subsisting through
part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy,
and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population
control program, which is essential to maintaining long-term growth in
living standards. Another long-term threat to continued rapid economic
growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution,
soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the
north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic
development. Beijing will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through
spending on infrastructure - such as water control and power grids -
and poverty relief and through rural tax reform aimed at eliminating
arbitrary local levies on farmers. Access to the World Trade Organization
strengthens China's ability to maintain sturdy growth rates, and at
the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong
political controls and growing market influences. Although Beijing has
claimed 7%-8% annual growth in recent years, many observers believe the
rate, while strong, is more like 5%.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $5.56 trillion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 7.3% (official estimate) (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,300 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 17.7% industry: 49.3% services:
33% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line: 10% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.4% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 40 (2001)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.8% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 706 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 50%, industry 23%, services 27%
(2001 est.)

Unemployment rate: urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial
unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2001 est.)

Budget: revenues: $161.8 billion expenditures: $191.8 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2000)

Industries: iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles
and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys,
food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications

Industrial production growth rate: 9.9% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production: 1.308 trillion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 81.83% hydro: 16.83%
other: 0.12% (2000) nucle