This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.

This paper explores the productivity impact of trade, product market and financial market policies over the last decade in China – a fast growing country where, despite significant reform action, regulatory stance remains still far from OECD standards.

The main features of China’s current sub-national finance arrangements date back to the 1994 tax reform. China has a multi-level government structure that shares national tax revenues through a system of tax sharing and transfers, and divides spending assignments and responsibilities.

China has made tremendous progress toward achieving inclusive growth, but major reforms are needed to ensure a fourth decade of rapidly converging living standards and a greener economy, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of China.

China’s new leadership has signalled that it is time to step up the pace of reform, building on the remarkable economic and social achievements to date while recognising the pressing need for deep structural changes. Indeed, far-reaching reforms are necessary for continuing to raise living standards and well-being, even as China is poised to become the world’s largest economy by around 2016.

China’s exceptional economic expansion has led to rising energy demand and pollution as well as other environmental pressures. Strong efforts by the government have moderated emissions of some types of air and water pollution from high levels but others, including greenhouse gas emissions, continue to rise. Poor air and water quality threaten human health, create other costs and reduce well-being.

This report presents an update of OECD policy advice in areas that are critical to China’s long-term economic performance and social development. They include food security, social safety nets, health reform, green growth, climate change and urbanisation.

China is well-placed to avoid the so-called "middle-income trap" and to continue to converge towards the more advanced economies, even though growth is likely to slow from near double-digit rates in the first decade of this millennium to around 7% at the 2020 horizon.

Policies for Inclusive Urbanisation in China

In spite of a slow and uneven global recovery over the past five years, China has maintained strong growth and continued to tackle income inequality, which had been rising, as well as poverty. Drawing on the expertise and collective experience of OECD member and partner countries, this Report presents recent OECD analysis and policy advice in areas that are critical to China’s long-term economic performance and social development.

After three decades of extraordinary economic development, China is shifting to a slower and more sustainable growth path. Further reforms are now needed to ensure that future growth is resilient, inclusive and green, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of China.

The share of the tertiary sector in China’s value added has increased steadily, overtaking the share of the secondary sector in 2013. With increasing incomes, the share of services is expected to grow further as at higher incomes a larger share of income is spent on services.

Urbanisation will continue in China, with the government planning to grant urban residential status to an additional 100 million rural workers by 2020. For those who remain in rural areas, improved social welfare systems and investment in health services are critical.

China has made impressive strides in education in recent decades, even though the accumulation of human capital has lagged behind that of physical capital. Going forward, access to and quality of education will be key to sustain economic convergence with the most advanced economies and to offset the drag exerted by population ageing.

This paper aims at gauging the skills and knowledge gap of tertiary graduates of universities and vocational colleges across China. It also looks at the employment and wage prospects of graduates with different educational backgrounds.

This paper first decomposes labour productivity growth over 2000-11 into a within-industry, a shift and a cross effect in a number of countries and compares China with other countries over this period. This shift-share analysis also allows a comparison of within-sector productivity gains across a large number of sectors and countries.

Latin America’s GDP growth slowdown deepened and is expected to be negative in 2015. For a second consecutive year, Latin America falls behind the average growth of OECD countries after a full decade of convergence with advanced economies, according to the Latin American Economic Outlook 2016.

As the Chinese economy matures to a slower but more sustainable growth path, policy efforts need to focus more on efficiency, stability and inclusiveness, according to a new OECD report.

On several measures, China has caught up with OECD economies in the area of innovation.

Growth in China has been slowing gradually, but GDP per capita remains on course to almost double between 2010 and 2020. As a result, the Chinese economy will remain the major driver of global growth for the foreseeable future.

With persisting slower growth worldwide and in China, over-capacity in some heavy industry sectors, declining profitability, and intensifying competition from other, lower-cost emerging economies, corporate behaviour in China needs to change and focus more on efficiency and sustainability.

Living standards in China have greatly improved over the past few decades. Both sustained economic growth and an expansion of the social security system have contributed to a sharp reduction in the number of people in poverty.

This paper estimates urban and rural poverty rates across five Chinese administrative regions (Shanghai, Liaoning, Guangdong, Henan and Gansu) in 2014 using representative household level data from the China Family Panel Studies survey.

A key priority in China’s "new normal" period -- where returns on investment are slackening -- is corporate governance, which could lead to enhanced productivity by a better management of resources at the firm level.

This paper focusses on the link between urbanisation and consumption behaviour in China.

Greater international integration has modified the transmission channels and the impact that external shocks have on domestic economies via increased trade openness and exposure to global financial developments.

