The economically booming Shandong Province in China's east realized 1.02 trillion yuan (US$127.5 billion) in gross domestic product in the first half of this year, a year-on-year growth of 15.3 percent.

It has been the first time that Shandong's GDP, which ranked the second place in China only after Guangdong Province in the south, exceeded the 1-trillion-yuan mark in a six-month period.

According to the provincial statistical bureau, the GDP growth was mainly shored up by the industrial sector, which generated 555 billion yuan (US$69.4 billion) in value-added output between January and June, up 18.7 percent.

The fast growth in industrial sector was mainly driven up by more fixed assets investment, analysts from the bureau said.

The bureau said in the first half, Shandong's retail sales amounted to 342.3 billion yuan (US$42.8 billion), up 16 percent from the year-earlier level.

According to local customs sources, Shandong registered US$43.5 billion in foreign trade, up 23.4 percent. The total included US$25.92 billion in export volume, up 21.4 percent; and US$17.58 billion in import volume, up 26.5 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2006)