中瀚石林对中国市场的调研报告.docx

中瀚石林对中国市场的调研报告China’s population of more than 1.3 billion presents a huge potential market for trade and investment. Of the many ethnic groups in China, the Han people account for about 92 per cent of the total population, with Mandarin as China’s official language.The nation’s economy, currently the second-largest in the world behind the United States, has grown at an average annual rate of about 10 per cent over the last 30 years. In 2011, its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached nearly RMB47.2 trillion (about US$7.3 trillion), up 9.2 per cent year-on-year. This growth rate compared with only a 1.7 per cent expansion in the US economy for that year.The nation’s ‘open-door policy’ since 1978, which promoted foreign trade and investment, has been a key driver of its strong economic growth. Further supporting such growth was China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001.While exports remain an important growth driver, China is shifting more of its focus towards domestic consumption to reduce economic dependence on external markets and encourage domestic economic activity.Meanwhile, China’s leaders face growing pressure to reduce the widening gap between the wealthy elite and the poor majority. The government has promised to raise minimum wages by 13 per cent a year through 2015.In December 2011, the government announced that it would cut the tax base of micro- and small-sized enterprises by 50 per cent, while the tax rate would remain at 20 per cent. This policy, which runs from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2015, seeks to facilitate the growth of such businesses, especially significantly cash-strapped ones.China recorded a 9.7 per cent year-on-year jump in foreign direct investment to US$116 billion in 2011. Also during that year, foreign-invested enterprises accounted for 52.4 per cent of China’s exports and 49.6 per cent of its imports.Economic CentresBeijingChina’s capital, Beijing, is among the nation’s most developed cities, with the service sector ac