Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) refers to the final products of all
resident unties in a country (or a region) during a certain period of time.
Gross domestic product is expressed in three different forms, i.e. value added,
income, and products respectively. The form of value added refers to the total
value of all products and services produced by all resident units during a
certain period of time minus total value of intimidate input of materials and
services of the nature of non-fixed assets or the summation of the value added
of all resident units; the form of income includes all the income created by
all resident units and distributed primarily to all resident and non-resident
units; the form of products refers to all final goods and services of final use
by all resident units plus the value of net exports of goods and services. In
the practice of national accounting, gross domestic product is calculated with
three approaches, i.e. product approach, income approach and expenditure
approach, which reflect gross domestic product and its composition from
different aspects.
Three Industries Classification of economic
activities into three branches of industries is a common practice in the world,
although the grouping varies to some extent form country to country. In
Primary industry: refers to agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.
Secondary industry: refers to mining and quarrying, manufacturing, production and supply of electricity, water and gas, and construction.
Tertiary industry: refers to all other economic activities not
included in primary or secondary industry.
Laborers’ Remuneration refers to the whole payment earned by the laborers from the productive activities they are engaged in. It includes wages, bonuses and allowances the laborers earned in various forms, including monetary form and form in kind. It also includes the free medical services provided to the laborers and the medicine expenses, traffic subsidies and social insurance fee paid by the laborers' working units for them. As the individual economy is concerned, since the laborers' remuneration is not easily distinguished from the operating profit, both are treated as laborers' remuneration.
Net Taxes on Production refers to the difference of the taxes on production minus the subsidies on production. The taxes on production refers to the various taxes, extra charges and fees levied on the production units on their production, sale and business activities as well as on some factors of production, such as fixed assets, land and labor force, used in the production activities they are engaged in. In contrast to the taxes on production, the subsidies on production is the unilateral transfer of part of the government's revenue to the production units and is therefore treated as the negative taxes on production, They include subsidies on the loss due to implementation of government policies, price subsidies, etc.
Depreciation
of Fixed Assets refers to
the depreciation of fixed assets drawn in accordance with the stipulated
depreciation rate for the purpose of compensating the wear loss of the fixed
assets or the depreciation of fixed assets calculated in a fictitious way in
accordance with the stipulated unified depreciation rate in the national
economic accounting system. It reflects the value of transfer of the fixed
assets in the production of the current period. The depreciation of fixed assets
in various enterprises and institutions managed as enterprises refers to the
depreciation expenses actually drawn and calculated as part of the cost. In the
units, which do not draw the depreciation expenses, such as government
agencies, institutions not managed as enterprises as well as the houses of
residents, the depreciation of fixed assets is the fictitious depreciation,
which is calculated in accordance with the stipulated unified depreciation
rate. In principle, the depreciation of fixed assets should be calculated on
the basis of the re-purchased value of the fixed assets. However, there is no
actual condition to re-evaluate all the fixed assets in
Operating Surplus refers to the
balance of the value added created by the resident units deducting the
laborers' remuneration, net taxes on production ant the depreciation of fixed
assets. It is equivalent to the business profit of the enterprises plus
subsidies on production, but the wages and welfare expenses paid from the
profits should be deducted.
GDP by Expenditure Approach refers to the method of measuring the final results of production activities of a country (region) during a given period from the perspective of final use. It includes final consumption, total capital formation and net export of goods and services, i.e.:
GDP by expenditure approach
= final consumption + total capital formation + net export of goods and
services
Final Consumption refers to the total expenditure of resident units on final consumption of goods and services in a certain period, namely the expenditure of the resident units for purchases of goods and services from domestic economic territory and abroad to meet the requirements of material, cultural and spiritual life. It excludes the expenditure of non-resident units on consumption in the economic territory of the country. The final consumption is classified into resident consumption and government consumption.
(I) Resident consumption refers to the total expenditure of resident households on the final consumption of goods and services. The expenditure of the residents on consumption is calculated at market prices, namely the purchasers' prices that the residents pay; the purchasers' prices of goods are the prices the residents pay when they obtain the goods, including the transport and commercial expenses paid by the residents. In addition to the expenditure on consumption of goods and services bought by the residents directly with money, the expenditure on goods and services obtained by the residents in other ways, i.e. the so-called fictitious expenditure on consumption is also included in the expenditure of the residents on consumption. The fictitious expenditure of the residents on consumption includes the following types:(a) the goods and services provided to the residents by the units in the form of payment in kind and transfer in kind;(b) the goods and services produced and consumed by the households themselves, in which the services refer only to the services provided by the residential buildings owned by the households;(c) the services of financial intermediary provided by the financial institutions; (d) the insurance services provided by the insurance companies.
(II) Government consumption refers to the expenditure on the consumption of the public services provided by the government to the whole society and the net expenditure on the goods and services provided by the government to the households for free charge or at lower prices. The former equals to the output value of the government services minus the value of operating in come obtained by the government departments. (The output value of the government services equals to its current operating expenditure plus depreciation of fixed assets). The latter equals to the market value of the goods and services provided by the government to the households minus the value received by the government from the households.
Total Capital Formation refers to the net amount of the fixed assets and stock acquired minus those disposed, including the total fixed assets formation and the increase in stock.
(I) Total fixed capital formation refer to the value of fixed assets purchased, transferred in by the resident units and those produced and used by themselves deducting the value of fixed assets sold and transferred out. It can by classified into total tangible assets formation and total intangible assets formation. The total tangible assets formation include the value of the construction projects, installation projects completed and the equipment, apparatus and instruments purchased as well as the value of land improved, the value of draught animals, breeding stock, milk, wool and recreational animals and the newly increased economic forest in a certain period. The total intangible assets formation includes the prospecting of minerals, the acquisition of computer software, the originals of recreational works and works of literature and arts minus the disposal of them.
(II) Increase in stock refers to the market value of the change in stock, i.e., the difference of value between the beginning and the end of the period. The increase in stock can be positive or negative. A positive value indicates the increase in stock while a negative value indicates the decrease in stock. The stock includes the raw materials, fuels and reserve materials purchased by the production units as well as the stock of finished products, semi-finished products, work-in-progress, etc.
Net Export of Goods and Services refers to the difference of the exports of goods and services minus the imports of goods and services. The imports include the value of various goods and services sold or gratuitously transferred by the resident units to the non-resident units. The imports include the value of various goods and services purchased or gratuitously acquired by the resident units from the non-resident units. Because the provision of services and the use of them happen simultaneously, the import and export of services by the resident units from abroad is usually treated as import while the acquisition of services by non-resident units in this country is usually treated as export. The export and import of goods are calculated at FOB.