A total of 35,000 people have obtained the professional certificate of social work in 2009 after passing a nationwide test, which would help improve the country's social services evaluation system.

China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced Wednesday that by the end of September, the outstanding amount of China's foreign debt stood at $386.77 billion, increased 3.23 percent from the end of 2008

China's tourism industry reaped an revenue of 1.26 trillion yuan ($185 billion) in 2009, up 9 percent year on year, on the back of booming domestic travel.

China produced 600 million mobile phones in 2009, and the output of Shanzhaiji-a term used to describe domestically produced mobile phones imitating big brands-reached 145 million, according to statistics released by the consulting company AVC yesterday, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

China's electricity consumption in 2009 grew 5.96 percent year on year to 3.643 trillion kilowatt-hours, the National Energy Administration said Wednesday.

The trade volume at the Yiwu market in east China's Zhejiang province, the country's largest distribution center for small commodities, set a new record high in 2009 despite the global financial downturn, local authorities said Friday.

The country's economic growth looks set to accelerate into the new year, with booming factory production driving figures of a December manufacturing survey to a 20-month high.

The per capita annual net income of Chinese farmers rose to a high of 5,000 yuan ($735) this year, up more than 6 percent from a year ago, a rural work meeting revealed yesterday.

China's life insurance companies saw their premium income jump by 48.52 percent year-on-year to 64.2 billion yuan in November marking the largest increase this year, the industry regulator said at the weekend.

China's grain yield this year is expected to hit a record high of 530.8 billion kilograms, which would represent the sixth consecutive year of output growth, said a statement released on Monday after the conclusion of the Central Conference on Rural Work.