(Xinhua)10:17, July 03, 2019
Photo taken on Jan. 13, 2019 shows workers laying tracks for the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway line at Guanting Reservoir grand bridge in north Chinas Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)
BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) — Chinas economy has accelerated over the past seven decades, with gross domestic product rising at an average annual rate of 8.1 percent, according to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Chinas GDP hit 90.03 trillion yuan (about 13.14 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2018, accounting for 16 percent of the worlds total. This posed a sharp contrast to the countrys economy in 1952 when its GDP was only 67.9 billion yuan.
From 1979 to 2018, Chinas economy grew by 9.4 percent annually on average, much higher than the worlds average economic growth of 2.9 percent. Chinas economic growth has contributed around 18 percent to the global economic growth during the period, second only to the United States.
Gross national income per person reached 9,732 U.S. dollars in 2018, higher than the level seen in middle-income countries.
The report also showed that Chinas fiscal strength improved remarkably and foreign exchange reserves soared during the past seven decades.
Fiscal revenues leaped to 18.34 trillion yuan last year, compared with 6.2 billion yuan in 1950 and 113.2 billion yuan in 1978.
Forex reserves reached 3.07 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of 2018, topping the world for the 13th straight year. By contrast, Chinas forex reserves stood at 108 million dollars at the end of 1952.