On July 16 the State Statistics Bureau of China announced that GDP for the April-June quarter grew 7.9 percent in real terms from a year before, surpassing the 6.1 percent rate of the January-March quarter. After the Lehman Brothers shock last September, China's annual economic growth rate — which until the first half of 2008 had been more than 10 percent — slowed with the decline of exports bound for Europe.
Yet, China's economy has already shown signs of a strong recovery, thanks largely to the stimulus package of public spending measures worth about 4 trillion yuan (¥55 trillion).
The Chinese government is now promoting the construction of a harmonious society with regard to five sectors: (1) coastal and inland areas, (2) cities and rural villages, (3) industry and agriculture, (4) nature and human beings, and (5) China and the world, especially Asia. The first three involve the "elimination of economic gaps."