HARBIN, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Heilongjiang, a province in northeast China, reported growth above the national average for the first time in nearly nine years.
The gross domestic product (GDP) in Heilongjiang, one of three provinces in northeast China's old industrial base, grew 5.4 percent year on year to 297.66 billion yuan (about 45.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year, according to the Heilongjiang provincial statistics bureau.
Heilongjiang's growth rate was 0.6 percentage points higher than that of the whole country in the January-March period. It was the first time that the province's growth was higher than the national average since the third quarter of 2013.
The local economy continued to recover amid stronger growth momentum in the first quarter, said Du Guoxi, deputy director of the provincial statistics bureau.
The province has invested heavily in emerging industries like the digital economy, the bioindustry, and the snow and ice industry to explore new growth drivers. It was once under huge downward pressure from traditional mining and heavy industries.
Major businesses in Heilongjiang's high-tech manufacturing sector saw their industrial output grow 20.4 percent year on year in the last quarter, while investment in the high-tech sector rose 51.6 percent year on year.
Latest comments