China's labor force is undergoing a historic shift from farms to
factories and service trades with the number of farmers dropping 20
percent from 1979 to 2001.
Figures released by the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS) Monday show that those working in primary
industries accounted for 50.1 percent of total labor force at the
end of 2001, in comparison with 70.5 percent in 1978.
In
the meantime, the number of people working in tertiary trades
increased by 140 million, with the proportion growing from 12.2
percent in 1978 to 27.7 percent in 2001.
As
the economy expanded rapidly over the past two decades, primary
industries accounted for increasingly smaller shares of the gross
domestic product (GDP). However, the economic efficiency of the
primary industries surged 11 percent over the period.
According to the NBS, China has completed the rationalization of
its industrial structure by overcoming such problems as weak
agricultural infrastructure, crippled industrial layout and
underdeveloped services. China has entered a new stage of upgrading
and advancing its industrial structure.
The NBS predicts that private industries will boom in coming years
as the government allows wider market access and better financial
services. Private capital generates a quarter of the country's GDP
and has entered sectors which were previously government
monopolies, including transport and telecommunications.
The expansion of private ownership will help China develop new
growth areas in its service industries, which, according to NBS
figures, is lagging behind developed countries and most developing
countries in terms of infrastructure, new businesses and share in
GDP.
The NBS predicts that consumption will make up a greater part of
China's GDP in coming years. Expenditure on consumption accounted
for 60.6 percent of GDP in 2001, around 19 percentage points lower
than international average. On the other hand, investment accounted
for 37.3 percent of GDP, far greater than the ratio in other
countries.
A
higher ratio of investment in GDP is natural for a developing
economy like China's. However, it will be a long-term trend that
the GDP proportion of investment will drop and that of consumption
will rise, according to the NBS.
Over 93.5 percent of the industrial structure in eastern, central
and western parts of China are identical. The problem of repetition
is even more serious within different specific provinces in these
areas. The NBS says China should focus on solving this problem
through further economic restructuring.
It
also points out that the gap in economic development among
different areas of China has been widening over the past 23 years.
The Chinese government has launched a strategic campaign to develop
western areas so as to reverse the trend.
(Xinhua News
Agency October 8, 2002)