This volume was completed to offer essential basic information on China's economic and social development in 1989, and to illustrate the major trends in this development since 1978. China Statistical Abstract 1990 contains key statistics for principal sections of the national economy by selected years since 1978. There are nine sections: General Survey; Population and Labor Force; Agriculture; Industry; Transportation, Postal and Telecommunication Services; Investment in Fixed Assets; Finance; Trade and Price; People's Livelihood; Education, Science, Culture, Public Health, and Sports. With the exception of the total surface area of the country, figures for Taiwan are not included in the national figures. Some figures in this survey are provisional, and the final ones will appear in the Statistical Yearbook of China. This book is a revised English language edition of the official China Statistical Abstract published by the State Statistical Bureau of the People's Republic of China (SSB). The SSB compiled all the statistics contained in this edition. The reader should note some additions and corrections in China Statistical Abstract 1990. For example, several tables in Section 1 contain Gross National Product statistics from 1978 to 1989. Some adjustments on data from 1978 to 1988 have also been made for three reasons. First, data in some tables have been adjusted in accord with changes in the definition of concepts and measurements. Second, because the information used in this volume is obtained from preliminary reports of branch sections of the SSB, data are revised after the final reports are completed. Third, some minor changes have been made due to rounding off of data published in previous years.