Imports in China decreased to 1549.43 USD HML in April from 1652.13 USD HML in March of 2020. Imports in China averaged 562.78 USD HML from 1981 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 1951.34 USD HML in September of 2018 and a record low of 13.88 USD HML in February of 1983. In 2019 imports to China fell 2.7 percent, the first yearly decline in three years, on weak domestic demand and persistent trade tensions with the US. Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 38 percent of total imports on the back of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances (21 percent), road vehicles (4 percent), telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment (3 percent), and office machines and automatic data processing machines (3 percent). Other important categories were: mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (17 percent) led by petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (13 percent) and gas, natural and manufactured (3 percent); crude materials, inedible, except fuels (14 percent), such as metalliferous ores and metal scrap (9 percent); chemicals and related products (11 percent) due to organic chemicals (3 percent) and plastics in primary forms (3 percent); miscellaneous manufactured articles (7 percent); manufactured goods classified chiefly by material (7 percent); and food and live animals (4 percent). The biggest source of imports was the EU (13 percent of imports) of which Germany (5 percent) and France (2 percent), followed by South Korea, Taiwan, Japan (8 percent each), the US and Australia (6 percent each), Brazil (4 percent), Malaysia, Vietnam, Russia and Saudi Arabia (3 percent each), and Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia (2 percent each). This page provides - China Imports - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Core consumer prices in China increased 1.20 percent in March of 2020 over the same month in the previous year. Core Inflation Rate in China averaged 1.38 percent from 2008 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 2.50 percent in June of 2011 and a record low of -1.60 percent in August of 2009. In China, the core inflation rate tracks changes in prices that consumers pay for a basket of goods which excludes some volatile price items. This page provides - China Core Inflation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Urbanisation in China has long been held back by various restrictions on land and internal migration but has taken off since the 1990s, as these impediments started to be gradually relaxed. People have moved in large numbers to richer cities, where productivity is higher and has increased further thanks to agglomeration effects.

China needs a new model of urbanisation to match the shift to a new model of growth. For decades, both urbanisation and growth have been based on robust export demand, cheap labour, cheap land and artificially low pricing of environmental externalities. None of these can support growth or urban development in the future.

Beijing, 24 October 2014 - China presented guidelines intended to provide a roadmap for the responsible business conduct of Chinese companies operating overseas. In addition, China and the OECD signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the implementation by Chinese companies of responsible business conduct in global mineral supply chains.

In a historic visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to the OECD in Paris, the People’s Republic of China today decided to enhance longstanding collaboration with the OECD and to join the OECD Development Centre.

30/01/2018 - The China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) and the OECD today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that sets out their commitment to intensify co-operation to promote responsible business in global textile and apparel supply chains.

Imports from China in Brazil decreased to 2057 USD Million in April from 2464 USD Million in March of 2020. Imports from China in Brazil averaged 2620.03 USD Million from 2014 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 5152 USD Million in January of 2020 and a record low of 1430.94 USD Million in April of 2016. This page includes a chart with historical data for Brazil Imports from China.

Exports to China in Brazil increased to 7079 USD Million in April from 6082 USD Million in March of 2020. Exports to China in Brazil averaged 1479.80 USD Million from 1989 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 7079 USD Million in April of 2020 and a record low of 7.56 USD Million in February of 1990. This page includes a chart with historical data for Brazil Exports to China.

Household Saving Rate in China decreased to 36.10 percent in 2016 from 37.10 percent in 2015. Personal Savings in China averaged 33.59 percent from 1992 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 39 percent in 2010 and a record low of 27.20 percent in 2002. In China, net household saving is defined as the subtraction of household consumption expenditure from household disposable income, plus the change in net equity of households in pension funds. Household saving is the main domestic source of funds to finance capital investment, a major impetus for long-term economic growth. This indicator is measured as a percentage of household disposable income. This page provides - China Deposits Interest Rates - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

China scored 41 points out of 100 on the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Index in China averaged 34.75 Points from 1995 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 41 Points in 2017 and a record low of 21.60 Points in 1995. The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). This page provides the latest reported value for - China Corruption Index - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Loans to Private Sector in China increased to 51500 CNY HML in March from 8554 CNY HML in February of 2020. Loans to Private Sector in China averaged 10832.42 CNY HML from 2002 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 51500 CNY HML in March of 2020 and a record low of -974 CNY HML in October of 2005. In China, loans to private sector refer to total social financing, that is, the volume of financing provided by the financial system to the real economy (domestic non-financial enterprises and households) during a certain period of time. Total social financing is a broad measure of credit and liquidity in the economy as it includes off-balance sheet forms of financing such as initial public offerings, loans from trust companies and bond sales. This page provides - China Loans To Private Sector - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

