Good Start of National Economic Performance

 in the First Quarter of this year

In the first quarter of this year, the main features of national economic performance are:

I. National economic growth kept fast

According to preliminary estimation, in the first quarter of this year, the gross domestic product reached 2102 billion yuan, up 7.6% over the same period last year at comparable prices. It was 0.3 percentage points higher than that in the last quarter of the previous year. Of which, the value-added of the primary industry was 159.2 billion yuan, up by 3.3% over the same period of last year, that of the secondary industry reached 1155.2 billion yuan, up 9.3%, and that of the tertiary industry was 787.7, up 6.2% over the same period of last year.

II. Planting structure of farm crops was further improved.

According to the survey on rural households planting intention, the planting areas of farm crops would be 1.06 billion hectares, increased 0.3% over the previous year. Of which, the planting areas for oil-bearing crops were up by 4.3% over the previous year, that of sugar crops were up 10.3%, and that of vegetables increased.3.8%.

III. industrial production kept fast growth

In the first quarter, the total complete value-added of industrial production was 649.4 billion yuan, up 10.9% over the same period last year. Of which, the value-added of state-owned and state holding enterprises was 357.8 billion yuan, up 8.7%, that of collective enterprises was 56.9 billion yuan, up 8.3%, and that of enterprises funded by foreign and overseas Chinese from Hong Kong, Macao &Taiwan 163.6 billion yuan, up 10.5%..

Sales of industrial products continued to be brisk, with sales ratio of 96.5%.

IV. The investment in fixed assets kept growing.

Due to the domino effect of the policy of issuing state treasury bonds and enlarging investment, investment in fixed assets kept steady growth though the base figure was quite high. In the first quarter, total investment in fixed assets was 326.37 billion yuan, up 26.1% over the same period last year. Of which, the investment in capital construction was 162.43 billion yuan, up 20.6%, that of technical innovation was 58.04 billion yuan, up 22.8% and that of real estate was 92.24 billion yuan, up 36.2%.

V. The growth of market sales slowed down

In the first quarter, the retail sales of consumer goods was 1003.5 billion yuan, up 8.4% over the same period last year, the growth rate was 1.9 percentage points slower than that in the last quarter of the previous year. Of which, the retail sales in cities reached 631.4 billion yuan, up 9.3%, the growth rate was 2.7 percentage points higher than that of rural areas. Catering sector was brisk. In the first quarter, the growth was 16.5% ..

VI. Export & import kept steadily

According to customs statistics, in the first quarter the total import and export was 122.1 billion USD, up 7.7% over the same period last year. Of which that of export was 64.7 billion USD, up 9.9%; that of import was 57.4 billion USD, up 5.2%. China had a trade surplus of 7.3 billion USD.

VII. Market prices continued to keep on the low level

In the first quarter, the consumer price was down 0.6% over the same period last year. Of which, the consumer price in cities was down 0.9%, and that in rural was down 0.1%. The retail price was down by 1.6%.

VIII. Residents’ income continued to increase.

In the first quarter, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 2126 yuan, the real growth was 16.2% after deducting price factor. The per capita cash income of rural residents was 682 yuan, the real growth was 7.2%. By the end of March, the saving deposits by urban and rural households reached 7872.8 billion yuan.