Beijing's economy grew by 12 percent last year to 772 billion
yuan (US$99 billion), making it the eighth consecutive year the
Chinese capital's economy has recorded double-digit growth, an
official said on Wednesday.
Vice director and spokeswoman of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of
Statistics, Yu Xiuqin, said the city's tertiary industry, which is
the service sector including transportation and education, grew the
fastest.
Tertiary industry grew by 540.5 billion yuan (US$69 billion), or
by 11.9 percent last year. It accounted for a record 70 percent of
Beijing's gross domestic product (GDP), said Yu, adding that in
1995 tertiary industry accounted for just over half of the
capital's GDP.
Primary industry, which is the agriculture sector, and secondary
industry, the industrial sector, grew by 0.6 percent and 12.6
percent respectively, Yu said.
Beijing's GDP per capita grew by 8.8 percent to US$6,210 last
year.
Yu said the city had 15.81 million residents by the end of last
year, 430,000 up from the end of 2005, and the growing population
could add pressure to its economic development and environment.
Meanwhile, Shanghai statistics bureau said its GDP grew 12
percent to 1.03 trillion yuan (US$132 billion) last year and it was
the 15th consecutive year that Shanghai reported double-digit GDP
growth.
The year-on-year growth of Shanghai's investment in fixed assets
and real estate in 2006 both slowed, a result of macro-economic
controls to cool the economy, according to the bureau.
Average per-capita disposable household income for urban
Shanghai residents was 20,668 yuan (US$2,649), 10.8 percent up year
on year, and for rural households, 9,213 yuan (US$1,181), a rise of
10.4 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2007)