Western China driving economic growth
April 30, 2013 Category Macro-economy, Weekly
Two provinces in western China have taken a leading position in driving the country’s economic growth in the first quarter. Yunnan province’s GDP rose 12.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, the highest among all regions. Guizhou province enjoyed an equal growth rate during the same period. “The western regions will surely be a significant driver for the economic recovery and a magnet for investment,” said Gao Guoli, Deputy Director of the Regional Economy Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Urban fixed-asset investment in the western regions rose 24.2% in the first quarter. As growth picks up, a challenge facing the region is to reduce its high reliance on government investment, Gao said. Relatively lower land and labor costs as well as vast natural resources are presenting an advantage, as costs in coastal areas continue to grow. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the western regions surged by 18.29% in the first quarter, in sharp contrast to the growth rate in other regions – 0.17% in eastern regions and 0.69% in central regions, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Fixed-asset investment in the western regions from the private sector rose 28.8% in the first quarter. A recent joint study by the China National Textile and Apparel Council and the Swedish Embassy in Beijing showed that textile companies were shifting their factories from eastern regions to central and western parts of China.
- KURT VANDEPUTTE (UMICORE) APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FLANDERS-CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (FCCC)
- Webinar: “Knowing Your Chinese Partner” – May 26, 2021, 10 am – 12 am
- EMA starts rolling review of CoronaVac, WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use
- The Global Times warns not to politicize the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)
- Hainan to become biggest duty-free market in the world