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Economy

2016 was an important year in China's march towards achieving a strategy of continuous progress towards leading the world economically. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by President Xi Jinping has been able to take on the historical responsibility to maintain strategic focus, take control of the complex situation and lead reform and development. The Central Committee has been able to unite and lead all parties and nationalities at a crucial stage to complete and build a well-off society, implement structural reforms and fulfill important new achievements.

The annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) began in 2017 in the Chinese capital of Beijing in early March. Meetings were held in all provinces, including Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Fujian by 2017, all of which were concluded before the fifth session of the Twelfth National Committee. During the sessions, China's achievements in the past year were reviewed and the 2017 plan of action was developed in terms of economic and social development, economic transformation, structural reforms and strict governance of the Party and other topics.

Guangdong Province

Guangdong is a rich province, with three special economic zones among the four in China: Shenzhen, Shantou and Zhuhai. These economic zones have a special collection system and have been in operation since 1990, encouraging foreign investment to flow to them.

The Most Important Economic Achievements made by Guangdong Province in 2016:

  • The efforts to maintain stable economic growth are average, whereas efforts have been made to maintain economic performance within reasonable limits. Gross domestic product was 7.95 yuan, an increase of 7.5% from the previous year.
  • Guangdong Province saw the value-added increase of the private sector by 7.8% year-on-year, which reached about 4.26 trillion yuan (620 billion US dollars). According to figures from the provincial statistics bureau, Guangdong's private sector accounted for 53.6% of the GDP last year, up 0.2% from 2015 and 3.9% higher than in 2010. In addition, the private sector contributed 55.5% of the province's GDP growth, which reached 7.5% in 2016, up 1.3% from 2015. The Pearl River Delta achieved 3.15 trillion yuan of value added to the private sector last year, forming 72.5% of the total size in the province.
  • General budget revenues reached 1.039 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.3%.
  • Guangdong's income per capita reached more than 30,000 yuan in 2016, up by 8.7% annually.
  • Employment rates have stabilized, with unemployment in cities and municipalities stabilizing at 2.47%.
  • Witnessed progress in the construction of modern industrial system, and prompted the improvement of the industrial structure and the steady improvement. It has developed rapidly in finance, logistics, information services, technology and other modern cultural and creative services. The value added to the services increased to 57.8% of the GDP.

The involvement of the masses in entrepreneurship has expanded and millions of people have been encouraged to engage in innovative activities.

Guangxi Province

The Province of Guangxi was relatively  backwards economically until 2002, when China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a Framework Agreement on China-ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, and decided to establish the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2010, which has brought the economically modest province of Guangxi unprecedented opportunities in development.

With the development of industries, the eastern region and economically advanced Hong Kong have begun to move their heavy industrial industries and employment opportunities to less developed central and western regions of the mainland. Due to Guangxi's proximity to Guangdong, which houses the Pearl River Delta, it has become one of the hot sports for receiving industries from the Eastern Province.

The autonomous region of Guangxi has intensified its visits to the eastern region to carry out promotional activities, invite business people and attract investment in larger forms towards them. At the same time,  it has moved to improve facilities, gardens, industry development and technological attention to push forward the gradually evolving industrial zone. For example, Wuzhou City and Yulin City have been established in the area of Tinshi for manufacturing household electrical appliances and Dongxiang area for the electronic industry, and primarily benefit from the transfer of industrial enterprises to them. Guangxi held 8432 cooperation projects in the Eastern Province, the contractual investment value amounted to 588,373 billion yuan, the amount used to be 246,896 billion yuan.

Attracting foreign investment is another driving force for Guangxi's development. It has been working to create the best conditions and provide the best services to foreign investors as much as possible.

Guangxi has a seasonal semi-tropical climate that is suitable for sugarcane cultivation. The area of sugarcane planted in the whole region is about 14 million meters and the amount of sugar production exceeds 9 million tons, accounting for more than 60% of all China. Guangxi also boasts a large number of enterprises that use sugarcane as materials instead of wood pulp to produce high-grade, medium sized paper that the market needs in large quantities, this provides a good example of economic development in multi-purpose use and environmental protection.

