Numbers of the Week

5.2 trillion yuan

The government collected 5.2 trillion yuan ($760 billion) in tax revenue in the first 11 months of 2008, a year-on-year increase of 20.2 percent.

240 million tons

China imported a total of 240 million tons of energy products, including oil, liquified petroleum gas, and liquified natural gas, in the first 11 months of 2008.

TO THE POINT: New Year's Day holiday sales were strong and posted a 13-percent year-on-year increase despite recessionary fears. But China's economy continued to ail on other fronts: The unemployment rate was estimated to be just above 9 percent with many laid-off migrant workers and college graduates who cannot find jobs. The combined asset value of domestic fund management companies dropped 41 percent in 2008. And centrally administered state-owned enterprises saw their profits plunge 30 percent last year. In the meantime, the Ministry of Agriculture warned of a further pork price drop this year. The government also considered introducing real estate investment trusts to help property developers get financing.

By LIU YUNYUN

New Year's Sales Remain Stable

The gloomy economic outlook did not dampen consumer spending during the three-day New Year's holiday on January 1-3, according to Ministry of Commerce figures.

Retail sales at 1,000 major merchandising companies rose to 12.5 billion yuan ($1.83 billion), a 13-percent increase compared to the same period a year ago. Many analysts said the steady growth hinted at a possible retail sales boom during the Spring Festival holiday on January 25-31.

The Ministry of Commerce detected three trends in the New Year's sales, which could serve as guidelines for retailers when they prepare their Spring Festival sales promotions. First, diverse promotions and discounts attracted consumers. Big retailers such as French giant Carrefour, for example, launched a large-scale sale for the majority of its products, which drew in shoppers by the droves. Many exporters, whose sales in international markets have withered because of the global financial crisis, enhanced their domestic marketing efforts to attract domestic buyers.

Second, small, reasonably priced goods were popular among consumers. Stores reported that sales of food, clothes, shoes, digital products, and small home appliances such as microwave ovens and electromagnetic ovens had increased during the holiday period. Televisions and refrigerators sold well in rural areas.

Third, the catering industry serving mid-range consumers saw its profits increase. On the first day of 2009, the sales revenue of major Beijing restaurants monitored by the government grew 18 percent compared with the last day of 2008. Many of these restaurants reported a 30-percent increase.

Wary of Rising Unemployment

Unlike the optimistic official estimate of 4 percent, the country's real unemployment rate could stand at 9.4 percent at the end of 2008, according to the 2009 Blue Book of Chinese Society published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

The report also projected that a quarter of the country's 6.1 million college graduates in 2009 might have difficulty in finding jobs.

The employment outlook for college graduates would be tough as the economy weakens, said Zhang Chewei, Deputy Director of the Research Institute of Population Science at the CASS. He noted that the greatest challenge comes from migrant workers who lost their jobs due to layoffs and company collapses. About 130 million farmers who migrated to cities for jobs have been forced to return to their villages for work.