Some Impressions of China's Economic Progress, Part II

Abstract

It is now possible to add further details to the treatment of national income and accumulation in The Chinese Economy. The 1957 target for gross total output was 171.6 billion yuan and for national income 93.7 billion yuan, or approximately US $70 billion and US $38 billion respectively at the official exchange rate. Both these targets appear to have been exceeded. Parenthetically I may observe that an on-the-spot study of prices confirmed my earlier conclusion that in China, in contrast with other Communist countries, the official exchange rate greatly underestimates the internal purchasing power of the currency.

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