Services sector hits Beijing Gap growth

Beijing's
gross domestic product grew by an average of I0.4 per cent year-on-year in the first live
months of 2003 but by only 4.8 per cent in May, China Daily said. The capital's tertiary
sector was badly hit by the Sars out-break, increasing by only 0.1 per cent in May. However
the manufacturing sector maintained its growth, with total industrial added value standing
13 per higher than in May last year
An official from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of
Statistics said that, although the negative impact of Sars had begun to emerge, the
momentum of fast economic growth would not he reversed and that it was still possible for
Beijing to attain its goal of9 per cent econumie growth this year.
The impact, like Sars
itself, was less sharp in Shanghai. The city's statistics bureau reported a 10.3 per cent
year-on-year growth in May, compared with an average of 11.6 per cent for the first live
months of year. Retail sales in May were 4.2 per cent higher than in the same month of
2002, while fixed asset investment was 24.9 per cent higher.