The Development Zone of Tianjin in northern China has made a good economic performance so far this year and is expected to pose a 26 percent of year-on-year growth in gross industrial output (GIO) for the whole year, local government sources said on Friday.

The development zone was a core area of Tianjin's Binhai New Area, which China plans to transform into another Pudong New Area of Shanghai.

It ranked first among state development zones in terms of major economic indicators for the nine-month period, the sources said.

Between January and September, the sources said, the development zone realized an estimated total of 222.2 billion yuan (US$28.1 billion) in GIO, close to the 230.5 billion yuan (US$29.2) for the whole of last year. The estimated output value was 32.9 percent higher than the year-earlier level, the sources added.

Its GIO will amount to 290 billion yuan (US$36.7 billion) for the whole of this year, up 26 percent over last year.

The development zone invested an estimated total of 16.85 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) in fixed assets over the past nine months, up 21.7 percent. Its export volume increased by 15 percent.

The zone absorbed US$2.6 billion in contracted foreign capital over the three quarters, up 30.08 percent, and actually used US$1.1 billion, up 19.58 percent, the sources added.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2006)