On April 24th, Foshan Municipal Bureau of Statistics released economic data for the first quarter of 2022. As it shows, Foshan has picked up a year-on-year growth of 5.1%, which outperformed most cities in the Pearl River Delta, marking a good head-start in the year of 2022. 

As data collected from all cities in Guangdong, the province has registered 274.213 billion yuan in GDP, an increase of 5.1% calculated at constant prices. That also equals 0.3 and 1.8 percentage points higher than the national and provincial rates respectively. As for the industrial mix, industry and agriculture have gained strong growth momentum, and the service industry has started to bounce back. 

In the first quarter, the citys output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery reached 11.002 billion yuan, an increase of 9.8%, providing sufficient material guarantee for the citys fight against the epidemic. The supply of meat and eggs was sufficient, with 254,700 hogs, an increase of 58.1%, and 1,300 tons of poultry eggs, an increase of 123.3%. 

In the first quarter, above-scale industries have seen an added value of 128.253 billion yuan, an increase of 8.0%. Major enterprises in Foshan have scored well, with an added value of 58.795 billion yuan, an increase of 12.9%. So is the case with newly registered enterprises as 1,801 new industrial enterprises above designated size in 2021 increased by 53.3% in the first quarter. Advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing are two hotspots, up 9.8% and 13.1% from last year respectively. With the ongoing pandemic, industries related to "home economy" have picked up motions, as, for instance, industrial output in home gas stove, furniture and beverage has gone up by 29.7%, 14.4%, and 15.0% respectively. 

In the first quarter, certain tertiary industries have gained rapid growth, including transportation, warehousing & postal, information transmission, software & information technology service, health and social work, which increased by 10.1%, 8.0% and 10.3% respectively. From January to February, enterprises in the sector above designated size registered a value of 18.64 billion yuan, an increase of 7.5%. Among the 10 industrial categories, 7 industries have seen positive growth, as transportation agency and Internet services have seen a growth rate of 33.3% and 18.5%. 

As for investment in fixed assets, imports & exports and retail sales of consumer goods, Foshan registered an increased of 6.6%, 4.7% and 2.6% respectively, higher than the average in the province. 

Measures to stabilize growth are proven effective as they improved peoples well-being in life and their confidence towards a promising future. In the first quarter of 2022, disposable income per capita reached 19,747 yuan in Foshan, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%. 70,700 market entities have been registered, a year-on-year increase of 38.39%. That includes 20,700 newly registered enterprises and 50,000 newly registered self-employed. As of the end of March 2022, the city has been home to 1.16 million various market entities, a year-on-year increase of 19.25%, with  96,400 industrial enterprises contributing to a year-on-year increase of 7.6%. 

Author | Jersey 

Revisor | Ivy 

Photo | Foshan Daily