Xiamen sees sound economic growth amid work resumption

The coastal city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province saw sound economic growth in the first four months of this year, according to data released by the Xiamen municipal bureau of statistics on May 19.

As prevention and control measures become increasingly routine, work resumption is speeding up across the city and life is slowly returning to normal.

Statistics show that the added value of industries above the designated scale shrank 1.6 percent year-on-year, the fifth highest growth rate in the province.

The added value of high-tech enterprises reported a growth of 0.2 percent and high-tech industry in the city has become a driving force behind Xiamen's economic growth.

Statistics show that as of the end of April this year, 184 new projects with a total planned investment of 68.24 billion yuan ($9.56 billion) had been introduced to the city, 1.6 times higher than the same period last year.

The city also reported sharp growth in e-commerce during that period. Online retail sales of e-commerce enterprises above the designated size in Xiamen reached 11.03 billion yuan, 2.7 percent more than the previous year.

The city's auto sector showed gradual recovery in April, with its retail sales growing 4.8 percent month-on-month.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, foreign trade enterprises in Xiamen have struggled, even as the government has done its utmost to facilitate foreign trade and investment and support economic development.

According to statistics, 301 newly-established foreign enterprises entered the city from January to April, which attracted contractual foreign capital of 11.6 billion yuan, up 65.8 percent year-on-year, while the city's foreign investment in actual use was 7.53 billion yuan in that period, growing 39.4 percent year-on-year and accounting for 53.8 percent of Fujian's total.