G.F. 326
SIDENTIAL & I
17
Table 7: Visible trade as a proportion of GDP in 1981
China
Developed countries:
United States
United Kingdom
FR Germany
Japan
Developing countries:
India
Indonesia
Brazil
Argentina
Island economies:
Hong Kong
Singapore
Note : (*) Based on 1979 data
(**)
Based on 1980 data
8/
19
17
40
47
25
11 (*)
47
16
11 (**)
190 351
19.
First,
If invisible trade is added to visible
trade, the size of China's external sector relative
to the overall economy in 1981 is greater than 19%.
So, on the face of it, China's external sector is not
insignificant. However, this conclusion may not be
correct because the value of China's national income
published by official source may be seriously under-estimated for three important reasons.
goods and services for domestic consumption are
valued at their official prices which may be
substantially lower than their open market value.
Second, as in many other centrally planned economies, there exists a rather large underground economy, the
transactions of which are not recorded in the
official statistics. And, third, in common with many
developing economies, China has a large sector
CONFIDENTIAL # 3