Jan 18, 2013
Translated by Pang Lei

China's gross domestic product (GDP) registered a year-on-year increase of 7.8 percent reaching 51.93 trillion yuan (approximately 8.3 trillion US dollars) over the course of 2012, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced earlier this morning.

The growth rate was 1.4 percentage points lower than that registered last year, according to a report on the 2012 economic figures that was released at an official press conference in Beijing.

China's GDP grew 7.9 percent in the final quarter of this year when compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, higher than its third quarter growth rate of 7.4 percent.

Earlier this year, the government had set its annual economic growth target at around 7.5 percent for 2012.

The NBS also revealed data on the country's industrial output, investment, consumption and trade.

China's industrial value-added output was up 10 percent in 2012, when compared to the annual figure for the previous year, a 3.9 percentage point decrease on the pace of growth registered in 2011, the NBS said.

The profits of large-scale industrial enterprises expanded 3 percent over the same period a year earlier to reach 4.66 trillion yuan in the first eleven months of the year.

China's urban fixed-asset investment rose 20.6 percent (or 19.3 percent after accounting for inflation) from a year earlier to reach 36.48 trillion yuan (approximately 5.9 trillion US dollars).

Investment in real estate climbed 16.2 percent over the course of 2012 (or 14.9 percent if price factors are taken into account), reaching a total of 7.18 trillion yuan, 11.9 percentage points lower than the rate of growth recorded in 2011.

Last week, China's statistics bureau also released updated numbers for the country's consumer price index (CPI).

China's CPI rose 2.5 percent in December from a year earlier, 0.5 percentage points higher the 2.0 percent increase registered in November.

The inflation rate stood at 2.6 percent for the full year, which was well below the 4 percent target for the year set by the government in early March.

The producer price index (PPI), another measure of inflation at the wholesale level, registered a year-on-year decrease of 1.7 percent over the course of the year.

Links and Sources
National Bureau of Statistics: 2012 Economic Figures
Economic Observer Online: China\'s GDP Up 9.2% in 2011
Economic Observer Online: China\'s CPI Up 2.6% in 2012