Anhui's economic recovery continued to gather speed in May despite the COVID-19 epidemic as major economic indicators showed improvement, according to the Bureau of Statistics of Anhui Province. The province's industrial value-added output rose 7.8 percent year-on-year in May, higher than the national average of 4.4 percent. 16 out of 40 industrial sectors posted faster growth than a month earlier. Industrial output in the automobile sector increased 16.1 percent, the highest since 2011. The petroleum processing industry saw a 15.6 percent year-on-year rise in output, compared with a 3.3 percent drop in April. High-tech industrial output rose 17.6 percent and the output of strategic emerging industries went up 14.5 percent. Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, increased 12 percent year-on-year, higher than April’s 10 percent and the national average of 1.3 percent in May. Retail sales in the province’s urban areas rose 12 percent, while rural retail sales climbed 10.6 percent. Fixed-asset investment in the first five months contracted 0.8 percent, recovering from a 3.7 percent decline in the first four months. Imports and exports totaled $6.28 billion in May, up 8 percent from the same period a year ago. The growth rate was 17.3 percentage points higher than the national average. Exports rose 7.6 percent to $3.9 billion, while imports increased 8.6 percent to $2.38 billion. During the Jan-May period, the province’s foreign trade volume stood at $28.4 billion, up 4.2 percent. Loan balances in Renminbi held by financial institutions in Anhui went up 15.7 percent in May, 0.2 percentage point faster than that in April, the fastest pace since August 2017. The province’s economy continued to gather momentum in May as the economic indicators improved, the bureau said, adding that the economy still faces many uncertain and unstable factors. It should be a prominent task to allow enterprises and grassroots organizations to enjoy the support of policies, according to the bureau.
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