SHENZHEN’S gross domestic product surpassed 1.2 trillion yuan (US$176 billion) in the first half of this year, up 7.4 percent year on year, according to the latest data released by the Guangdong Provincial Statistics Bureau.

    The growth rate, although 0.2 percentage points lower than that in the second quarter, was higher than expected — and higher than the provincial average of 6.5 as well as the national average of 6.3 percent — ranking first among the four first-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. 

    The growth slowed down compared to the 8 percent in the first half year of 2018.

    The city’s GDP volume ranked third from January to June this year, after Shanghai and Beijing.

    The major contributor to growth could be the good performance of foreign trade, according to an unnamed local customs official.

    The city’s exports reached 757.14 billion yuan in the first half of 2019, up 5.1 percent year on year, according to customs. Its trade volume with B&R countries reached 284.14 billion yuan during the period, up 5.7 percent year on year.

    The city also saw robust growth in the import of fruit, medicine and seafood. Its import of meat products and medicine grew by 31.2 percent and 28.7 percent, respectively.

    The official said despite taking a hit to its economy due to the ongoing trade disputes with the United States and the rise of unilateralism and protectionism in global commodity markets, Shenzhen still sees many positive factors associated with foreign trade in the years ahead.

    Shenzhen lowered its GDP growth target to 7 percent for this year, compared with last year’s target of 8 percent, as per the annual government report delivered by the mayor to the city’s legislative body earlier this year.

    (SD News)