The economy of East China’s Zhejiang province got a flying start in the first quarter of 2017, official statistics showed on April 24.

The province’s GDP achieved an 8 percent year-on-year growth to 1.06 trillion yuan ($154.0 billion) in the first quarter, 1.1 percentage points higher than the national average.

The primary, secondary, and tertiary industries contributed greatly, up by 1.1, 6.1, and 10 percent, reaching 29.7, 443.6, and 581.9 billion yuan respectively.

In the face of economic transformation and upgrading, various industries in Zhejiang showed vigor and vitality in the first quarter, as the added value of industries rose 6.9 percent year-on-year to 390.7 billion yuan, and that of industrial companies above a designated scale increased 7.5 percent to 328.0 billion yuan.

Service industries, accounting for 55.2 percent of the province’s GDP, achieved a year-on-year growth of 10 percent. The profit-making sector, in particular, realized the fastest growth of 20.8 percent.

Zhejiang residents also benefited from the steady increase in per capita disposable income, rising 8.5 percent to 13,040 yuan. Urban residents enjoyed an average income of 15,603 yuan and the rural population received 8,389 yuan.

The province’s consumer price index, a major gauge of inflation, grew 1.9 percent in the first quarter, a drop of 0.4 percentage points the same period of last year.

The total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 547.1 billion yuan; among which, online retail sales reached 213.4 billion yuan, up 31.9 percent.

Investments in fixed assets registered a growth of 9.7 percent to 594.9 billion yuan, with governmental investments rising 8 percent and private investment going up 14.4 percent. The sales of commercial residential buildings also underwent an increase of 32.2 percent to 219.7 billion yuan.

The Zhejiang provincial information office delivers the first quarter economic data on April 24. The economy of the province had a good start in the first quarter of 2017. [Photo/cztv.com]