China is the 80 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Rank in China averaged 69.88 from 1995 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 100 in 2014 and a record low of 40 in 1995. The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index. This page provides the latest reported value for - China Corruption Rank - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Corporate Profits in China increased to 781450 CNY Million in March from 410700 CNY Million in February of 2020. Corporate Profits in China averaged 1709740.30 CNY Million from 1996 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 7518710 CNY Million in December of 2017 and a record low of 1617 CNY Million in February of 1998. In China, corporate profits refer to total profits of all state-owned industrial enterprises and non-state-owned industrial enterprises with the annual sales revenue above 5 million yuan. This page provides - China Corporate Profits- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Crude Oil Production in China increased to 3923 BBL/D/1K in January from 3782 BBL/D/1K in December of 2019. Crude Oil Production in China averaged 3006.59 BBL/D/1K from 1973 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 4408 BBL/D/1K in June of 2015 and a record low of 1012 BBL/D/1K in February of 1973. This page provides the latest reported value for - China Crude Oil Production - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Industrial Production in China decreased 1.10 percent in March of 2020 over the same month in the previous year. Industrial Production in China averaged 11.76 percent from 1990 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 29.40 percent in August of 1994 and a record low of -21.10 percent in January of 1990. In China, industrial production measures the output of businesses integrated in industrial sector of the economy such as manufacturing, mining, and utilities. This page provides - China Industrial Production - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Electricity Production in China decreased to 552500 Gigawatt-hour in March from 654400 Gigawatt-hour in December of 2019. Electricity Production in China averaged 235205.46 Gigawatt-hour from 1989 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 668200 Gigawatt-hour in August of 2019 and a record low of 41760 Gigawatt-hour in February of 1989. This page provides - China Electricity Production- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Industrial Production in China increased 32.13 percent in March of 2020 over the previous month. Industrial Production Mom in China averaged 0.63 percent from 2011 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 32.13 percent in March of 2020 and a record low of -24.91 percent in February of 2020. In China, industrial production measures the output of businesses integrated in industrial sector of the economy such as manufacturing, mining, and utilities. This page provides the latest reported value for - China Industrial Production Mom - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

GDP From Transport in China decreased to 7865 CNY HML in the first quarter of 2020 from 42802.10 CNY HML in the fourth quarter of 2019. GDP From Transport in China averaged 9504.91 CNY HML from 1992 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 42802.10 CNY HML in the fourth quarter of 2019 and a record low of 393.20 CNY HML in the first quarter of 1992. China Gdp From Transport includes Transport, Storage and Post industries. The value is cumulative. This page provides - China Gdp From Transport- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Car Production in China increased to 1049000 Units in March from 195000 Units in February of 2020. Car Production in China averaged 1269097.13 Units from 2005 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 2669100 Units in November of 2017 and a record low of 195000 Units in February of 2020. This page provides - China Car Production- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Business Confidence in China decreased to 50.80 points in April from 52 points in March of 2020. Business Confidence in China averaged 51.67 points from 2005 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 59.20 points in April of 2008 and a record low of 35.70 points in February of 2020. In China, the NBS Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index measures the performance of the manufacturing sector and is derived from a survey of more large-scale, state-owned companies. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index is based on five individual indexes with the following weights: New Orders (30 percent), Output (25 percent), Employment (20 percent), Suppliers’ Delivery Times (15 percent) and Stock of Items Purchased (10 percent), with the Delivery Times index inverted so that it moves in a comparable direction. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion of the manufacturing sector compared to the previous month; below 50 represents a contraction; while 50 indicates no change. . This page provides - China Business Confidence - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

China 10Y Bond Yield was 2.64 percent on Saturday May 9, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity. Historically, the China Government Bond 10Y reached an all time high of 4.80 in September of 2007. Generally, a government bond is issued by a national government and is denominated in the country`s own currency. Bonds issued by national governments in foreign currencies are normally referred to as sovereign bonds. The yield required by investors to loan funds to governments reflects inflation expectations and the likelihood that the debt will be repaid.

China recorded a Government Budget deficit equal to 2.80 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2019. Government Budget in China averaged -2.22 percent of GDP from 1988 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 0.58 percent of GDP in 2007 and a record low of -4.20 percent of GDP in 2018. Government Budget is an itemized accounting of the payments received by government (taxes and other fees) and the payments made by government (purchases and transfer payments). A budget deficit occurs when an government spends more money than it takes in. The opposite of a budget deficit is a budget surplus. This page provides - China Government Budget - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Import Prices in China increased to 97.90 points in December from 96.10 points in November of 2019. Import Prices in China averaged 103.74 points from 1993 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 122.70 points in August of 2008 and a record low of 79.60 points in May of 2009. In China, Import Prices correspond to the rate of change in the prices of goods and services purchased by residents of that country from, and supplied by, foreign sellers. Import Prices are heavily affected by exchange rates. This page provides the latest reported value for - China Import Prices - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.