China remains developing nation despite GDP increase

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday in Beijing that China remains a developing country although the official size of economy has risen after taking into account emerging service industries.

China on Tuesday raised the official size of its economy, saying its GDP last year was 15.9878 trillion yuan (1.981 trillion US dollars) following a survey that to gather more accurate data on restaurants, retailers and other service businesses, which were previously underreported.

China will not change its diplomatic policies, and will remain dedicated to economic development, raising living standards and safeguarding a peaceful and stable environment, Qin said.

Noting that China's per capita GDP ranks after 100th in the world, Qin said, "Our current task is to concentrate on construction and development."

He said China would remain a "positive force" in safeguarding world peace and development no matter how developed China is in the future.

China remains the world's largest developing country and its economic output per capita is less than that of over 100 nations, said statistician Li Deshui Tuesday.

As the world's 6th biggest economy, China still lags behind more than 100 other countries in terms of economic output per capita, said Li at the end of a press conference about China's revised major economic figures.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004 ranked 107th based on methodology used by the International Monetary Fund, while the World Bank listed China as the 129th in this regard.

China's GDP per capita in 2004 accounted for merely one fifth of the world's total, noted Li, adding that "Neither rankings above will change this fact."

By the end of 2004, roughly 100 million peasant farmers and more than 20 million city dwellers, nearly one tenth of the country's total population, were in need of financial support from the government, he acknowledged.

China's population living in poverty even outnumbers the total populations of most countries in the world, Li said.

The statistician also noted that China's GDP growth has been at the cost of excessive energy usage.

According to the revised figures, China only produced 4.4 percent of the world's total GDP in 2004, yet the crude oil it devoured accounted for 7.4 percent of the world's total; coal, 31 percent; iron ore, 30 percent; rolled steel, 27 percent; and cement, 40 percent.

China Tuesday revised its GDP figure for 2004 to 15.9878 trillion yuan (about 2 trillion U.S. dollars), up 2.3 trillion yuan, or 16.8 percent from preliminary figures.

Source: Xinhua