The economy has undergone rapid and consistent growth of around 8-9 per cent annually since the introduction of economic reforms in the 1980s. China is the world's largest producer of rice, and a major producer of cereals and grain. Large mineral deposits, particularly coal and iron ore, provide the raw material for an extensive steel industry. In the last ten years, central government policy has switched the emphasis in development from heavy to light industry, and promoted the evolution of a service sector. Chemicals and high technology industries have grown particularly quickly.
China is self-sufficient in oil and is developing a petrochemicals industry.
Trade has been hampered somewhat in recent years by a shortage of foreign exchange, but China has benefited from the availability of soft loans from Western banks. This is one of the results of the fundamental changes introduced under what Beijing describes as the 'socialist market economy' under which market mechanisms were introduced to attract foreign investment and improved trade terms. Foreign companies were encouraged both to sell products in China and to establish joint ventures with Chinese commercial organisations. Such problems as emerged were put into perspective by the 1997 Asian economic crisis. China, because of its vast domestic market and highly regulated banking system, did not suffer nearly as badly as many of the region's smaller economies.