Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At the end of 2012, there were some signs of China's economy beginning to slow down.
Some have argued that this was due to the government pushing excessive investment in
earlier years. The Chinese government, however, argues that the GDP contraction was in
line with its plans. The government is currently into its 12th Five Year Guideline, run-
ning 2011-2015. The Five Year Guidelines (previously called Five Year Plans, and still
frequently referred to as such) are the economic and social goals outlined by the govern-
ment for a given five-year period. The current guideline, if achieved, will radically change
China's economy. Just some of its goals include: expanding domestic consumption while
maintaining stable economic development; modernizing agriculture to create the new so-
cialist rural villages; and promoting energy savings and environmental protection.
While China's economic success seems impressive enough, Beijing's success is astounding.
It's often been said that Shanghai is China's key hub for business, and that Hong Kong is
the cutthroat domain of capitalism, yet from many perspectives they both seem to pale in
comparison to Beijing. Perhaps one figure that highlights Beijing's economic domination is
its number of Fortune Global 500 companies. In 2012, China had 73 of the
Fortune
Global
500 companies, second only to the United States with its stash of 132
Fortune
500s, and
a smidgeon ahead of Japan's 68. After that, the closest countries are France and Germany,
both with 32 companies each.
Beijing alone claims 44 of China's 73
Fortune
Global 500 companies. This puts it ahead
of not only France and Germany, but leagues ahead of any other Chinese city, including
Hong Kong, which has only four, and Shanghai, which does mildly better with six. On top
of this, list king
Forbes
also has China down for nine companies in the top 100 of its 2012
“The World's Biggest Companies” list, seven of which are situated in Beijing.
Where other parts of China seem to be contracting, Beijing is relatively robust. The
city's GDP reached RMB1.6 trillion (US$253.3 billion) in 2011, up 8.1 percent from 2010,
and according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics, the capital's GDP again in-
creased by 7.2 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2012.
The average salary in Beijing is likewise rising dramatically. Far above the average earn-
ings of their fellow countrymen and women, Beijingers each enjoyed an average GDP of
RMB80,394 (US$12,447) in 2011, which the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics said
was close to the levels of developed countries. Even adjusting for the slight difference in
GNI, this figure still put Beijing into the World Bank's category of a “high income” eco-
nomy.
