Capital People

As the capital of the most populous nation on earth, Beijing has a cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse society. The city lies at the heart of China's plans for modernization. It is striving to develop into an international metropolis.

Health
Statistical data on the health of the capital's residents includes information about facilities as well as the incidence of diseases.
*The life expectancy for men was 78.24 years in 2003; and 81.54 years for women.
*There were 5,075 health-care institutions and 459 hospitals in Beijing, which together had 75,000 beds. There were, on an average, 5.89 hospital beds and 4.2 doctors for every 1,000 people in 2003. The capital also had 19 maternity and children's hospitals and 29 disease-prevention/control centres. Fifty-nine HIV/AIDS labs and 262 monitoring sites for intestinal infections were built in 2003.
The mortality rate of pregnant women was 15.19 per 100,000 live births in 2003. The infant mortality rate was 4.61 per thousand live births.
In 2004, the Beijing Emergency Medical Aid Centre was established. Operating under the centre are ten sub-centres in rural counties and districts along with 32 emergency medical aid stations in 32 rural towns and townships.
Hand-in-hand went a program to ensure supply of potable water to Beijing's rural residents and renovate those village latrines. Altogether, 3,661 potable water projects had been completed by the year, to the benefit of 3.386 million people, and 32,530 latrines had been renovated to meet the government-imposed hygiene standards. 
A new-type of rural co-operative medical system now covers 87 percent of the towns and townships and 90 percent of the villages in all the rural districts and counties under Beijing's jurisdiction. Up to now, 2.3 million rural residents, or 64 percent of Beijing's rural population, have come to be covered by the system.
Public fitness equipment and services, including roadside facilities, were installed across Beijing in 2004. In Beijing there were 4,437 exercise classes given each day by local tutors. About 5.33 million people participated in such classes, many of whom were elderly people.
By the end of 2004, all urban communities and 55 percent of the rural villages had benefited from a national fitness programme.
(Source: Beijing Bureau of Statistics April 2004/5)

WEB LINK: For information on medical services available to the international community, see listings in the Beijing Investment Guide (2004-05) at: http://www.btmbeijing.com/contents/en/investment/2004/economic/cultural & http://www.btmbeijing.com/contents/en/investment/2004/appendix
Visit Appendix I: III Medical Services (page 51)

Education
Education is a top priority of China's. Testifying to this is a wealth of statistical information released by the government every year.

Primary and Secondary-levels
The typical Chinese citizen begins receiving nine-year compulsory education at 6. Authorities are considering prolonging the length of compulsory education to 12 years. Children spend six years in primary schools plus three years in junior middle schools or five years in primary school polus four years in junior middle school. This means that, on an average, students enter senior high schools at 15 and continue into schools of higher learning at 18.
A total of 516,042 children were receiving primary educatioin in 2004, including 73,577 who were admitted into primary schools for the first time. A total of 100,139 graduated from primary schools.
Junior middle schools in the city had a total of 386,511 students in 2004, including 100,490 who were enrolled after graduating from primary schools. A total of 166,417 students graduated from junior middle schools the same year.
Senior high schools had 275,000 students, including 94,000 who were enrolled after graduating from junior middle schools. Secondary vocational schools had a student population of 257,000, including 77,000 enrolled in the year.

WEB LINK: For a directory of international schools see: http://www.btmbeijing.com/contents/en/investment/2004/economic/knowledge
Visit Appendix I: VI for International Schools (page 51)

Third-level Education
Beginning April 3, 2001, Chinese citizens of any age may take part in college entrance examinations.
Beijing had 77 regular schools of higher learning at the end of 2004, four more than a year ago. These together admitted in more than 147,000 students the same year, bringing to 500,000 the student population of junior and full colleges in the city. Postgraduate courses are offered in 48 schools of higher learning and 115 research institutes. These enrolled 56,000 students in the year, 31.4 percent over the previous year. In 2004, 99,000 students graduated from institutions of higher learning, a year-on-year increase of 18.9 percent. Moreover, 17,000 foreign students entered schools of higher learning in 2004. Employment rate of students who graduated from universities in Beijing in 2004 was 89.43 percent.

Technology in Education
More than 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) was invested to promote network-based education in 2004, adding to 557 primary and high school networks that were built in 2003. *The construction of 123 network computer classrooms was also completed at that time. University campus network information sites numbered 76,000 in 2003, all of which were under the jurisdiction and administration of Beijing. Of these, 59,000 computers had online access during the year.
(Source: Beijing Bureau of Statistics April 2005)

Unemployment and Social Security
The city had 64,600 unemployed able-bodied people in 2004. Some 174,300 people were re-employed in 2004. The registered rate of unemployment was 1.3 percent, 0.13 percentage points lower than the previous year. Nearly 90 percent of the 99,000 college graduates found jobs shortly after graduation in 2004.
There was a net increase of 143,200 community-based jobs in 2004. Employment service networks at municipal, district (county) and street (town) levels improved. Those laid off from state-owned enterprises are encouraged to take community-based service jobs, such fields as in property management, community-based commercial chain stores, and management of urban public facilities.
By 2004, 4.6 million urban residents in Beijing had come to be insured against old age, 4.84 million, for medical treatment, 3.08 million, against unemployment, and 2.59 million, against industrial injuries. These figures are significantly larger than for 2003.

Standards of Living
The income of Beijing residents continued to rise in 2004. The per capita disposable income of urban residents rose to 15,637.8 yuan (US$1,954), up 12.6 percent.
There were 1.3 million private cars in Beijing at the end of the year.

Urban
Income of Beijing residents continued to rise in 2004. The per capita disposable income rose to 15,637.8 yuan (US$1,954) for urban residents, up 12.6 percent over the previous year or 11.5 percent in real terms. Their per capita living expense averaged 12,200 yuan (US$1,525), up 9.7 percent over the previous year. The Engel誷 coefficient  was computed 32.2 percent for urban residents, 0.5 percentage points greater than the previous year, due to increases in prices of food and other essentials.

Rural
The per capita net income of rural residents averaged 7,172 yuan (US$897), up 10.4 percent on 2003. Their living expenses average 4,886 yuan (US$610.75) per capita, up 5 percent. The Engel's coefficient for rural residents was 32.6 percent, 0.9 percentage points greater than 2003.

WEB LINK: For a brief and informative guide to shopping in Beijing, see: http://www.btmbeijing.com/contents/en/investment/2004/economic/real

Housing
In 2004, living space totalling 23.44 million square metres was built in Beijing, 12.6 percent over 2003. Living space was expected to increase to 19 square metres for each member of the urban population, 0.3 square metres larger than 2003. Per capita living space averaged 34.2 sq.m for rural residents, also 0.3 sq. m. larger.

WEB LINK: For real estate office space and apartments to rent, see: http://www.btmbeijing.com/contents/en/investment/2004/economic/real
Visit Appendix I: I for One Stop Investment Service Organisations. (page 48)

Income*
Salaries and wages averaged 28,348 yuan (US$3,543) for each wage earner in 2004. Each urban resident had bank savings amounting to  4,927 yuan (US$595) in 2003. The figure was 367 yuan (US$44) for rural residents.
(Source: Beijing Bureau of Statistics April 2005; Beijing Statistical Yearbook 2004)