Beijingers get higher GDP, less happiness

(Ecns.cn)--China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 9.2 percent last year, totaling 47.16 trillion yuan (US$7.49 trillion). Given that the population of the Chinese mainland stood at 1.35 billion, the per capita GDP reached 35,000 yuan (US$5,557) in 2011, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

That figure varies tremendously from region to region, however.

Among mainland cities, Beijing took a leading role, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics (BMBS)， with its GDP per capita even meeting the standard for "wealthy nations" set by the World Bank.

The municipality's GDP reached 1.6 trillion yuan (US$254 billion), up 8.1 percent on 2010, resulting in a GDP per capita figure of US$12,447, reported the Global Times.

Although the World Bank's criteria are based on gross national income (GNI) rather than GDP, the BMBS made the necessary adjustments to reflect this when calculating whether Beijing met the requirements, Yu Xiuqing, deputy director of the BMBS, told the newspaper.

"Beijing can use this as a rough reference to estimate its level of prosperity," Yu said.

Liu Yuhui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, added that Beijing's economy has been enjoying relatively healthy development in terms of industrial structure, although, compared to some cities in foreign countries, there is still room for improvement.

Preliminary data show that the service industry contributed 1.2 trillion yuan to Beijing's total GDP in 2011, accounting for 75.5 percent.

The tertiary industry serves as an important point of reference in assessing a region's economic development, analyzed the Beijing News, adding that in developed countries the service sector's contribution to GDP usually takes up 60-80 percent.

The structure of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries in Beijing is generally good, commented Zhao Hong, deputy head of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

However, compared to international metropolises, Beijing still lags behind. The city's GDP per capita is a mere one-seventeenth of Tokyo's, one-eighth of New York's, and one-seventh of London's, revealed a report by the Beijing Center for Human Resources Research in mid 2011.

"The service industry consists of both technology and knowledge-intensive enterprises and low-efficiency units," said Yuan Gangming, a researcher at the Center for China in the World Economy.

"New York is a global financial center, since banking is one of the highly value added sectors," explained Liu Yuhui.

Yet data show the contribution of Beijing's financial businesses in GDP hit 186.4 billion yuan in 2010, less than that of the retail sector, which amounted to 188.9 billion yuan.

"The highly value added businesses are not fully developed in Beijing yet, which causes the gap between it and other international metropolises," said Zhao Hong.

According to statistics, more than half of the employed people in New York, London and Tokyo work in high-tech, financial, cultural and creative companies, while the proportion in Beijing is only 17 percent.

"The internal structure of these three major industries should be optimized," mentioned Zhao Hong.

Liu Yuhui added that "improvements to the legal and personnel structures and business environment will drive the industries into a new stage of development, which concerns the country's soft power and needs more institutional support."

Liu cited London as an example, adding "it is the stable political environment, independent judiciary, transparent supervisory mechanism and relatively mature talent introduction system that has transformed the city into a global financial center."

Experts have also pointed out that residents in Beijing are not in fact enjoying the benefits brought by a higher GDP per capita, as the growth mainly lies in public projects such as infrastructure.

"The rising GDP per capita does not imply rapid improvement in people's quality of life," Yuan Gangming said, noting that "generally speaking, consumption, especially household consumption, is too low, compared to the sizable investments."

Moreover, as the inflation rate hit an unexpected three-month high in January of this year, most residents of the capital continue to suffer from soaring food prices.

Statistics from the NBS reveal that food prices, which account for about one-third of the consumer price index (CPI) basket, gained 10.5 percent year-on-year in January, compared with a 9.1 percent increase in December. Surging food prices have driven the CPI up by 3.29 percentage points.

Ms. Mao, a manager at a shopping mall in Beijing, said she earns about 15,000 yuan (US$2,381) a month before tax, but still feels anxious that she doesn't make enough.

"I haven't gotten a pay raise for two or three years. However, things are more and more expensive," sighed Mao.

A report by the Capital University of Economics and Business shows that the happiness index for urban residents in Beijing stood at 72.28 in 2011, lower than 2010.

"The main cause of the decline was that people were not satisfied with their incomes," analyzed the report.