The Xinhua Finance/Milken Institute Chinese Adjusted-Trade and Finance Indicator(ATF) provides a measure for assessing China’s progress in opening its current and capital accounts to establish a balanced cross-border movement in goods and capital. The indicator, a single number produced semiannually, is derived from data pertaining to trade and financial flows into and out of China. The BOI reflects the extent to which imbalances exist, including those caused by exchange rate intervention and capital controls.

Next Release: April 2008

Current Value: 57.7 (December 2006)

Methodology: Chinese Adjusted-Trade and Finance Indicator consists of two sub-categories: a trade openness measure and a financial openness measure. The trade openness measure includes the ratio of exported goods to GDP, the ratio of imported goods to GDP, the ratio of exported services to GDP, and the ratio of imported services to GDP. The financial openness measure includes the ratio of portfolio inflow to GDP, the ratio of portfolio outflow to GDP, the ratio of FDI inflow to GDP, and the ratio of FDI outflow to GDP. These ratios are adjusted so that each component reduces the indicator score whenever it is in imbalance. Overall indicator score will decrease as the degree of imbalances increase.

Time Period Coverage and Frequency: The indicator covers the period beginning with the data for year-end 2001 and is updated on a semiannual basis.

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