China's Coastal Economies Post Strong Growth in First Three Quarters

China's dynamic coastal regions reported strong economic growth in the first three quarters of the year, despite an emerging global economic slowdown.

In Shanghai, the output of the manufacturing sector gained 16.8 percent in September over the corresponding period of last year to reach 60.08 billion yuan.

Sales in the sector rose 5.9 percent in the same month to 60.86 billion yuan. And the comprehensive performance index of industrial enterprises hit a record high of 153.26 points.

Electronic information, bio-medicine and other hi-tech industries reported an average growth rate 31.12 percent higher than the average for the manufacturing sector.

Overseas-funded enterprises recorded higher growth than state-owned enterprises. The output of overseas-funded enterprises grew 25.4 percent in September.

To the west of Shanghai, the province of Jiangsu recorded an industrial added value of 213.58 billion yuan in the first three quarters, up 12.4 percent over the same period of 2000.

Of all the industrial departments, textiles, electronics and telecommunications equipment manufacturing, metallurgy, machinery and chemicals made the bulk contribution to the province's economic growth.

The province's industrial stock remained at a low 3.2 percent in the first nine months, despite of the robust growth in production.

North of Jiangsu, Shandong Province saw a 10.2 percent growth in its gross domestic product (GDP) in the nine-month period ending in September, which stood at 658.05 billion yuan.

The province's painstaking efforts to develop the hi-tech sector and upgrade its traditional industries with advanced technologies clearly paid off, with the sales of new products hitting 83 billion yuan in the first nine months.

In the same period, its export surged 17.4 percent to 13.12 billion U.S. dollars and its actualized foreign investment jumped more than 30 percent to 2.72 billion U.S. dollars.

In Zhejiang Province, south of Shanghai, the robust growth in foreign trade continued into the fourth consecutive year, with the trade volume soaring 21 percent in the first nine months to 24.349 billion U.S. dollars.

Its export rose 21 percent to 17.11 billion U.S. dollars in the same period. This is the highest growth rate among all Chinese regions.

Local trade experts attributed the remarkable growth mainly to the province's years of efforts in deregulating the foreign trade sector to allow the entry of private as well as medium-sized and small firms.






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