This indicates that those regions that are lagging behind economically are gaining greater potential for future development.

Overall national fixed-assets investment reached 32.5 trillion yuan (US$4.32 trillion) between 2003 and 2006, more than during the period between 1981 and 2002. Fixed-assets investment grew at an average rate of 26.6 percent over the last four years, 6.2 percentage points higher than the period between 1981 and 2002.

China has also seen its urban population grow steadily in the past four years as its rural population has decreased, which helps balance national development, the NBS said.

The bureau predicted that as the State puts in more resources to build a new countryside and further increases its subsidies to farmers, the income of farmers will continue to grow, which will further promote the balanced development of urban and rural areas.

In 2006, rural residents saw their incomes grow by 7.4 percent to an average of 3,587 yuan. Their income increased by more than 6 percent for three consecutive years, which was rare in the past, the NBS said.

The average income of urban residents was 11,759 yuan in 2006, up 10.4 percent from 2005. It was the fourth consecutive year that urban income increased by more than 7 percent.

Booming coffers

Chinese enterprises have registered impressive profit records, bolstering the national economic growth.

Corporate profits as a whole grew at an average of more than 20 percent each year in the past four years.

Meanwhile, the national coffers have reaped more revenue. They reached 3.87 trillion yuan in 2006, which is more than double the total in 2002. It represents an average annual growth of 19.6 percent.

Increased fiscal revenue has also made it possible to make more payment transfers to the economically backward regions, the NBS said.

The national drive to conserve energy and reduce emissions has also progressed over the past four years. While the energy consumption per unit of GDP increased for three consecutive years by 2005, the index finally decreased in 2006. This has been a hard-won result, the NBS said.