Guangxi's economy gradually back on track in Q1

With its timely response to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic in the first quarter of 2020, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region's economy has shown a positive recovery, with basic livelihoods having been effectively guaranteed.

From January to March, Guangxi's GDP was 467.81 billion yuan ($65.91 billion), of which the added value of the primary industry was 46.01 billion yuan, up 1.7 percent year-on-year, the added value of the secondary industry was 143.35 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10 percent, and the added value of the tertiary industry was 277.64 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.1 percent.

The added value of industrial enterprises above designated size in the region decreased by 8.8 percent year-on-year, but the scale of industrial output in March rebounded close to the level of the same period last year.

Internet-related service industries grew rapidly in this period. The added value of financial industry increased by 7.1 percent and that of other service industries increased by 9.2 percent. From January to February, the operating income of internet-related service industries, as well as the software and information technology service industry increased by 1.4 times and 28.3 percent year-on-year respectively.

While market sales decreased, sales of staple food items including grain and oil grew rapidly, with retail sales increasing by 32.1 percent.

In the first quarter of the year, the region's general public budget expenditure was 131.54 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.1 percent. The financial expenditure in the field of people's livelihood reached 105.32 billion yuan.

As of the end of March, the loan balance was 31,619.19 billion yuan, an increase of 14.8 percent year-on-year, while the deposit balance was 3,317.75 billion yuan, an increase of 7 percent. New loans in Guangxi in the first three months reached 163.07 billion yuan, an increase of 35.32 billion yuan year-on-year.

In addition, 71,600 people were newly employed and 17,200 people were reemployed in the first quarter of the year. At the end of February, the total rural labor force was 6.86 million.