Chinese economy grows by 8%

China's economy grew by eight percent this year, powered by rapid growth in exports and government spending, the country's top statistician said recently.

The official estimate, given by National Bureau of Statistics director Zhu Zhixin on the NBS website, was slightly higher than the 7.9 percent forecast recently by the State Information Center, a government run think-tank.

In March, the government had set a target for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of around seven percent in view of the poor outlook for the global economy and the impact of China's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

But the world's fastest growing major economy has defied expectations as the state continues its proactive fiscal policy for the fifth year running.

Growth in 2001 amounted to 7.3 percent. Economists have attributed the boom this year to surging foreign direct investment, exports and government spending on infrastructure.

Foreign investment growth in China

Growth in foreign direct investment in China slowed to 12.5 percent in 2002, reflecting a slow period towards the end of the year, state media said recently.

Total funds invested in China over the 12-month period stood at 52.7 billion dollars, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing the ministry of foreign trade.

The 2002 growth rate was down from a 14.9 percent increase recorded in 2001.

China reported a series of weak months towards the end of 2002, including in November, when foreign direct investment may have fallen by close to 30 percent from the same month in 2001.

However, contracted foreign investment-commitments to spend in the future-improved in 2002 compared with the year before.

Contracted investments rose 19.6 percent in 2002, compared with a 10.4 percent gain in the previous year, according to Xinhua.

Japan plans job creation scheme

The Japanese government would implement a job creation programme worth more than 80 billion yen (666.7 million dollars) in anticipation of increased unemployment as a result of bad loan disposals by major banks, a report said recently.

The programme will target more than 100,000 workers, whose employers have had bank loans sold to the government's Resolution and Collection Corp. and would be foreced to lay off staff, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said citing labour ministry sources.

"The programme will give such workers better access to assistance by private job placement agencies, and companies that hire such redundant workers will be granted a subsidy of 600,000 yen per person, double the sum given under the government's current programme," the newspaper said.

As banks step up their bad loan disposal, companies, especially in the troubled construction and retail sectors, are expected to be compelled to scale down their operations because they will be cut off from bank leading.

The new programme will, among others, fund up to 300,000 yen of the costs in hiring a private job placement company to help soon-to-be dismissed employees find new jobs, the Nihon Keizai said.

A company that refrains from firing workers and transfers them to an affiliated firm instead, will also receive a subsidy to partially compensate for the resulting decline in productivity, it said.

If major banks dispose of problem loans extended to companies on the brink of bankruptey and loans of even poorer quality about 140,000 workers are expected to lose their jobs, the Nihon Keizai said.

Japan's unemployment rate in November was 5.3 percent, down from a record high 5.5 percent in October.

Japan's trade surplus with Asia

Japan's trade surplus with the rest of Asia more than doubled last year, backed by brisk shipments of cars, steel products and semiconductors, the finance ministry said recently.

The trade surplus with the region surged 134.7 percent to 4,096.5 billion yen (34.7 billion dollars) after falling 58 percent in 2001, the ministry said.

Exports to the region rose 13.7 percent to 22,441.5 billion yen, with imports up 2.0 percent at 18,345.0 billion yen.

Analysts and finance ministry officials said the surplus ain was mainly due to strong exports of automobiles, steel products and semiconductors, but they added that growth in these has already slowed down.

South Korean GDP grows by 6.2%

South Korea's economy is estimated to have grown by 6.2 percent last year, finance and economy minister Jeon Yun-Churl said recently.

The economy is forecast to grow about five percent this year, he said. Last year GDP growth estimated at 6.2 percent. "Jeon told a seminar, adding that growth was driven by domestic demand during the first half, and underpinned by exports from the third quarter.

Jeon said the incoming government of president-elect Roh Moo Hyun shared the views of the current government on macro-economic policies. Even under the new government, the framework for macro-economic policies is expected to be maintained Growth will be about five percent.

Singapore economy grew by 2.2

Singapore's economy grew 2.2 percent this year, overcoming last year's recession, but several challenges lay ahead for the city-state, prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said recently.

"2002 has turned out slightly better than that initial forecast (of between minus 2.0 to 2.0 percent). Growth was 2.2 percent," Goh said in his annual New Year message.

The growth would have been better if not for the impact of corporate scandals in the United States and the possibility of war in the Middle East, he said.

For 2003, Goh said the economy was expected to grow between 2.0 and 5.0 percent but added a full recovery would set in only in 2004.

The Southeast Asian state sank into its worst ever downturn last year when gross domestic product contracted by 2.0 percent after nearly 10 percent growth in 2000.

Thai economy grew by 5.8%

Thailand's economy grew by 5.8 percent in the July-to-September quarter from the same period a year earlier as a recovery in exports was complemented by strong private-sector growth economists recently.

The growth was in line with expectations. Among the major southeast Asian economies, only Malaysia posted comparable growth of 5.6 percent on year in the third quarter, while Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore recorded growth of less than 4 percent.

Vietnam's GDP Grew by 7.04%

Vietnam's gross domestic product grew 7.04 percent this year from 2001, the government said recently.

The country's growth, falling short of the official 7.3 percent target, remains the second highest in the region-just be hind neighboring China, which posted 7.7 percent GDP growth this year, the General Statistical Office said.

Vietnam's GDP stood at 536.098 trillion dong (US$ 34.88 billion). It posted annual GDP growth of 6.98 percent last year. Industrial production and construction grew 9.44 percent, while agriculture, forestry and seafood expanded 4.06 percent and the service sector saw an increase of 6.54 percent, the office said. Vietnam has set a growth target of 7 percent to 7.5 percent for 2003.