SHENZHEN’S first quarter (Q1) GDP grew by 2% year on year to 706.46 billion yuan (US$107 billion), data released by the city’s statistics bureau showed.
Between January and March, despite COVID-19 disruptions, Shenzhen navigated uncertain domestic and international environments and had a smooth start to its economy this year. The city contained the spread of COVID, ensured its smooth and orderly operations, and supported Hong Kong in its fight against the pandemic, the bureau said.
The skyline of Shenzhen. File photo
Data showed that by industry, the primary industry’s added value dropped by 3.8% year on year to 576 million yuan. The secondary and tertiary industries went up by 2.3% and 1.9% year on year to 237.4 billion yuan and 468.4 billion yuan, respectively.
The added value of industries above designated size increased by 2.3% in Q1 and sales revenue of 13 leading industrial enterprises went up by 33.4%. Fixed asset investment reported a year-on-year increase of 4.9%.
The city’s seven strategic emerging industries generated a total of 277.6 billion yuan in added value in Q1, accounting for 39.3% of the GDP. The growth was 4.6%, 2.6 percentage points higher than the GDP growth rate for the period. Among them, seven industrial clusters reported a two-digit growth, including intelligent and connected vehicles (ICV) at 36.7%, high-end medical equipment at 20.6%, marine economy at 20.5%, industrial machines at 15.1%, laser and additive manufacturing at 15%, new materials at 14.7% and intelligent sensors at 10.5%.
The production of high-tech products showed a good momentum. Outputs of new-energy vehicles, charging poles, 5G smartphones, computers for industrial controls, and medical equipment increased by 195.4%, 150.3%, 51.3%, 29.2% and 20.7%, respectively.
The retail sales of social consumer goods in Q1 reached 210.7 billion yuan, with online sales contributing 14.3%. About 32,000 new-energy vehicles were sold, up 36.9% year on year, accounting for 58.5% of total new vehicles sold during the period.
“Shenzhen’s economy shows stable recovery and keeps growing despite the downturn’s pressure,” said Guo Wanda, a senior researcher from China Development Institute (Shenzhen).
This hard-won growth is a result of the city’s effort in maintaining the stability of industry and supply chains, he said.
“The increase of fixed investment is a sign of encouragement and the two-digit growth of industrial investment demonstrates the city’s determination in stabilizing the industrial manufacturing industry,” Guo said.
“The growth momentum of strategic emerging industries and the high-tech industry demonstrates that the city’s quality industrial structure is the root for its strong economic resilience and high potential for high-quality development,” Tao Yitao, director of China Special Economic Zones Research Center of Shenzhen University, said.
(Source | Shenzhen Daily)