Tianjin shows signs of economic recovery

Tianjin’s economy has shown signs of recovery, with the decline in regional gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of this year narrowing by 5.6 percentage points compared with the first quarter.

While the value-added output of the secondary industry dropped by 17.7 percent in the first quarter of the year, it contracted by only 6.6 percent in the first half as a result of positive growth in the second quarter.

The decline of value-added output of the primary and tertiary industries in H1 also narrowed by 2.9 and 2.7 percentage points respectively compared with the first quarter.

In June, all of Tianjin’s eight manufacturing industries, including automobiles, electrical machinery and equipment, metal products and transportation equipment, achieved positive growth, registering a double-digit year-on-year growth of over 20 percent.

The growth of industrial value-added of enterprises above a designated size also increased for two consecutive months.

The added value of service sectors contributed 66.8 percent to the city’s GDP in the first half of the year. Among them, the added value of the financial industry increased by 4.7 percent year-on-year.

The city's total fixed asset investment fell by 4.0 percent year-on-year, narrowing by 10.8 percentage points from Q1. June saw it increase by 11.7 percent year-on-year, 8.8 percentage points higher than in May.

The total value of imports and exports registered year-on-year fell by 3.4 percent to 34.63 billion yuan ($4.97 billion) in H1. In June, the city's total exports were 29.27 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.3 percent. Meanwhile, imports totaled 43.950 billion yuan, up 26.3 percent year-on-year.

The city became home to 212 newly established foreign direct investment enterprises in H1, and the actual direct use of foreign capital was $2.53 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percent.

The city added 219,900 jobs from January to June. Investment in education increased by 5.4 percent.