1. The general business boom level of the development of national real estate

    According to the new measure issued by the National Bureau of Statistics, the business boom index of national real estate development in April was 105.77, down by 0.43 point over this March and 1.12 point less compared with that of last April. In the first 4 months of this year, following the visible drop of development investment of real estate, the business boom index of national real estate changed in the Shape of inversing ¡®U¡¯ (Figure 1), which showed the clear trend of rise and fall, and reached the rock bottom since the beginning of 2003. The figures made clear that the business boom level of national real estate development would trend to be sound after original effects of polices and measures controlling the high growth of investment of real estate carried out by the State have been shown. In April, among the 8 sub-indices of the business boom index of national real estate, 6 of them had shown the various trends of decline. Especially, the index of floor space of finished and newly started buildings had declined greatly, which had been the major factor to lead to the drop of the business boom index of the national real estate.

    Firstly, the general economic benefit continued to rise. From this Jan. to April, the composite index of the industrial economic benefit was 158.34, up by 16.83 points over the same period of last year.

    Secondly, the actual profits of enterprises grew fast. In the first four months of this year, the net profits of the industrial enterprises above designated size was 334.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 45.7%, and those of all ownership types of enterprises kept the fast growing momentum. Specifically speaking, the profits of state-owned and state share-holding enterprises was 173.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 42.8%; that of collective-owned enterprises was 13.9 billion yuan, up 37.6%; that of share system enterprises was 158.9 billion yuan, up 41.4%; that of the foreign, Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan investment enterprises was 106.4 billion yuan, up 43.6%; that of private enterprises was 30.1 billion yuan, up 61.8%.

    The actual profits of most industries continued to rise, among the 39 major industries, there were 38 industries the profits of which rose compared with the first four months of last year. The top five industries ranked by profit increase were mining and dressing of ferrous metals(up by 6.98 times), non-metal products(up by 2.2 times), the processing of petroleum, coke and nuclear fuels(up by 2.06 times); the smelting and pressing of non-ferrous metals(up by 1.33 times); the smelting and pressing of ferrous metals(up by 1.29 times).

    Thirdly, the losses of the loss-making enterprises rose. In the first four months of this year, the losses of loss-making enterprises reached 46.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 3.3%, of which, that of the state-owned and state share-holding enterprises was 22.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of 6.7%.

    Fourthly, the taxes paid by enterprises continued to rise. In the first four months, the taxes from the industrial enterprises above designated size reached 271.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 24.2% which was 5.1 percentage points higher than the rise of the same period of last year. Especially, that from the state-owned and state share-holding enterprises totaled 176.5 billion yuan, up 20.9%.

    Fifthly, the sales revenue of products grew more rapidly. From this Jan. to April, the sales revenue of products registered 5320.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 34%; especially, that from the state-owned and state share-holding enterprises was 2127.6 billion yuan, up 26.5%.

    Sixthly, the funds for finished goods and receivables of enterprises rose faster. At the end of this April, the funds for the industrial finished goods got to 908.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 18.9% which was 9 percentage points higher than the rise of last April and 1.1 percentage points higher over the end of this March, specifically speaking, that of the state-owned and state share-holding enterprises reached 326.4 billion yuan, up 12.2% which was up by 6.8 percentage points higher over the same period of last year. The net receivables of the industrial enterprises was 1943.7 billion yuan, up 17.7% which was up by 6.8 percentage points year on year and 0.4 percentage point higher over the end of this March. Especially, the net receivables from the state-owned and state share-holding enterprises was 727.2 billion yuan, up 3.8% which was 2.1 percentage points higher over the end of this March.

    At the end of this April, the funds for finished goods and net receivables from the industrial enterprises above designated size accounted for 36.3% of the flowing assets, up by 0.7 percentage point over the end of this March.