The third National Economic Census shows that Chinese economy is undertaking important changes

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) last week announced the results of the third National Economic Census (NEC). The National Economic Census (NEC) is a comprehensive industry survey towards all enterprises of China’s secondary and tertiary sectors. It has been conducted three times, focusing on enterprises information in 2004, 2008 and 2013 respectively. China’s 2013 GDP level has been revised up by 3.4% based on the third NEC. The share of tertiary sector was amended up as well, while the shares of primary and secondary sectors were modified downward. The government stated that 2014 GDP figure should not be affected by the adjustment of last year’s GDP level. Based on some results contained in the third NEC, we infer that China’s share of manufacturing employment peaked in 2008, when China’s per capita GDP reached around 7,000 dollar (1990 international dollar). Although China outperformed several emerging markets in terms of its relatively higher per capita GDP by the time of reaching its peak of manufacturing employment, it is still uncertain whether China can replicate its own success in the era of service-oriented economy. The good news is that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as high-tech companies have developed rapidly during the period of 2009-2013, with the ownership structure skewing towards private capital. In future, these private-owned SMEs and high-tech enterprises will become the new growth engine of China’s economy.

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