On July 16, the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau and the National Bureau of Statistics Survey Office in Beijing published a report on the economic performance in the first half of this year, showing that GDP has risen by 6.7 percent year-on-year even under the pressure of economic recession.
Profits up by half in service industry
In the period concerned, Beijing achieved a growth in GDP to 1.114 trillion yuan, which, according to the deputy director of Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau Xia Qinfang, was 0.2 percent less than the growth in the first quarter but still at a reasonable level.
The added value in primary industry decreased significantly, while that of secondary and tertiary industries rose; the tertiary industry’s by 7.6 percent up to 935.21 billion yuan. The per capita disposable personal income of the city reached 26,191 yuan, a year-on-year growth of 8.7 percent. The unemployment rate was only 1.49 percent and the CPI increased by 1.2 percent, the lowest rise since 2010.
On the whole, Beijing has received good news about development. The total benefits of industrial enterprises above a designated size in the first five months attained 53.65 billion yuan, rising by 17.7 percent, and the key service-sector enterprises earned 162.79 billion yuan, a sharp growth of 44.9 percent.
Achievements in supply reform
As of this year, Beijing is devoting itself to reforming the supply structure and dispersing markets by closing 113 legal entities and 36 commodity markets, and reducing investment in restricted and prohibited industries. The city is also increasing cooperation with Tianjin and Hebei to define respective regional functions in scientific innovation, equipment manufacturing and logistics.
High-end vehicle manufacturing leading the industry
Statistics show that automobiles and houses, particularly the popular new energy vehicles and commercial housing, are still important to stimulate consumption. According to the recent data, new energy vehicle demand nearly tripled and the added value in vehicle manufacturing rose by 18.6% in the first half year.
In the real estate market, investment declined by 7.6 percent and commodity housing sales decreased. In commercial housing, however, figures for both construction and sales grew.