This book is an English language edition of the official social statistics compiled by the State Statistical Bureau of the People's Republic of China (SSB). It offers essential basic information on China's social development. In addition to the statistics, the book contains the SSB's Statistical Communique. The English language Editorial Board was responsible for the translation and annotation of this volume; it is composed of representatives of the China Statistical Information and Consultancy Service Center, an Affiliate of the SSB, and the China Statistical Archives, a research center of the University of Illinois at Chicago. This is the second volume of a series of statistical annuals being published by Praeger. The first in the series is China Statistical Abstract 1988, and future volumes will include China Urban Yearbook 1988, China Industrial Yearbook 1988, and China Price Yearbook 1988.