East China’s Jiangsu province reported smooth economic operation in the first quarter of this year with the structural adjustment accelerated, showing a stable and progressive development trend, according to statistics released Thursday by the provincial bureau of statistics and the Jiangsu Provincial Squad of the National Bureau of Statistics.
Jiangsu posted 2.28 trillion yuan of GDP in the first quarter, up 6.7% from a year ago and 0.3 percentage points higher than the national average.
The added value of the primary industry totaled 51.95 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%. The added value of the secondary industry was 988.32 billion yuan, an increase of 6.6%. The added value of the tertiary industry reached 1.24 trillion yuan, an increase of 7% on a yearly basis.
In the first quarter, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 5.3% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage points higher than that of last year. In March, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 9.8% year-on-year, the highest growth rate since August 2014. Emerging industries developed rapidly, and the added value of high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing increased by 5.9% and 5.6% respectively year-on-year, a strong indication that the conversion of new and old kinetic energy is being accelerated.
The province's fixed asset investment in the first quarter increased by 1.6% year on year. The growth rate of investment in major projects has obviously accelerated. The planned investment of projects with a total investment of more than 50 million yuan has increased by 7.6%, and the growth rate has increased by 23.7 percentage points year on year.
In the first quarter, Jiangsu registered total import and export of goods of 996.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.8%. The import and export of general trade increased by 5.4%, accounting for 50.3%, and the import and export with countries along the Belt and Road increased by 11.2%, further optimizing the foreign trade structure.
Consumption continues to be the backbone of economic growth. In the first quarter, the province's total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 6.6% year-on-year, and the growth rate was unchanged from January to February. Online retail sales continued to grow rapidly. The wholesale and retail trade above designated size achieved 29.9 billion yuan of retail sales through the public network, a year-on-year increase of 29%. Some of the consumption upgraded goods grew at a faster rate, indicating the further improvement of the purchasing power.
In the first quarter, Jiangsu residents saw their income grow steadily. The per capita disposable income of the residents reached 13,391 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%. The per capita disposable income of the urban residents was 15,771 yuan, an increase of 8.1%. The per capita disposable income of the rural residents reached 8,869 yuan, an increase of 8.6%.
