Tang Yilun, director of the Statistics Bureau of Jiangsu Province, said the province recorded 1.06 trillion yuan (US$127.8 billion) in GDP last year, ranking it second on the mainland after South China's Guangdong Province.

The figure represents 11.6 percent growth on 2001.

The growth rate is also 3.6 percentage points higher than the national average.

With a population of 74 million, Jiangsu is famous for its booming manufacturing industry in areas adjacent to Shanghai - the country's major financial center.

The province recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 15.7 percent in added value of all industrial sectors last year, according to the provincial government.

The province's industrial added value totaled 353.6 billion yuan (US$42.8 billion) last year.

Private firms, share-holding and foreign-funded firms made great contributions to fast growth.

These firms reported 1.36 trillion yuan (US$165.2 billion) in combined sales volume, rising 19.7 per cent as compared with a year ago.

Net profits increased by 31.0 percent to 55.3 billion yuan (US$6.7 billion).

The director said investment in fixed assets should total 384.9 billion yuan (US$46.9 billion) last year, a rise of 16.5 percent.

Retail sales of consumer goods totaled 321.5 billion yuan (US$39 billion) last year, up 12.1 percent.

Jiangsu reported robust growth in foreign trade in 2002 with export and import volume growing by 36.9 percent to US$70.3 billion.

The province exported US$38.4 billion worth of goods last year, a year-on-year increase of 33.3 percent.

(China Daily February 8, 2003)