Apr. 16 – Last week, the Chinese government released figures concerning the country’s economy, finances and foreign trade for the first quarter of 2012. The statistics show a drop in year-on-year (yoy) GDP growth from 8.9 percent to 8.1 percent.

2012 Q1 economic indexes

• GDP: RMB10.8 trillion (yoy growth of 8.1 percent)
• Industrial value-added growth: 11.6 percent
• Industrial value-added growth for FIEs and Hong Kong/Taiwan/Macau-invested enterprises: 6.4 percent
• Investment in fixed assets: RMB4.79 trillion (yoy growth of 20.9 percent)
• CPI: 3.8 percent

2012 Q1 trade statistics

• Total trade: US$859.37 billion (yoy growth of 7.3 percent)
• Total imports: US$429.35 billion (yoy growth of 6.9 percent)
• Total exports: US$430.02 billion (yoy growth of 7.6 percent)
• Trade surplus: US$670 million

2012 Q1 financial data

• Social financing: RMB3.88 trillion
• Growth of M1: 4.4 percent
• Growth of M2: 13.4 percent
• Increase in RMB loans: RMB2.46 trillion
• Increase in foreign currency loans: US$21.1 billion
• Increase in RMB deposits: RMB3.76 trillion
• Increase in foreign currency deposits: US$66.8 billion
• Foreign exchange reserves: US$3.31 trillion
• Cross-border RMB settlements: RMB580.4 billion
• RMB direct investment: RMB49.9 billion

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