1999 China’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $989.4 billion. The size of the nation’s economy, which is comparable to that of Canada-$636 billion, makes China a remarkable economic power; contempt this, it remains a low-income, developing nation because it must support a huge population of more than 1.2 billion. In 1999 China’s per capita GDP was just $790, compared to $20,820 in Canada. Industrial activity such as manufacturing, mining, and construction contributes the largest %age of the nation’s GDP, amounting to 49 % in 1999. Transportation, commerce, and services together accounted for 33 %. And agriculture, together with forestry and fishing, contributed 18 %.

The Chinese economy thus has been in a state of modulation since the late 1970s as the nation has moved away from a Soviet-type economic system. Agriculture has been decollectivized, the small nonagricultural private area has grown rapidly, and government priorities have shifted toward light, rather than heavy, industry. Nevertheless, key bottlenecks continue to constrain growth. Available energy is sufficient to run less than 80 % of installed industrial capacity, the transport system is insufficient to move sufficient quantities of such critical items as coal, and the communications system cannot meet the needs of a centrally planned economy of China's size and complexity.