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Full text of China's 2008 statistical communiqué of economic, social development
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-27 17:59

 VII. Transportation, Post, Telecommunications and Tourism

The value added of the transportation, storage, post and telecommunication sectors reached 1,659.0 billion yuan in 2008, up 7.6 percent over the previous year.

 
Graphics shows the figure of total value of imports and exports and the growth rates in China in 2008 issued by National Bureau of Statistics of China on Feb. 26, 2009.[Xinhua/National Bureau of Statistics of China] 

 
Graphics shows the figure of main export commodities in volume and value and the growth rates in China in 2008 issued by National Bureau of Statistics of China on Feb. 26, 2009. [Xinhua/National Bureau of Statistics of China] 

The volume of freight handled by ports above the designated size throughout the year totaled 5.87 billion tons, up 11.5 percent over the previous year, of which freight for foreign trade was 1.92 billion tons, up 7.0 percent. Container shipping handled 128.35 million standard containers, up by 12.2 percent.

The total number of motor vehicles for civilian use reached 64.67 million (including 14.92 million tri-wheel motor vehicles and low-speed trucks) by the end of 2008, up 13.5 percent, of which private-owned vehicles numbered 41.73 million, up 18.1 percent. The total number of cars for civilian use stood at 24.38 million, up by 24.5 percent, of which private-owned cars numbered 19.47 million, up by 28.0 percent.

The turnover of post and telecommunication services totaled 2,384.1 billion yuan, up 20.7 percent over the previous year. Of this total, post services accounted for 140.2 billion yuan, up 15.5 percent, and telecommunication services 2,244.0 billion yuan, up 21.0 percent. By the end of 2008, with a decrease of 1.56 million lines of office switchboards, the total capacity reached 510 million lines. The year also saw 340.81 million fixed telephone subscribers. This included 232.00 million urban subscribers and 108.81 million rural subscribers. Mobile phone users numbered 641.23 million by the end of 2008, with 93.92 million new subscribers in the year. In total, the number of fixed and mobile phone users reached 982.04 million, an increase of 69.09 million as compared with that at the end of 2007. Phone coverage is 74.3 sets per 100 persons. The number of Internet users was 300 million and wide-band users reached 270 million. 

 
Graphics shows the figure of main inport commodities in volume and value and the growth rates in China in 2008 issued by National Bureau of Statistics of China on Feb. 26, 2009.[Xinhua/National Bureau of Statistics of China] 

In 2008, the number of inbound visitors to China totaled 130.03 million, a year-on-year decline of 1.4 percent. Of this total, 24.33 million were foreigners, down 6.8 percent; and 105.70 million were Chinese compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, down 0.1 percent. Of all the inbound tourists, overnight visitors counted 53.05 million, down 3.1 percent. Foreign exchange earnings from international tourism topped 40.8 billion US dollars, down 2.6 percent. The number of China’s outbound visitors totaled 45.84 million, up 11.9 percent. Of this total, 40.13 million were on private visits, a year-on-year rise of 14.9 percent, or 87.5 percent of all outgoing visitors. The year 2008 saw 1.71 billion domestic tourists, up 6.3 percent. The revenue from domestic tourism totaled 874.9 billion yuan, up 12.6 percent.