Beijing's economic growth quickens

BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's economy expanded 7.9 percent in the first quarter, with its GDP totaling 410 billion yuan (66.4 billion U.S. dollars), the capital's statistics bureau announced Wednesday.

The growth was 0.9 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year.

About 9.45 million people were employed in Beijing by the end of March, with most working in the service industry, said Yu Xiuqin, spokeswoman for the municipal statistics bureau.

Yu said the IT sector added 64,000 employees, while the financial industry hired 50,000 people during the first three months,

Company profits have been recovering, as Beijing's industrial added value increased 9.1 percent year on year in the first quarter, the spokeswoman said.

Yu said Beijing will achieve its 8-percent growth target, as the automobile, electronics manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries have been performing strongly.

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