Ma said about 20 percent of migrant workers from the rural areas returned home after they lost their jobs because of the fallout from the financial crisis. He said the State Council had promulgated six measures to resettle the returned migrant workers, including training them for construction work and protecting their rights to use farmland.

Retail sales

China's retail sales stood at 10.85 trillion yuan ($1.59 trillion) in 2008, a 21.6-percent increase year on year. The growth rate was 4.8 percentage points higher than that of 2007.

Fixed-asset investment

The country's fixed-asset investment stayed at 17.23 trillion yuan ($2.5 trillion), an increase of 25.5 percent over that of 2007.

Industrial production

The industrial value-added growth rate slowed to 12.9 percent, down 5.6 percentage points compared with that of 2007.

FDI

Paid-in foreign direct investment amounted to $92.4 billion last year, an increase of 23.6 percent year on year.

Residents' income

Urban residents' per-capita disposable income averaged 15,781 yuan ($2,307) last year, an increase of 8.4 percent after it was reduced by price surges. Rural residents' per-capita net income was 4,761 yuan ($696), an increase of 8 percent.

Financial Performance Stable in 2008

Money supply

China's money supply in 2008 increased rapidly after the central bank eased its monetary stance in the second half to help the economy ride out looming downturns.

Central bank data indicate that the country's broad money supply (M2) reached 47.5 trillion yuan ($6.95 trillion) by the end of 2008, representing an increase of 17.8 percent over the previous year. The narrow money supply (M1) grew 9.1 percent to 16.6 trillion yuan ($2.43 trillion). Cash in circulation increased 12.7 percent to 3.4 trillion yuan ($500 billion).

Deposits

At the end of 2008, the outstanding renminbi and foreign currency deposits at financial institutions totaled 47.84 trillion yuan ($7 trillion) with a year-on-year growth of 19.3 percent.

At the end of last December, outstanding renminbi deposits increased 19.73 percent year on year to 46.62 trillion yuan ($6.82 trillion). The outstanding foreign currency deposits at financial institutions gained 12.01 percent year on year to $179.1 billion.

Loans

At the end of 2008, the outstanding renminbi and foreign currency loans at financial institutions increased 17.95 percent year on year to 32.01 trillion yuan ($4.68 trillion). Outstanding renminbi loans grew 18.76 percent year on year to 30.35 trillion yuan ($4.44 trillion). Outstanding foreign currency loans at financial institutions increased 11.89 percent year on year to $243.8 billion.

Auto Sales Not Promising

The automobile industry across the world was hit hard by the economic slowdown. Chinese automakers did not escape it, but were relatively better off compared with their peers overseas.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said the country's automakers reported that their sales volume (including exports) grew 6.7 percent last year versus sales in 2007, which was the lowest growth rate in a decade. The year-on-year growth rate stayed at buoyant 21.8 percent in 2007.

A total of 9.38 million vehicles were sold in 2008, making China the world's second largest car seller, only after the United States, the CAAM said in a report issued on January 12.

The profits of 19 major domestic auto producers totaled 65.63 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) in the first 11 months last year, down 0.53 percent from that of 2007, according to the CAAM.

The auto industry, considered one of China's pillar industries, has been gradually feeling the pinch of the global financial turmoil. To avoid a possible downturn in the industry, the government came up with a stimulus package to salvage the nation's auto and steel industries two days after the CAAM report was released. The plan reduced taxes on the purchase of cars with small engine displacements and encouraged the independent innovation of fuel-efficient cars.

Dong Yang, Deputy Director of the CAAM, told Xinhua News Agency he expected both sales and output to grow about 5 percent in 2009, thanks to the government's stimulus package.