City records 6% growth in 3 quarters 358.8b

SHANGHAI’S economy grew 6 percent year on year in the first three quarters, 0.1 percentage points higher than the growth rate in the first half, the city’s statistics bureau said yesterday.

Its gross domestic product hit 2.54 trillion yuan (US$358.8 billion) in the nine months ended September 30, with value-added production in the tertiary sector accounting for 72.2 percent of overall GDP, 2.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The gross industrial output value of larger enterprises dipped 2.6 percent year on year to 2.48 trillion yuan, but the decline was narrowed by 1.3 percentage points compared with the drop in the first half.

Of the city’s key industrial sectors, biomedical producers’ output rose 6.9 percent while that of petrochemical and fine chemicals grew 5.5 percent, both posting rapid growth in the January to September period, according to the bureau.

The industrial added value of strategic emerging industries edged up 0.1 percent to 775.36 billion yuan from a year earlier, rebounding from the 3.1 percent decline seen in the first six months.

The bureau also highlighted rises in the biological sector, new energy, and high-end equipment production, at 6.9 percent, 4.6 percent and 2.4 percent year on year respectively.

Fixed-asset investment maintained steady growth to advance by 4.8 percent year on year, with investment in the industrial sector up 16.3 percent for the 18th consecutive month of doubledigit growth.

FAI in real estate development, meanwhile, increased 4 percent from a year earlier, 0.4 percentage points faster than the first half, while that in infrastructure fell 5.6 percent, a 1.1 percentage point smaller drop compared with January-June.

Shanghai’s foreign trade in the first three quarters slipped 1.5 percent year on year to 2.48 trillion yuan, compared with the 1.8 percent drop in the first half, according to data from Shanghai Customs.

Exports edged down by 0.1 percent to 992.88 billion yuan while imports fell 2.4 percent from the same period last year to 1.49 trillion yuan.

The total contract value of Shanghai’s foreign direct investment amounted to US$36.61 billion in the first nine months, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier, 2.6 percentage points faster than January-June.

The paid-in amount of foreign direct investment jumped 13 percent to US$14.63 billion.

The city’s general public budget increased 0.2 percent to 596.41 billion yuan, among which personal income tax decreased by 26.8 percent due to new taxcutting measures such as an increase in the personal income tax threshold.

The city’s local general public budget expenditure was 573.353 billion yuan, down 2.7 percent from the same period last year.

Consumer prices in the city advanced 2.2 percent in the first three quarters year on year, 0.1 percentage points higher than in the first half, with prices for consumer products and services both gaining 2.2 percent from a year earlier.

The city’s employment situation remained stable with 548,800 new jobs added. By September, the number of registered urban unemployed was 189,300, down 3,200 from the same period last year.