In the first half of this year, China achieved a gross domestic product (GDP) of 5.0053 trillion yuan (about 605 billion US dollars), up 8.2 percent from the same period last year. 

Spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Yao Jingyuan told a press conference here Thursday that although the growth was slower than the first quarter, it was still 0.4 percentage points faster than that for the same period last year and was one of the fastest growth periods since 1995. 

According to Yao, the negative impact on the country's national economy from SARS started to show effects in the second quarter of this year. Passenger transportation, catering, social services and tourism were hardest hit by the disease. 

The NBS statistics showed that the growth rate of China's GDP dropped to 6.7 percent in the second quarter, 3.2 percentage points lower than the first quarter. 

The growth rate of the tertiary industry climbed only 0.8 percent in the second quarter of the year, down 6.1 percentage points from the same period last year, Yao said. 

Passenger transportation volumes dropped 23.9 percent during the period, and air passenger transportation volume shrank by almost half. 

A survey conducted by the NBS showed that the income volume of the social service sector was down 14.8 percent in the first half of the year when compared to last year, and retail sales of consumption items increased 6.7 percent, 2.5 percentage points lower than the first quarter. 

The growth rate of agricultural added value dropped from 3.5 percent in the first quarter to 2.3 percent in the second, Yao said, attributing the drop to negative SARS influence. 

SARS also cut the per capita cash income of Chinese farmers by 35 yuan (about 4.5 US dollars) in the second quarter of the year. 

China's economy will follow a "U" curve this year, slowing downin the second quarter, picking up speed in the third quarter and accelerating in the fourth quarter, Yao said, predicting that investment, consumption and export, the three major contributors, would maintain last year's performance representing their contributions to aggregate economic growth. 

China's robust industrial output growth still remained strong, contributing 5.8 percentage points to the growth rate of the country's GDP in the first half year. 

The value added output from Chinese large industrial enterprises in the first half year totaled 1836.3 billion yuan (about 229.5 billion US dollars), 16.2 percent more than the same period last year. 

The growth rate of the value added output from Chinese large industrial enterprises also recorded an increase of 4.5 percentage points, the fastest growth for the period since 1994. 

The contract value of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half year reached 51 billion US dollars, 40.3 percent higher than the same period of last year, and the actual FDI was valued at 30.3 billion US dollars, 34.3 percent more than the first half of last year. 

Investment and exports will maintain strong growth momentum, Yao said, noting the impact of SARS on exports may become visible in the second half of this year, but will not last through the endof this year. 

In addition, sluggish consumer demand will improve to push forward economic growth as a whole, Yao predicted. Enditem

Xinhuanet 2003-07-17 23:47