Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 15, 2003
China Sees 9.9 Percent GDP Growth in First Quarter
China's economy is probably in its best time in several years. The country's GDP grew 9.9% from a year ago in the first quarter, its highest growth rate in six years.
China's economy is probably in its best time in several years. The country's GDP grew 9.9% from a year ago in the first quarter, its highest growth rate in six years.
Citing figures scheduled to be officially released Thursday, the Economic Observer says industrial output rose 17.2% for the same period, last year's first quarter industrial output was 6.3% compared with 2001.
Fixed-asset investment jumped 27% annually in the first three months of the year, while foreign trade was up more than 40 percent.
Retail sales gained 0.2% in March, the first rise in 15 consecutive months.
Retail sales in the first two months of this year rose 9.2 percent to 761 billion yuan, or 9.1 billion dollars, compared with 8.5 percent in the same period last year.
China's gross domestic product is officially projected to grow more than 7 percent in 2003.
FDI Registers Strong Growth
Actual foreign direct investment in China hit US$13.09 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 56.7 per cent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday.
Contracted foreign investment, an indicator of future trends, rose 59.6 per cent year-on-year in January to March to US$22.98 billion, the ministry said.
The strong growth has continued from last year and is expected to last for quite some time, said analysts.
Despite dramatic cuts in the total amount of global cross-border investment, foreign capital inflow in China started to rise rapidly since last year.
China surpassed the United States as the world's largest foreign investment receiver last year, with an inflow of US$52.7 billion.