Last week the Kunming Municipal Bureau of Statistics released its initial 2007 economic statistics for the city.

Here are some of the more noteworthy numbers:

• Gross domestic product (GDP) for Kunming during 2007 totaled 139.3 billion yuan – more than US$19.3 billion – an increase of 12.5 percent over the city's GDP in 2006.

• Consumer prices rose significantly, with the city's consumer price index (CPI) – a measure of price change among a basket of several common consumer goods – rising 5.8 percent over the year.

• Food prices exhibited the sharpest price increase, jumping an average of 13.9 percent from January to December.

• Fixed asset investment in Kunming last year totaled 81.8 billion yuan, an increase of 25% over 2006.

• Investment in the city's booming real estate sector reached nearly 22.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.1 percent.

• Retail sales in Kunming were up 17.6 percent in 2007, swelling to 56.9 billion yuan.

• Per capita disposable income within Kunming's urban areas grew to 12,083 yuan, up 6.1 percent over 2006.

• Kunming's rural net income was up 7.1 percent, with the average farmer outside of the city earning 4,003 yuan last year.

• Tourist visits to Kunming increased by 12 percent, with more than 25 million visits to the city in 2007.

• Kunming's total revenue from tourism in 2007 was 16.8 billion yuan, an increase of 8.0 percent over 2006.

• Domestic tourist visits to Kunming grew 12.4 percent last year, totaling 24.3 million visits.

• Kunming recorded 713,400 visits by foreign travelers, up only 0.8 percent over 2006.

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China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released economic statistics for the year 2007 today, with the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 11.4 percent, the highest rate of growth in 13 years for the country's economy.

Currently the world's fourth-largest economy after the United States, Japan and Germany, China recorded a GDP of more than 24.6 trillion yuan (US$3.4 trillion) last year, according to initial NBS calculations.

In other statistics of note, fixed asset investment – fuelled by a nationwide real estate boom – was up 24.8 percent, totaling 13.7 trillion yuan. Consumption continued to climb, with national retail sales for the year reaching 8.9 trillion yuan, up 16.8 percent over 2006.
　　
China's total trade with the rest of the world increased 23.5 percent last year, swelling to more than US$2.17 trillion. Exports from China totaled US$1.21 trillion, a jump of 25.7 percent year-on-year, while the value of imports for the year exceeded US$955 billion, up 20.8 percent.

Last year the rise of the Chinese consumer continued, with per capita disposable income up 17.2 percent, reaching 13,786 yuan (US$1,907). As disposable income grew, however, so did the price of goods in the marketplace. According to NBS statistics, China's consumer price index (CPI) – a measure of the price of a basket of everyday consumer goods – increased by 4.8 percent.

Yunnan province saw the price of goods go up faster than the rest of the country, with the provincial CPI increasing 5.9 percent over 2006.

NBS chief Xie Fuzhan (谢伏瞻) characterized China's continued rapid economic growth as "stable", but also warned of the potential for overheating. Xie also expressed concern over prices being increasingly pushed upward and "structural contradictions" in the country's economy.

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This week the Yunnan Bureau of Statistics (YBS) released economic data for the province for the period from January to July of this year. One of the more significant statistical trends can be found within Yunnan's consumer price index (CPI) - a statistic based upon a basket of common consumer goods that is used to illustrate trends in the cost of everyday living.

Yunnan's CPI for the first seven months of this year grew 5.7 percent on the same period in 2006, one-tenth of a percentage point higher than the national average. Yunnan's rural areas experienced slightly higher CPI growth at 5.8 percent year-on-year.

Food items experienced some of the higher price increases, with pork prices in the first seven months of this year jumping 53.2 percent over the same period last year. According to YBS statistics, average food prices in Yunnan in July of this year were 13. 4 percent higher than July 2006. In comparing July 2007 prices with July 2006 prices, grain prices are up 5.6 percent, fresh eggs are up 23.5 percent, fresh vegetables up 22.9 percent and food oils up 33.4 percent.

In addition to higher prices at the market, restaurants in Kunming and throughout the province have begun raising prices or are preparing to raise prices. According to one Kunming restaurant owner: "We can only absorb so much in terms of food price increases before we have to start raising our prices… our restaurant and most others are likely going to raise prices in the coming weeks."

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