Beijing real estate 20% up

Beijing real estate enjoyed 20% growth in the last five years and now makes up 7.2% of the city’s GDP, the South China Morning Post reported. Yu Xiuqin, of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Statistics, said real estate made up 4.6% of the city’s GDP in 2000. Housing represented 53.9% of total fixed-asset investment last year, dropping from 58.3%t in 2004. She said US$74.1 billion was invested in the real estate from 2001 and 2005, a three-fold increase over the 1996-2000 period. Beijing’s per capita GDP was up 8.1% to US$5,457 last year.