It was learned from the Yichang Municipal Industrial Economic Situation Analysis Meeting held on November 11 that since the third quarter, the industrial growth rate has maintained stable for 3 months in succession, showing signs of rebound. According to the comprehensive annual analysis, the current overall situation in industrial economy is characterized by slow growth but in steadiness and good momentum.
Industrial Growth Slow but in Steady, County Economy Stays Active.
According to statistics, the growth rate of the added value created by the large enterprises in Yichang has been on the downside for the 17th consecutive month, from the highest 23.5% last year to 14.4% the beginning of the year, to 13.4% in both June and July, which is down 10.1 percent from its last year high. But the growth rate increases 0.1 percent in August, and the growth of the consumption of commercial power begins to recover, tentatively showing signs of stabilization and rebound in industrial economy.
Chen Miren, Director of Municipal Committee of Economy and Informationization, points out that compared with the other prefecture-level cities in Hubei Province, Yichang, the provincial sub-center city, has seen a big rise in industrial economy, which is proved by the statistics that from January to October, its growth rate of the industrial added value is 1.8 percent higher than the provincial average level. In spite of this, it will be faced with the pressing problems in the fourth quarter, such as high cardinality above that of the same period of last year, and the pressure of the slowdown of economic recovery. For instance, according to Statistics Office of Yichang, the electric energy production and industrial added value in China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd and Qingjiang Hydropower Development Co., Ltd fall from the same period of last year due to the decrease of the inflow of the upper reaches.
Despite the slowdown of the growth in industrial economy in urban area, one should note that the growth of county economy remains vigorous; especially the rapid growth of Yili District, Zhijiang, Dangyang and Yidu, which have become the major power to lead the industrial development of Yichang.
Key Industries Keep Steady Growth, Economic Structure Being Optimized
In the first three quarters of this year, we can see that the lack of vitality in the traditional microeconomic results in the loss of profits or production increase without notable increase of profits due to the decline of factory orders and product price; the slowdown of industrial investment and the failure of some industrial growth points to play their roles as expected inevitably give rise to the current situation. But through structural adjustment, we still can notice new changes of steady growth and gradual optimization, based on the fast development in new and high technology industries.
In the first three quarters of this year, the total industrial added value produced by the four pillar industries including chemical engineering, electric power, food and medicine, as well as equipment manufacturing in Yichang has reached 75.443 billion RMB, which accounts for 83.45 percent of that in Yichang, a year-on-year growth of 11.3 percent. While the growth in industries like equipment manufacturing and electric power suffers a minor decline owing to the sluggish market of relevant products and the reduction of the inflow of the upper reaches, the food and medicine industry the government lay much stress on as the industry with annual output value of 100 billion RMB experiences a strong growth except the tobacco industries, whose sub-industries all keep a double-digit growth. For example, the output of the refined tea, edible vegetable oil, and canned food increases by 42.8 percent, 37.2 percent and 29.6 percent respectively.
Besides, driven by the growth of infrastructure investment and the acceleration of investment for the construction of the new type of urbanization, the industrial added value of the construction materials industry reaches 7.529 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 28.8 percent. At present, the market conditions of the cement is on good momentum, but its price remains in the low range because of excess manufacturing capacity and the pressure of nonlocal cement brands, while the glass industry is on the upgrade after sharp fluctuation, whose price rises as well as against the same period last year.
Key Enterprises Growth Slow, Enterprises with Output Value of 100 Million RMB Expand
Up to now, 150 key enterprises have produced the output value of 207.305 billion RMB, which accounts for 65.31 percent of the total output value in Yichang, a year-on-year increase of 5.97 percent. But if we judge from the enterprises’ scale, the expansion is speeding up; the number of businesses with output value of 100 million RMB or above has reached 555, 152 of which are newly increased as compared to the previous year. Of 50 major products, thirty-five of them have increased their production, 15 of which increased by 20 percent as against the same period last year. It is pointed out that faced with the pressure of the economic downturn, the businesses should enhance their power of adaptability so that they can win business in hardship. It also suggests given that it is hard for some industries to show any sign of recovery in short terms, simply because of many negative factors, such as lack of market, insufficient capacity utilization in the equipment manufacturing industry and shrinking output in several major industries, we shall make an effort to expand domestic market in the fourth quarter, stabilize the real economy, especially the production of the pillar industries, regulate the factors of production through measures made by the government, increase the investment in technical innovation and in advanced technology, and quicken the pace of cultivating the emerging industries.
(Reporter Zhao Wei)