and the money we can spend, so as to make sure that we make appropriate choices on daily consumption, financial transactions, and lifetime planning. we need to be aware of significant financial literacy factors – namely, the scarcity of money and resources as well as lifetime planning. creating such awareness through financial education is challenging, but we cannot avoid this task. another issue that warrants attention is the rapid increase in financial fraud targeted at elderly people. i feel very sorry for the victims of such crimes. at the same time, the increase in financial fraud suggests that we need to strengthen the financial literacy of elderly people. the victims of financial fraud might have been caught off - guard. if they had had a little more financial literacy, they might not have been deceived. on the basis of our survey, we deem that elderly people generally have more confidence in their own financial literacy compared to other age groups. but in fact, they tend to have insufficient literacy. we should close the gap between high confidence and low literacy. we need to check and control daily payments, manage portfolios in line with lifetime plans, and always confirm the points to check when concluding a contract. enhancing financial literacy in this way will be effective in guarding against financial fraud and, at the same time, for developing efficient asset formation. iii. initiatives taken in japan in 2013, japan ’ s financial services agency compiled a report that showed the future direction of financial education, drawing on the experience of the global financial crisis. it proposed to emphasize literacy for financial behavior and focus on the basics of financial the financial assets here are financial instruments, including bank deposits and postal savings, that are held for investment or reserved for future use. funds held for business purposes and daily use are excluded. bis central bankers ’ speeches literacy to make it easier to learn. based on this report, our council has been working to set standards and specify the contents of financial education by age group, and has formulated the financial literacy map. 2 the council also provides easy - to - understand teaching materials, pamphlets, and dvds in cooperation with financial industry groups and other relevant organizations. in particular, we have pamphlets for middle - aged and elderly people, who must consider how to maintain their living standard over their retirement period as an immediate, practical issue. in cooperation with relevant organizations, the council also gives lectures to university students that place emphasis on fostering decision - making ability. through these activities, it has been promoting more effective financial education for working - age generations

compared with the update released a year ago, before the worldwide spread of covid - 19. looking at developments by country and region, the chinese economy has achieved an expansion of domestic demand through increases in employment and income while successfully capturing external demand. china's real gdp growth rate has already surpassed its pre - pandemic level, and is expected to grow roughly in line with the january 2020 weo projection. this is likely to be attributed to china's early containment of covid - 19 and the government's effective economic measures. in contrast, advanced economies as well as emerging market and developing economies other than china have seen a delay in economic recovery, and the real gdp growth rates of these economies are expected to return to pre - pandemic levels only in the second half of 2021. moreover, there are various risk factors with respect to the outlook for the global economy, such as developments regarding covid - 19, geopolitical factors, and climate change issues. thus, accompanying downside risks continue to warrant particular attention. chart 2 world economic outlook ( imf ) 2019 / q4 = 100 china ( jan. 2021 weo update ) aes ( jan. 2021 weo update ) emdes ( jan. 2021 weo update ) china ( jan. 2020 weo update ) aes ( jan. 2020 weo update ) emdes ( jan. 2020 weo update ) 2019 / q4 20 / q1 2019 / q4 q3 21 / q1 q3 22 / q1 q3 note : weo = world economic outlook ; aes = advanced economies ; emdes = emerging market and developing economies excluding china. source : imf, " world economic outlook update ( january 2020, january 2021 ). " b. japan's economy next, i would like to turn to japan's overall economic trends, starting with real gdp growth rates. in chart 3, the line graph shows developments in the real gdp growth rate and the bar graph shows the contribution of demand components, such as consumption and investment, to the growth rate. the first preliminary estimate for the october - december quarter of 2020 marked a real gdp growth rate of 3. 0 percent on a quarter - on - quarter basis and 12. 7 percent on an annualized basis. the economy registered positive growth for the second consecutive quarter, with private consumption, exports, business fixed investment, and public demand all contributing to the positive growth. nevertheless, the annual real gdp growth rate for