Beijing's economic development is maintaining its pace with a local GDP of 227 billion yuan (US$27 billion) in the first half of this year, a growth of 10.4 per cent compared with the same period of last year, claim statistics released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics yesterday.

Local statistics bureaux from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong released figures on their economic development yesterday.

In the first half year, the Consumer Price Index of Beijing was 102 per cent, 1.8 percentage points higher than the same period of last year. The price of commodities of houses and food have increased by 7 per cent and 6 per cent.

"As well as the fast economic growth, the capital's social development is also stable," said Yu Xiuqin, spokeswomen for the bureau.

The government's budget for a social security system has increased by 1.2 billion (US$146 million), a 97 per cent increase over last year.

By the end of June, there were 94,000 people registered unemployed in Beijing. Urban unemployment was 1.88 per cent. Although this is 0.45 percentage points up compared with the same period of last year, there is still a way to go before the danger rate 2.3 per cent is reached.

"Employment in Beijing's rural areas and the manufacturing industry is very difficult," Yu said.

The incomes of urban residents and people living in the countryside have also witnessed steady growth.

The annual per capita disposable income of urban citizens was 8,845 yuan (US$1,066), an increase of 12.9 per cent over the same period of last year. The per capita cash income of people in the countryside was 4,607 yuan (US$555), a growth of 12.2 per cent.

Shanghai

Shanghai's economy maintained a double-digit growth in the first half of this year, despite a slide in industrial profits and a stagnant real estate market.

The Chinese economic hub posted 393.1 billion yuan (US$47.5 billion) of gross domestic product in the first half of this year, up 10.3 per cent on last year, according to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau.

The growth rate is lower than Shanghai's annual growth rate of 14.8 per cent last year.

"The lower growth rate can be attributed to several factors, such as a correction in investment fluctuations in market situations," Bureau Director Pan Jianxin said at the city government's news briefing yesterday.

Investment in Shanghai's real estate development rose 15.5 per cent in the first half of this year to 58.1 billion yuan (US$7 billion), but the growth rate is 4.9 percentage points lower than the same period of last year.

Pan also noted that the profits of local industrial enterprises fell under rising raw material and energy prices and market fluctuations. The city's leading automobile industry sold only 36,000 sedans in the first half of the year, making 8.38 billion yuan (US$1 billion), a drop of 3.6 per cent year-on-year.

"But generally speaking, Shanghai's economic operation remains normal and healthy," said Pan.

"In the latter half of this year Shanghai's economy will maintain the momentum of steady and pretty quick growth, and the growth rate is likely to be higher than the first half."

Guangdong

The economic growth in Guangdong Province slowed to 12.6 per cent in the first half of this year, as nationwide macroeconomic regulation measures continued to have an impact.

The growth was 2.5 percentage points lower than in the first half of last year, according to the Guangdong Provincial Statistics Bureau.

The growth was largely driven by the industrial sector, which went up by 15.7 per cent, with the service sector up by 8.8 per cent.

The province retained its position as the largest foreign direct investment receiver, which topped US$5.63 billion, up 21.9 per cent over the same period of last year.

Fixed-assets investment in Guangdong rose by 16.2 per cent to 268.19 billion yuan (US$32.31 billion), or 9.7 percentage points lower than a year ago.

(China Daily July 21, 2005)