The SAFE recently released revised data for China's 2009 Balance of Payments Statement. The statistics reveal that the current account and the capital and financial account continued to post a "twin surplus" in 2009.
In 2009, China's surplus under the current account totaled USD 297.1 billion, a decrease of 32 percent compared with that of the previous year. Specifically, according to the statistical coverage of the balance of payments, the surpluses in goods, income, and current transfers reached USD 249.5 billion, USD 43.3 billion, and USD 33.7 billion, respectively, whereas the deficit in services amounted to USD 29.4 billion.
In 2009, the surplus under the capital and financial account totaled USD 144.8 billion, a 6.64-fold increase over that in the previous year. In particular, net inflows of direct investments, portfolio investments, and other investments amounted to USD 34.3 billion, USD 38.7 billion, and USD 67.9 billion respectively.
China's international reserves assets from transactions increased by USD 398.4 billion. Specifically, foreign exchange reserves assets registered a net increase of USD 382.1 billion (exclusive of the influence of the change in the value of non-transaction factors such as the exchange rates, prices, and so forth), whereas special drawing rights, the reserve position in the IMF, and monetary gold posted increases of USD 11.1 billion, USD 0.4 billion, and USD 4.9 billion respectively.
Following the release of these data, in compliance with international conventions data on the foreign exchange reserves assets in Chinas Balance of Payments Statement will only record changes in transactions; changes in the value of the reserves assets due to non-transaction factors, such as exchange rates and prices, will be reflected in the International Investment Position. The SAFE has made retroactive adjustments to the data in the Balance of Payments Statements since 2003 according to the above specifications and is releasing them simultaneously with this statement (see the attachment).
In addition, the BOP Analysis Team of the SAFE released China's Balance of Payments Report for 2009 in order to facilitate an understanding of the data and analysis of China's balance of payments among all groups in the society.
China's Balance of Payments Statement | ||||
2009 | ||||
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| Unit: USD 100 million | |
Items | # | Balance | Credit | Debit |
I. Current Account | 1 | 2,971 | 14,846 | 11,874 |
A. Goods and Services | 2 | 2,201 | 13,333 | 11,132 |
a. Goods | 3 | 2,495 | 12,038 | 9,543 |
b. Services | 4 | -294 | 1,295 | 1,589 |
1.Transportation | 5 | -230 | 236 | 466 |
2.Travel | 6 | -40 | 397 | 437 |
3.Communications Services | 7 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
4.Construction Services | 8 | 36 | 95 | 59 |
5.Insurance Services | 9 | -97 | 16 | 113 |
6.Financial Services | 10 | -3 | 4 | 7 |
7.Computer and Information Services | 11 | 33 | 65 | 32 |
8.Royalties and Licensing Fees | 12 | -106 | 4 | 111 |
9.Consulting Services | 13 | 52 | 186 | 134 |
10.Advertising and Public Opinion Polling | 14 | 4 | 23 | 20 |
11.Audio-visual and Related Services | 15 | -2 | 1 | 3 |
12. Other Business Services | 16 | 59 | 247 | 188 |
13. Government Services, n.i.e. | 17 | 1 | 9 | 8 |
B. Income | 18 | 433 | 1,086 | 653 |
1.Employee Compensation | 19 | 72 | 92 | 21 |
2.Investment Income | 20 | 361 | 994 | 632 |
C. Current Transfers | 21 | 337 | 426 | 89 |
1.General Government | 22 | -2 | 0 | 3 |
2.Other Sectors | 23 | 340 | 426 | 86 |
II. Capital and Financial Account | 24 | 1,448 | 7,464 | 6,016 |
A. Capital Account | 25 | 40 | 42 | 2 |
B. Financial Account | 26 | 1,409 | 7,422 | 6,014 |
1. Direct Investment | 27 | 343 | 1,142 | 799 |
1.1 Abroad | 28 | -439 | 42 | 481 |
1.2 In China | 29 | 782 | 1,100 | 318 |
2. Portfolio Investment | 30 | 387 | 981 | 594 |
2.1 Assets | 31 | 99 | 669 | 570 |
2.1.1 Equity Securities | 32 | -338 | 122 | 461 |
2.1.2 Debt Securities | 33 | 437 | 547 | 110 |
2.1.2.1 Bonds and Notes | 34 | 370 | 479 | 110 |
2.1.2.2 Money Market Instruments | 35 | 67 | 68 | 0 |
2.2 Liabilities | 36 | 288 | 312 | 24 |
2.2.1 Equity Securities | 37 | 282 | 288 | 7 |
2.2.2 Debt Securities | 38 | 6 | 23 | 17 |
2.2.2.1 Bonds and Notes | 39 | 6 | 23 | 17 |
2.2.2.2 Money Market Instruments | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3. Other Investment | 41 | 679 | 5,299 | 4,620 |
3.1 Assets | 42 | 94 | 1,174 | 1,080 |
3.1.1 Trade Credits | 43 | -544 | 0 | 544 |
Long-term | 44 | -38 | 0 | 38 |
Short-term | 45 | -506 | 0 | 506 |
3.1.2 Loans | 46 | 130 | 450 | 320 |
Long-term | 47 | -315 | 0 | 315 |
Short-term | 48 | 445 | 450 | 5 |
3.1.3 Currency and Deposits | 49 | 52 | 267 | 216 |
3.1.4 Other Assets | 50 | 456 | 457 | 1 |
Long-term | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Short-term | 52 | 456 | 457 | 1 |
3.2 Liabilities | 53 | 585 | 4,125 | 3,540 |
3.2.1 Trade Credits | 54 | 321 | 321 | 0 |
Long-term | 55 | 22 | 22 | 0 |
Short-term | 56 | 298 | 298 | 0 |
3.2.2 Loans | 57 | 37 | 3,222 | 3,185 |
Long-term | 58 | -97 | 135 | 232 |
Short-term | 59 | 134 | 3,087 | 2,953 |
3.2.3 Currency and Deposits | 60 | 116 | 456 | 340 |
3.2.4 Other Liabilities | 61 | 111 | 126 | 15 |
Long-term | 62 | 110 | 110 | 0 |
Short-term | 63 | 1 | 16 | 15 |
III. Reserves Assets | 64 | -3,984 | 0 | 3,984 |
3.1 Monetary Gold | 65 | -49 | 0 | 49 |
3.2 Special Drawing Rights | 66 | -111 | 0 | 111 |
3.3 Reserves Position in the Fund | 67 | -4 | 0 | 4 |
3.4 Foreign Exchange | 68 | -3,821 | 0 | 3,821 |
3.5 Other Claims | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
IV. Net Errors and Omissions | 70 | -435 | 0 | 435 |
1. This statement employs rounded-off numbers.
2. After this release, according to international convention, the SAFE has made adjustments to the methods for recording the reserves assets, i.e., only changes in reserves assets due to transactions will be recorded in the balance of payments statement, which will be exclusive of changes in the value of reserves assets due to non-transaction factors such as exchange rates and prices.
