Taiyuan realizes steady economic recovery in H1

The economy of Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, maintained a steady recovery in the first half of 2023.

The city's gross domestic product reached 253.51 billion yuan ($35.30 billion), marking year-on-year growth of 4.1 percent. 

The added value of industrial enterprises above designated size – those with annual sales revenue of more than 20 million yuan – increased 1.2 percent. Among them, the added value of the manufacturers accounted for 62.7 percent, with a growth of 2.5 percent, while the added value of strategic emerging industrial enterprises made up 27.1 percent.

The production of major industrial products remained stable. In the first half, the city's output of raw coal, crude steel, and electricity stood at 25.34 million metric tons, 7.16 million tons, and 16.67 billion kilowatt-hours, respectively, rising 2.4 percent, 5.5 percent, and 3 percent year-on-year. 

Although fixed asset investment declined 14.2 percent, investment in education, healthcare, culture, and sports performed relatively well, maintaining double-digit growth and contributing to a 1.9-percentage-point increase in overall investment growth. 

From January to June, there were 808 ongoing projects in the city each with investment below 1 billion yuan, accounting for 27.5 percent of the total investment. 

Retail sales of consumer goods reached 90.86 billion yuan, up 6 percent. Among them, those of automotive products hit 18.37 billion yuan, up 13.9 percent. 

The accommodation and catering industries also maintained accelerated growth, with their combined revenue jumping 30.8 percent to 4.15 billion yuan.