The Shenzhen economy showed a strong start in the first two months of this year, achieving a good beginning.

Securities Times reporter Wu Jiaming

On March 26, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Statistics released the city’s economic performance for the first two months of this year. The data show that from January to February, Shenzhen’s value-added of industries above a designated size increased year over year by 10.4%, fixed asset investment shifted from decline to growth, economic operations got off to a strong start, and a favorable opening was achieved.

In the first two months of this year, Shenzhen’s value-added of industries above a designated size increased year over year by 10.4%, accelerating by 5.0 percentage points compared with the whole of last year. By sector, the value-added of mining increased by 4.1% year over year, manufacturing grew by 11.3%, and the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas, and water increased by 5.0%. Among major categories of industries, specialized equipment manufacturing grew by 18.1%, the manufacturing of computers, communications, and other electronic equipment grew by 14.2%, the production and supply of electricity and heat grew by 11.3%, and general equipment manufacturing grew by 7.8%. Output of high-tech products maintained rapid growth; among them, the output of industrial robots, 3D printing equipment, and lithium-ion battery products increased by 123.1%, 71.0%, and 30.1%, respectively.

On the consumption side, in the first two months of this year, Shenzhen’s total retail sales of consumer goods across the city was RMB 170.564 billion, up 2.6% year over year, accelerating by 0.3 percentage points compared with the whole of last year. Recently, Shenzhen launched a new consumer season. It is reported that this new consumer season features a wide range of offerings. Centered on three monthly themes—“March: green, intelligent, enjoy shopping; April: sports, health, enjoy consumption; May: domestic brands, trending products, happy shopping”—it incorporates 12 new consumer hotspots, including AI consumption, first-release economy, trade-in for upgrading, low-altitude economy, digital consumption, international consumption, integrated consumption of retail, culture and tourism, food culture consumption, domestic brands and intangible cultural heritage, sports and health consumption, green consumption, and exhibition and event activities. Major commercial districts and branded retailers across the city take turns to step up, rolling out a series of theme-based consumer-promotion activities.

It is worth noting that in the first two months of this year, Shenzhen’s fixed asset investment across the city increased by 0.6% year over year, whereas the whole of last year saw a decline of 21.7%. After excluding real estate development investment, fixed asset investment across the city grew by 18.4%. By industry, investment in scientific research and technical services grew by 68.5%, investment in resident services, repair, and other services grew by 39.1%, and investment in the production and supply of electricity, gas, and water grew by 33.8%.

In the first two months of this year, Shenzhen’s total import and export value was RMB 824.234 billion, up 37.3% year over year, accelerating by 35.9 percentage points compared with the whole of last year. Among them, exports were RMB 494.363 billion, up 35.5%; imports were RMB 329.870 billion, up 40.0%. As of the end of February, the balance of foreign-currency and local-currency deposits at financial institutions in Shenzhen (including foreign-funded institutions) was RMB 15,446.431 billion, up 10.3% year over year. The balance of foreign-currency and local-currency loans at financial institutions (including foreign-funded institutions) was RMB 10,070.991 billion, up 4.4%.

(Edited by Wen Jing)

Key words:

                                                            Shenzhen