Hunan Economy Grows 7.5% in Third Quarter

　　On 23 October, the Hunan Statistics Bureau announced that Hunan’s GDP was 2449.229 billion yuan for the first nine months of 2017, an increase of 7.5% over last year. This growth rate is 0.6% higher than the national average.

　　Primary industries added value of 245.829 billion yuan, an increase of 3.1%. Secondary industries added 999.923 billion yuan in value, an increase of 6.3%. Tertiary industries increased 1203.477 billion yuan or 9.7%.

　　The three industries constitute 10%; 40.8%; and, 49.2% of all economic activity, respectively.

　　Social economic factors had four characteristics:

　　Demands grew stably. Fixed asset investment increased by 12.6% over 2016 which is 0.2% higher than the first six months. Total consumer goods retail sales grew 10.5%. Total import and export increased 56.5%, making Hunan second nationwide.

　　The economic structure is maturing. Service sector added value accounted for 51.6 percent of GDP. Of industrial sector companies above a certain size, processing and high-tech accounted for 0.8% and 0.3% of GDP, respectively. Investment structures improved with tertiary industry investment accounting for 60.8% of the total.

　　Development quality improved. Revenue increase, with general public budgets growing by 7.6%, 1.4% higher than the first two quarters. Profitability improved. During the first eight months, large industrial companies had a profit growth of 20.5%. Energy and cost reductions were effective. Comprehensive energy consumption growth declined 0.6% over the first six months.

　　Life improved. There were 632,900 new jobs created. Per capita disposable personal income increased 8.5%. Prices were stable. CPI growth rate declined 0.2% from last year.