By Amin Kef Sesay
China’s economy expanded 8.1 percent year-on-year in 2021, bringing the average growth rate from 2020 to 2021 to 5.1 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics announced recently.
The country’s gross domestic product reached 114.4 trillion yuan ($18 trillion) in 2021, with major indicators reaching the expected targets, NBS said.
Ning Jizhe, head of NBS, said that China, the world’s second-largest economy, is expected to cover over 18 percent of the global economy in 2021, furthering that China’s GDP grew by 4 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 4.9 percent in the third quarter.
The NBS data showed that the country’s total added value of industrial enterprises above a designated size grew 9.6 percent on a yearly basis in 2021, bringing the average growth rate from 2020 to 2021 to 6.1 percent, During the first 11 months of 2021, profits at major industrial companies surged 38 percent, with an average growth rate of 18.9 percent between 2020 and 2021.For the whole year of 2021, total retail sales of consumer goods came in at 44 trillion yuan, up by 12.5 percent over the previous year.
In 2021, investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) increased 4.9 percent to 54.5 trillion yuan. A total of 12.69 million jobs were created in China’s urban areas, an increase of 830,000 over the previous year. The surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.1 percent in December and 5.1 percent on average for the whole year, the bureau said.
Going forward, Mr. Ning also warned of a more complicated external environment and uncertainties, saying the domestic economy is facing multiple pressures from shrinking demand, supply shock and weakening expectations.
He added that the country will make coordinated efforts in epidemic prevention and control as well as ensure “six priorities” (employment, people’s livelihoods, the development of market entities, food and energy security, and stable operation of industrial and supply chains, as well as smooth functioning at the community level) and stability in “six areas” for steady economic momentum (employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and market expectations), to stabilize the overall economy and keep it within a reasonable range.