The most important economic achievements made by Guangxi in 2016:

  • The economy of Guangxi was stable during 2016, with the GDP reaching 1.824507 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.3% from the previous year, including the first industry with an added value of 279,861 billion yuan, an increase of 3.4%. The second industry's added value rose to 821,986 billion yuan, an increase of 7.4% and the third with an added value of 722,66 billion yuan, up by 8.6%.
  • Livestock and cereal production were stable last year, with value added in the agriculture sector reaching 161,754 billion yuan, an increase of 4.7% from the previous year. The value added in the livestock sector was 62,287 billion yuan, down 1.3%. The value added of the fish amounted to 31,417 billion yuan, an increase of 4.4%. The total cereal production was 15,213 million tons, down 0.2%.
  • Industrial production is stable and fast growing, with industrial added value of 676,413 billion yuan, an increase of 7.3% on the basis of comparable prices.
  • Fixed assets investments in the region rose by 12.8% in 2016 to 1,765,395 billion yuan, including private investment to 1,086,959 billion yuan, up 7.5% from the previous year.
  • Annual revenue in the region reached 245,405 billion yuan, an increase of 5.2%, including general budget revenue 155,642 billion yuan, an increase of 2.7%.

 

Hainan Province

The province of Hainan's economy is mainly based on tourism, agriculture and the service industry. The tourism boom began two decades ago, which  contributed to the acceleration of its economy significantly. However, in order to develop this province and maintain its tourist reputation it was necessary to establish and develop infrastructure, including transport, where the sector witnessed major changes to facilitate the transfer of tourists to and from the province.

After opening Hainan to the outside world and starting to invest in one of its most important resources, tourism, it began to compete with neighboring countries, especially those with a long history in this sector. The local government has set up infrastructure in line with the high number of tourists from China and around the world. Three international airports have been opened on the island, along with the construction of high-speed railway and the construction of the Phoenix cruise ship in Sanya to welcome hundreds of thousands of tourists, who prefer to arrive on a quiet multi-stop journey across the sea. These infrastructures have pushed the development of tourism and industry services, becoming the most important economic source of income in the province of Hainan.

The most important economic achievements made by Hainan in 2016:

  • Figures from the local statistics bureau indicated that the province's GDP in 2016 amounted to 404,451 billion yuan, an increase of 7.5% from the previous year, of which the value added of the first industry was 97,093 billion yuan, an increase of 4.1%/ The value added of the second industry 90,168 billion yuan, an increase of 5.1%. The value added of the third industry is 217,190 billion yuan which is up 10.1%.
  • Total cereal production was 1.7786 million tons, down 3.3% from last year. The total output of vegetables reached 5.7188 million tons, down 0.1%. Fruit crops amounted to 3.9560 million tons, down 3.1%, and natural rubber production decreased by 7.1%. Last year, aquatic products reached 2.1464 million tons, an increase of 3.5%.
  • Industrial value added amounted to 47.922 billion yuan, up 2.7% from the previous year.
  • Value added in the construction sector was 42.350 billion yuan, an increase of 8.1%.
  • Value added in the service industry rose to 217.190 billion yuan, an increase of 10.1% on the basis of comparable prices.
  • Fixed assets investment in the province reached 374.703 billion yuan, an increase of 11.7%.
  • The total number of domestic and foreign tourists reached 60.2359 million, an increase of 12.9 over the previous year. The number of overnight tourists reached 49.7729 million, a 10.8% increase.

 

Fujian Province

Fujian's Economy in 2016:

  • Fujian province maintained stable economic development last year. Figures released by the local statistics bureau indicated that the province's GDP in 2016 amounted to 2851.915 billion yuan, an increase of 8.4% from the previous year, of which the value added of the first industry 236.414 billion yuan, an increase of 3.6%, and added value of the second industry 1391.273 billion yuan, an increase of 7.3%, the value added of the third industry was 1224.228 billion Yuan, up 10.7%.
  • Agricultural production has maintained a stable state, with a total cereal production of 6.5087 million tons, down 1.5% from last year. Fruit crops were 7.6160 million tons, down 2.3%. The total tea output was 0.4268 million tons, an increase of 6.1%. The output of aquatic products rose to 7.6798 million tons, an increase of 4.6%.
  • Industrial production continued to be moderately stable at an average speed, with the province achieving industrial added value of 1101.739 billion Yuan, up 7.6% from last year.
  • Fixed asset investment slowed down steadily, with fixed asset investment in the province reaching 2292.799 billion yuan, up 9.3% from last year.
  • Annual import and export volume fell by 1.2% to 1.03515 trillion yuan.
  • GNI per capita increased by 8.7%, to reach 27,608 yuan by the end of 2016, up 8.7% from last year.
  • The province's total budget revenue reached 429.522 billion yuan for the year, an increase of 6.6%.