China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Emerging sectors driving growth of GDP in capital

Auto manufactur­ing, pharmaceut­icals lead forces responsibl­e for positive performanc­e

- By DUJUAN dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn

Emerging industries such as auto manufactur­ing and pharmaceut­icalscarri­edthecapit­al’s gross domestic product growth in the first half of the year, amid a weak performanc­e from the real estate sector.

According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics, the city’s GDP was 1.14 trillion yuan ($171 billion) in the first six months, up 6.7 percent yearon-year — on par with the national average.

However, total investment in the real estate sector was 167 billion yuan, which is 7.6 percent Wang Anshun, lower than the same period last year.

Xia Qinfang, deputy director of the bureau, said the real estate sector had hit Beijing’s GDP growth in the first half of 2016.

“Real estate developers are cautious about the market,” she said. “The land supply is reduced, which leads to declining investment in the sector.” from recycling plants.

One such project is an undergroun­d network utilizing more than 1,200 kilometers of pipes that distribute around 1.4 billion cubic meters of water from Danjiangko­u Reservoir to benefit around 11 million residents, according to the commission. wastewater

Automatic recycling

Beijing’s financial sector was also weak during the first half, with year-on-year growth of 13 percent in the first quarter declining to 9.2 percent for the first six months.

Xia said the stock market, which makes up a big part of the city’s financial sector, had been particular­ly weak — although it was supported by internet finance.

Elsewhere, the city’s auto sector reached an output value of 217.5 billion yuan for the first half, up 11.6 percent year-onyear, according to the bureau.

Production of new-energy vehicles more than doubled during the first half, due to Beijing’s favorable policies, said Jia Xinguang, an analyst with China Automotive Industry Consulting and Developmen­t Co.

Beijing’s pharmaceut­icals industry, meanwhile, had a total output value of 37.9 billion yuan, up 7.2 percent year-onyear.

By the end of last year, Beijing’s pharmaceut­ical industry had hit overall revenue of 130 billion yuan, and the biopharmac­eutical industry has been included in the local government’s technology innovation action plan.

In the second half of this year, the capital will continue its deepening of supply-side structural reform, said the city’s major, Wang Anshun, during a government­al conference held in mid-July.

He said the focus will be on new emerging industries and the accelerati­on of high-end industrial developmen­t.

“Technologi­cal innovation forms the core of our city’snew developmen­t drive. Thus, Beijing will speed up the process of building itself into a national scientific and technologi­cal innovation center,” he said.

Wang also said that the city needed to activate the power of social creativity inits service sector, with the aim of expanding the reform and openingup of these types of businesses.

Technologi­cal innovation forms the core of our city’s new developmen­t drive.” mayor of Beijing

inventor of the machines.

Since their introducti­on, the capital has installed more than 3,500 of the machines and collected at least 3,000metric tons of plastic bottles— equal to cutting 22.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, said Liu.

“And by the end of 2016, the number of machines in Beijing will increase to 6,000,” she said.

The automatic recycling machines, which also record statistics and alert operators when they are nearly full, have now been sold to 15 countries and regions worldwide, including the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

To further Yingchuang Recycling Co’s research, the municipal commission provided 3 million yuan in financial support, said Liu, adding that such support, coupled with the increasing awareness among the public about environmen­tal protection, promises a bright future for the capital’s environmen­tal industries.

 ?? LI XIN / XINHUA ?? Beijing residents use an automatic recycling machine for plastic bottles in a supermarke­t in October.
LI XIN / XINHUA Beijing residents use an automatic recycling machine for plastic bottles in a supermarke­t in October.

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