TNAG-1268-FCO40-1617-China-s-economic-relationship-with-Hong-Kong-Shenzhen-econom-1983 — Page 48

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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