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SMART MOVE: On December 14, China's telecom giant ZTE Corp. and Japan's Softbank Corp. jointly launch their first intellectual Android smart phone, Libero, in the Japanese market (JI CHUNPENG) |
Numbers of the Week
584.1 billion yuan
China's fiscal revenue added up to 584.1 billion yuan ($87.8 billion) in November, up 16.1 percent from the previous year, said the Ministry of Finance.
13.3%
China's industrial output grew 13.3 percent year on year in November, compared with 13.1 percent in October, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
TO THE POINT: November saw the consumer price index rise to an alarming 5.1 percent, prompting policymakers to mop up excess liquidity. Foreign trade picks up steam, with both exports and imports in November reaching record highs. The property fever cools down a little, with house price growth in 70 major cities slowing to 7.7 percent in November. Hiring activities in China have experienced a surge, making the country the world's second hottest job market in the third quarter.
By HU YUE
November Figures
CPI
The consumer price index (CPI), a barometer of inflation, grew 5.1 percent in November, a 28-month high and 0.7 percentage points higher than in October, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The CPI increase was largely driven by food and residential factors, said NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun. Food prices surged 11.7 percent year on year, contributing 74 percent to the CPI increase.
Consumer prices are expected to drop as the government has spared no effort to ensure food supplies and subsidize low-income residents.
On November 20, the State Council announced 16 measures to rein in rising commodity prices, including boosting agricultural production and enhancing price supervision.
November prices of vegetables dropped 1.9 percent from October while those of grain and edible oil stabilized, said Sheng.
But there may be a time lag before those measures take overall effect.
PPI
In November, the producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, increased 6.1 percent from the previous year, compared with 5 percent in October.
Retail sales
Retail sales of consumer goods totaled 1.39 trillion yuan ($209 billion) in November, rising 18.7 percent from one year earlier, said the NBS.
Fixed-asset investment
China's urban investment in fixed assets soared 24.9 percent in the first 11 months year on year to hit 21.07 trillion yuan ($3.2 trillion), said the NBS.
Investment in the property sector was 4.27 trillion yuan ($642.1 billion) from January to November, an increase of 36.5 percent from a year ago.
Foreign trade
China's exports soared 34.9 percent in November from a year earlier to $153.33 billion, while imports went up 37.7 percent to $130.43 billion, said the General Administration of Customs. Both exports and imports reached record highs.
The November figure brought the foreign trade volume in the first 11 months to $2.68 trillion, higher than the whole year's figure of $2.2 trillion for 2009. Exports from January to November added up to $1.42 trillion, surging 33 percent year on year. The imports stood at $1.25 trillion, up 40.3 percent from a year ago. The trade surplus was $170.4 billion, down 3.9 percent year on year.
In the first 11 months, mechanical and electrical products accounted for 59.2 percent of the country's exports.
The increase in exports is attributable to buoyant demands in the run-up to Christmas, said Hu Yanni, a senior analyst at the China Securities Co. Ltd.
Looking ahead, the Ministry of Commerce expects foreign trade to grow, but at a slower pace given uncertainties such as a stronger yuan and simmering trade protectionism.
FDI
China received $9.7 billion of foreign direct investments (FDI) in November, soaring 38.2 percent from a year ago, said the Ministry of Commerce.
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