About
Industry
The country’s economy is underpinned by a powerful manufacturing base, with a fast-growing automotive industry as well as ones for aircraft, railway engines, ships and military equipment. It has turned its attention to the high-tech worlds of IT and telecommunications, and is a major manufacturer of toys, clothes and footwear. China is also the world’s fifth-largest oil producer – but the second-highest oil consumer. Key exports are electrical machinery, power generation equipment, clothing, iron and steel, optics and medical equipment, furniture, chemicals, toys, vehicles and plastics. Much of its exports come from the Pearl River delta – including China’s first special economic zone, Shenzhen, plus Hong Kong and Macau – and the Yangtze delta, led by Shanghai. Its main export partners, excluding Hong Kong and Macau, are the US, Japan, Korea, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Singapore and Italy.
Tourism is also a major earner for China. Foreign visitor numbers reached 26.1 million in 2007, up approximately 18% from 2006, and China's total tourism revenue reached a staggering ¥1.09 trillion (US$137.92 billion). China is forecast by the World Tourism Organisation to become the world’s most-visited country by 2015. Its strong economy is stoking growing domestic demand as disposable income levels rise. Yet with much of China still a rural subsistence economy, the disparity between city and countryside is growing. The average annual disposable income per capita of urban households was ¥13,786 (about US$ 1,983) in 2007, while rural households had an average per capita net annual income of ¥4,140 (about US$ 596). That compared with average household incomes of £33,492 in the UK and median household incomes of $48,000 in the US. According to the World Bank, China is still home to 18% of the world's poor and about 150 million people live on less than $1 a day. The Chinese government has vowed to tackle urban unemployment and reduce it to below 4.6% by creating at least nine million new jobs while keeping inflation below 3%, a tricky task in light of 2007's inflation rate of 6.7%, the highest in 11 years.
Tourism is also a major earner for China. Foreign visitor numbers reached 26.1 million in 2007, up approximately 18% from 2006, and China's total tourism revenue reached a staggering ¥1.09 trillion (US$137.92 billion). China is forecast by the World Tourism Organisation to become the world’s most-visited country by 2015. Its strong economy is stoking growing domestic demand as disposable income levels rise. Yet with much of China still a rural subsistence economy, the disparity between city and countryside is growing. The average annual disposable income per capita of urban households was ¥13,786 (about US$ 1,983) in 2007, while rural households had an average per capita net annual income of ¥4,140 (about US$ 596). That compared with average household incomes of £33,492 in the UK and median household incomes of $48,000 in the US. According to the World Bank, China is still home to 18% of the world's poor and about 150 million people live on less than $1 a day. The Chinese government has vowed to tackle urban unemployment and reduce it to below 4.6% by creating at least nine million new jobs while keeping inflation below 3%, a tricky task in light of 2007's inflation rate of 6.7%, the highest in 11 years.
