Authoritative professional interpretation: why total social assets do not equal total household wealth
Recently, "my country's total assets exceed 1300 trillion yuan" has become a hot topic on the Internet. Some people directly equate total social assets with total household wealth and believe that this figure deviates greatly from actual feelings. In response to issues of social concern, Li Huaju, senior statistician of the Accounting Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, was interviewed by a reporter from the Economic Daily-China Economic Net.
"Total assets are the sum of all social assets, not all of them are household assets." Li Huaju said that in accordance with international standards, the national balance sheet is generally prepared by institutional departments. my country's balance sheet accounts for assets and liabilities according to the non-financial enterprise sector, financial institution sector, general government sector, and household sector. Assets are divided into financial assets and non-financial assets. Therefore, the total assets in the national balance sheet are the sum of the financial and non-financial assets of the four institutional sectors, not just the household assets of residents. Moreover, the household sector in the national economic accounting also includes individual industrial and commercial households, so the assets of the household sector can only be used as an approximation of household assets.
According to relevant research results of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China’s total assets in 2016 were 1,211 trillion yuan. These assets include not only buildings and machinery, but also infrastructure such as railways, highways, and bridges, as well as bank deposits and securities. . Among them, the total assets of the household sector are 358 trillion yuan, accounting for 30% of the total assets; the total assets of the non-financial enterprise sector are 340 trillion yuan, accounting for 28% of the total assets; the total assets of the financial institution sector are 367 trillion yuan, accounting for the total assets 30%; total assets of government departments are 146 trillion yuan, accounting for 12% of total assets.
Li Huaju said that total assets are not net assets, only net assets after deducting liabilities. The assets in the national balance sheet are divided into financial assets and non-financial assets. According to the general accounting principles, each financial asset has a corresponding liability party, such as the deposit of an individual or enterprise in a bank. It is the bank’s liability. Therefore, total assets are not equal to net assets, and total assets minus liabilities are net national assets.
The relevant research results of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences show that in 2016 my country’s total assets were 1211 trillion yuan, after deducting liabilities, the net assets were calculated to be 437 trillion yuan. Among them, the total assets of the household sector are 358 trillion yuan, the liabilities mainly based on bank loans are 39 trillion yuan, and the net assets are 319 trillion yuan.
Li Huaju also said that total assets are accounted for in stock, not flow. Various statistical accounting indicators can be roughly divided into three categories, one is flow, one is stock, and the other is increment.
"Flow accounting is to describe the economic activities that take place over a period of time, stock accounting is to describe the economic foundation on which various production activities depend at a certain point in time, and incremental accounting is to describe the increased economic activities over a period of time. "Li Huaju said, for example, gross domestic product (GDP) is a kind of flow accounting, which measures the value of various goods and services produced by the national economy over a period of time (generally divided into quarters and years); The accounting of production factors, such as assets such as corporate houses and machinery and equipment, is stock accounting; the GDP growth rate is the result of incremental accounting. The scale of total assets is closely related to the level of economic development, because assets are the basis of production activities. The total assets of various countries have a very close relationship with their GDP. Generally speaking, countries with high GDP also correspond to higher total assets.
The Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the Party put forward the important task of preparing national and local balance sheets, which embodies the Party Central Committee's high attention to the state and local assets and liabilities, and also reflects the need for macro management to find out the status of assets and liabilities. In recent years, the National Bureau of Statistics has actively organized research and preparation of national and local balance sheets, and as one of the three major national economic accounting reforms, has continuously enriched and consolidated data sources, improved and improved accounting methods, strengthened in-depth analysis and research, and promoted related work. Form preliminary results.
"In the future, the National Bureau of Statistics will continue to study relevant compilation technologies at home and abroad, combine the characteristics of China's economy, make full use of the fourth national economic census data, compile national and local balance sheets, more accurately reflect China's assets and liabilities, and make better use of assets. The huge role of the balance sheet in finding out the family background and promoting reform." Li Huaju said. (Economic Daily-China Economic Net reporter Lin Huocan)