In the first half year of 2007, the central government adopteda series of macro-control policies aiming at the conflicts and prob-lems existing in economic performance, resulting in a steady andfast economic growth, featured as: rapid economic growth, im-proved efficiency, harmonized structure and more substantial ben-efits to the general public.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the grossdomestic product (GDP) of China in the first half year reached10,676.8 billion Yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%, which was0.5 percentage points higher than the same period of last year andmuch faster than the planned 8%, after it grew 11.1% in the firstquarter of 2007, and 11.9% in the second quarter.
Furthermore, the growth of investment is running at a highlevel, especially in the central and western part of China. In thefirst half of 2007, the investment in fixed assets of the country was5,416.8 billion Yuan, up by 25.9%, 2.2 percentage points higherthan that in the first quarter of this year. Thereinto, the investmentin urban areas reached 4,607.8 billion Yuan, up by 26.7%, 1.4 per-centage points higher than that in the first quarter of this year. Cor-respondently, in rural areas, the investment arrived at 809.0 billionYuan, up by 21.5%.
In terms of different industries, the investment in the primaryindustry was up by 37.5%, and the investment in the secondary in-dustry went up by 29.0% and 24.6% in the tertiary industry, respec-tively.
In terms of regions, during the first six months, the investmentin central and western urban areas amounted to 1,111.1 billion Yuanand 1,009.4 billion Yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 35.6% and30.2%, respectively, all topping that of the eastern area which stoodat 22.3%.
Foreign trade increased rapidly and the utilization of foreigncapitals increased steadily. In the first half year, the total value ofimports and exports reached 980.9 billion USD, upby 23.3% compared with the same period time of lastyear, and it maintained the same level as comparedwith that in the first quarter of this year. Of them,the export amounted to 546.7 billion USD, risingby 27.6% against last year, and the value of importswent to 434.2 billion USD, with a year-on-yeargrowth of 18.2%. The trade surplus was 112.5 billionUSD, up by 51.1 billion USD correspondently.
Besides, Chinese mainland still maintained a hotfavor of overseas capital in the first half year. Accord-ing to the statistics of Ministry of Commerce, in thefirst six months of 2007, the newly approved foreign-invested enterprises for establishment reached 18,683in amount, with a decrease of 5.4% as compared withthat of the same period last year; and the actual utili-zation of foreign investment amounted to 31.889 bil-lion USD, rising by 12.17% compared with the sameperiod of 2006. At the end of June, China registered atotal of 1,332.6 billion USD in foreign exchange re-serves, an increase of 266.3 billion USD over the endof 2006.
Correspondingly, in June 2007, a total of 3,611foreign-funded ventures were newly approved by theMOFCOM, dropping by 11.73% against last year;however, the actual utilization of foreign investmentwas 6.63 billion USD, with a year-on-year growthof 21.91%, compared with 8.6% in May and 5.5% inApril.
\"The country is still a popular destination foroverseas capital,\" said Mr. Yao Shenhong, spokesmenof Ministry of Commerce.
During this time, from the US, the number ofnewly established enterprises in China witnessed asharp decreased of 14.54% and an actual utilizationof investment growth of 5.36% respectively; Andfrom Europe, the number of newly approved enter-prises descended by 7.28% and the actual use of for-eign investment dropped by 31.33% respectively.
Moreover, in the first six months, Hong Kongstill ranked the first place of the top ten sources offoreign investment to the Chinese mainland (as perthe actual input of foreign capital) with a total invest-merit of 10.539 billion USD, then followed by British Virgin Island (7.593 billionUSD), South Korea (1.873 billion USD), Japan (1.807 billion USD), Singapore(1.278 billion USD), the US (1.257 billion USD), Cayman Islands (1.155 billionUSD), West Samoa (838 million USD), Taiwan (687 million USD) and Mauritius(550 million USD), total of which accounted for 86.48% of the whole actual useof foreign investment in China. (See Sheet 1 and 2).