Due to rising oil prices and hot sales of vehicles, the turnover
from the sale of gasoline increased more rapidly than all the other
“social consumer goods” over the first three months of the year in
Beijing.
According to a report released this week by the Beijing
Municipal Statistics Bureau, retail sales of fuel products was up
by 57.1 percent, making up 25.1 percent of the total municipal
turnover from retail sales.
Beijing residents spent 78.03 billion yuan (US$9.4 billion) from
January to March, up 12.9 percent from the same period of last
year. Vehicle sales contributed 57.8 percent to the total volume of
retail figures. Around 156,000 vehicles were sold, up by 24 percent
from the same period of last year. Of these 94,000 were new, a rise
of 8.6 percent.
Fixed asset investment in the first three months amounted to
37.99 billion yuan (US$4.6 billion), an increase of 17.5 percent on
last year. Facility investment was up by 24.8 percent and fixed
assets investment in rural areas amounted to 2.34 billion yuan
(US$292 million) which is a sharp rise of 36.8 percent.
Investment in real estate in Beijing began to recover after six
months in the doldrums. A total of 21.63 billion yuan (US$2.6
billion) was invested in the three months, an increase of 13.1
percent while home investment rose by 31.1 percent. Taking into
account the price of forward delivery housing in the three months
which stood at 6,687 yuan (US$835), 6,957 yuan (US$868) and 7,046
yuan (US$880) per square meter respectively, it could be said that
the property investment market had entered a period when the “tide
was rising”.
With the warming up of both the housing and vehicle markets and
the impacts of rising oil prices, residents in the capital spent
more money in the first three months of this year than they have
before. The per capita consumption was 3,634 yuan (US$454), up 16.1
percent.
The per capita disposable income of 5,365 yuan (US$670) was up
17.5 percent from the same period of last year because many workers
were in receipt of year-end bonuses and the private income tax
threshold was raised.
Additionally prices remained broadly stable with a 1 percent
increase on last year.
High-tech industries and modern manufacturing witnessed an
increased value of 9.73 billion yuan (US$1.21 billion) and 16.95
billion yuan (US$2.12 billion) respectively, up by 41.2 percent and
31.4 percent. The added value of communication and electronic
manufacturing output amounted to 6.51 billion yuan (US$812.5
million), up 53.9 percent.
The dramatic increase in high-tech industries helped the
municipal revenue increase by 19.3 percent to 27.73 billion yuan
(US$3.46 billion).
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, April 21, 2006)