Shanghai's Industrial Sector Sets RecordThe industrial sector in Shanghai is on a bullish course in the first half of 2000, indicating a return to health after being plagued by Asian financial turmoil and an adverse global market for a couple of years.The industrial performance composite index, the key indicator of the sector's strength, jumped 7.61 per cent this year to hit a new record high of 129.92. Value-added output, the benchmark for industrial performance, surged up to 91.6 billion yuan (US$11 billion), a 9.3 per cent rise compared to the same period in 1999. The industrial output value totalled 322.7 billion yuan (US$39 billion) for the first half of this year, according to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau. Profit in the industrial sector in the January-May period increased 30 per cent over the same period last year, to hit 10.9 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion), indicating the sector's competitiveness. The auto and steel sectors are Shanghai's two leading profit-makers, which reported a profit of 3 billion yuan (US$ 363 million) and 2.12 billion yuan (US$256 million) respectively over the first six months of this year. The sector's turnaround is powered by a robust growth in information technology and modern biomedicine, and strong exports due to a favourable global economy, top city officials said. Coupled with companies' enthusiasm in upgrading technology, the growth in the IT sector's value-added output exceeded 25 per cent year-on-year, making it the city's main industry, according to Huang Qifan, chief with the Municipal Economic Commission. Exports in the January-June period hit 58.5 billion yuan (US$7.1 billion) with a 28 per cent year-on-year growth. Additionally, more technology innovation, restructuring in the State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and an increase in fixed-asset investment are also major contributors to the recovered industrial performance, said analysts. The industrial sector accounts for about 70 per cent of the city's contracted overseas investment, an indicator of investors' long-term commitment. The first half of this year saw US$1.44 billion contracted overseas investment pumped into the sector, up by 56.69 per cent on the same period last year. The sector's target for this year's overseas funding commitments is set at US$3 billion. "We need to further boost investment in the sector given that the way for non-governmental investment is less rocky now," said Vice-Mayor Jiang Yiren. Focusing on the IT sector and bolstered by the flourishng e-commerce, the industrial restructuring will be continued. The industrial sector is also encouraged to grab more domestic market share, providing a rosy outlook for China's development of its west regions. |
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