerging markets, as will the Chinese speculators themselves. There will always be a wider picture than just comparing the China to USA model.

The China currency issue is bound to have a major impact on capital inflows, so economists are being attracted to Chinese ren-denominated investments due to the potential or benefitting from unit growth in addition to the currency appreciation factor involved in any revaluation. If revaluation occurs in the near future, this may well provoke a sizeable windfall which could have the effect of dampening further interest.

The evolution of trade between China and Japan

On 9 November 1989 Berliners began hacking into the wall that had divided capitalist West Berlin from the Soviet-controlled East since 1961. This action was to have far-reaching consequences, not least on trade relations between China and its immediate neighbours.

The Berlin Wall's

collapse became a metaphor for the fall of the Soviet Union. In the years that followed, former Soviet states became independent republics, ranging from Lithuania on the Baltic coast to new Central Asian nations such as Kazakhstan. As far as China was concerned, one of the most fundamental effects of the dissolution of the Soviet Union was that it became forced to seek alternatives to what was once a potent trading partner.

In the 20 years since the demise of the Soviet Union, Chinese trade with Japan has increased dramatically. The nature of this economic traffic has not only grown quantitatively, it has evolved into radical new markets, with Chinese traders interested in many contemporary products that were only a pipe dream when they were dealing with counterparts in Moscow.

There is no denying that China and Japan are economic giants. Both nations are well aware of the market trends and the areas which are ripe for investment in 2013. Indeed, trade between the two has specifically expanded into many high technology sectors: up until 2008 this amounted to well over $210 million. As long ago as 2004, Japan surpassed even the USA in terms of its annual trade figures with China.

Although China sold Japan textiles and raw materials up until the mid-1990s, this trade has altered radically with China now sending far more consumer goods across the East China Sea. There was a dip in trade during the worldwide economic downturn of 2008-9, but this has been rebounding, mainly based on Chinese state spending on machine equipment from Japan.

Approximately 20% of Japan's total trade is conducted with China. There are many reasons for this, not least the fact that China has industrialised at a fantastic rate. China has also liberalised its trading policies with the global markets, joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001. The third reason would be the fact that direct foreign investment in China has increased significantly, signalling to investors that China is now very much an investment-friendly environment. All these factors have led to China becoming the primary target for Japanese investment. This is underlined by the fact that Japan now employs more than 1 million Chinese workers.

China's entrepreneurs: statistics

With China making huge inroads into many diverse sectors of the global economy, there are many individual success stories. There are several particular individuals whose drive and ambition truly spotlight the extent of the country's economic progress in recent years. One illustration of the strength of the entrepreneurs comprising China's most successful business people is the net worth of their assets. Of the top 50 recently listed in terms of their estimated net holdings, the combined figure of their accumulated wealth, even at a conservative estimate, stands at around $10 billion. The average wealth of each of China's top 50 entrepreneurs is around $200 million.

Typical amongst this affluent business community are the family of Rong Yiren (formerly of China International Trust and Investment). Rong Yiren was Vice President of China from 1993 to 1998, and was at the forefront of the opening up of the nation to Western investment. His entrepreneurial drive led to his nickname of the ‘Red Capitalist', and he was strongly influential as China began to emerge from the sidelines of the global marketplace. From relatively humble belongings, Rong eventually managed a chain of family mills, surviving the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution to become an astute economic advisor to the Communist Party. Although he passed away in 2005, aged 89, his family wealth is estimated at $1.9 billion.

When the overall pool of talent in China's entrepreneurs is analysed, the average age is revealed to be considerably younger (43). Prior to his death, Rong was the oldest of China's multi-millionaires, while the youngest was William Ding. The latter entrepreneur was born in 1971, and is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of NetEase, the large internet company responsible for 163.com. This is an extremely popular web portal – in one month in 2005 it received over 546 million page views. Indeed, at one point Ding (born Ding Lei) was China's single wealthiest entrepreneur.

Other interesting statistics relating to China's super-rich include the fact that 21 of the top 50 did not even go to college. The main reason for this is the fact that their emergence coincided with the Cultural Revolution, when further education was cut short in many instances. Six of the top business people were educated outside of China, although 88% of them received education in Chinese institutes. Almost 28% of the entrepreneurs made their millions through the internet or other fields of technology, while 10% owed their tremendous success to endeavours in agriculture, and 58% in manufacturing.