The second session of the 13th Yunnan Provincial People's Congress began Jan 27 in Kunming with the release of the annual provincial government work report by Ruan Chengfa, the governor of Yunnan province.
The regional GDP of the province achieved growth of 8.9 percent year-on-year in 2018, amounting to 1.79 trillion yuan ($260.22 billion). The growth rate fell compared with that in 2017 which reached 9.5 percent.
A total of 33 impoverished counties along with 1.51 million people were lifted out of poverty in 2018, which was the first time in history that the number of impoverished counties taken out of poverty had decreased.
The per capita disposable income of all residents in Yunnan province amounted to 20,084 yuan in 2018, and the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents climbed by 8 percent and 9.2 percent year-on-year.
The industrial economy in the province saw steady growth as the total industrial added value reached 448.4 billion yuan, up 11.6 percent year-on-year. The province's fixed investments increased by 11.6 percent year-on-year and primary industry saw an increase of 36.8 percent. Investment in secondary and tertiary industries grew by 11.3 percent and 10.6 percent.
Yunnan saw a total foreign trade value of $29.9 billion, a year-on-year growth of 27.5 percent. The total export value amounted to $12.8 billion, up 11.7 percent, while the imported value climbed to $17.1 billion, an increase of 42.5 percent.
As a province blessed with abundant tourism resources, Yunnan received 7.06 million overseas tourists in 2018, up 5.8 percent year-on-year. The number of tourists from home and abroad visiting Yunnan in 2018 saw growth of 20.2 percent year-on-year, and gross tourism revenue rose by 29.9 percent to 899.14 billion yuan.
In 2019, Yunnan province is expected to see growth of 8.5 percent in regional GDP and an increase of 12 percent in fixed investments.
Yunnan will continue to improve its business environment and reduce companies' costs of over 90 billion yuan.
The province will devote efforts in developing its tourism industry. Over 50 auto camps will be built in Yunnan, along with 20 regional tourism demonstration zones. To meet the diverse needs of visitors, 32 distinctive self-driving routes will be launched in 2019.