REGIONAL> Development
Fujian's economy recovering
By Hu Meidong and Ding Xueping (China Daily Fujian Bureau)
Updated: 2009-07-16 17:02

Newly revealed economic data indicates Fujian’s economy is making a turn for the better and becoming more stable, with overall performance gradually picking up.

According to a report issued by the Fujian Statistics Bureau, Fujian’s GDP amounts to 473.863 billion yuan, rising by 8.5% over the same period last year. The figure is 5.3 percentage points lower than last year, but 1.1 percentage points higher than the first quarter of this year. The added value of the primary industry reached 39.149 billion yuan, up by 4.6%; secondary industry reached 253.002 billion yuan, up by 6.7%; and tertiary industry reached 181.712 billion yuan, up by 12.1%.

Agricultural production showed a better performance in the last six months with a gross output of 66.604 billion yuan, an increase of 5% - 0.7 percentage points higher year-on-year. In the first half of the year, above-scale industries achieved 200.339 billion yuan in added value, up by 5.8%, showing a 1.7 percentage point higher growth compared with the first quarter.

Improvements were also seen in fixed investment sectors with a total number of 270.462 billion yuan and an increase of 19.8%, 4.4 percentage points higher than the first quarter. Market consumption grew steadily and rapidly while rural market consumption soared faster than any city sector. Consumer prices and the producer price index dropped by 2.5% and 5.1% respectively.

The total volume of foreign trade hit $34.907 billion, down by 16.5%, but still grew 2.7 percentage points higher than the drop in the first quarter. Overall employment rates improved and provincial fiscal revenue recovered month-by-month.

Despite the recovery and stability of Fujian’s economy in the first half of 2009, the province still needs further economic reinforcement to see continued improvement.