2019 data shows steady economic development

Beijing's economy performed steadily in 2019 with the tertiary industry maintaining as the ballast stone for economic development, local officials said.

The city's GDP increased 6.1 percent year-on-year to 3.54 trillion yuan ($503.18 billion) in 2019, within the government's annual target of 6-6.5 percent, according to data released by the Beijing Bureau of Statistics.

Statistics also showed continued development in the city's economic structure, as 87.8 percent of the economic growth came from the tertiary industry.

The value-added output of the tertiary industry stood at 2.95 trillion yuan, up 6.4 percent from a year earlier and 0.3 percentage points higher than the growth rate of regional GDP.

Pang Jiangqian, deputy head of the bureau, said Beijing's service industry with its improved quality and structure has strengthened the economic stability of the city.

"The modern service industry, which contributed more than 60 percent of Beijing's GDP, has become a leading sector of the city's economy," Pang added.

While the service industry expanded steadily in both its size and contribution to economic growth, a rise can also be seen in the secondary industry thanks to sustained efforts in industrial transformation and innovation.

In 2019, the added value of the secondary industry stood at 571.51 billion yuan, up 4.5 percent from last year.

Of high-end industries, the high-tech manufacturing and strategic emerging industries' added value increased by 9.3 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.

Pang said Beijing had ramped up efforts to bolster its technology and innovation sector throughout the year, providing new impetus for economic growth.

By the end of 2019, Beijing was home to more than 500 business incubation organizations including incubators, university science parks and public innovation spaces.

The total income of enterprises in the capital's high-tech hub Zhongguancun Science Park reached 6.5 trillion yuan last year, up about 10 percent year-on-year.

In terms of consumption, enhanced income boosted residents' expenditure. Government data showed that per capita consumer spending increased by 8 percent on a yearly basis to 43,000 yuan, a record high since 2016. Spending on services kept booming, with its proportion reaching 55.7 percent of residents' per capita consumption expenditure, up 0.8 percentage points from the previous year.

Thanks to favorable policies and activities, a growing number of residents chose to dine out and enjoy services for culture and entertainment in 2019, said Bian Jing, deputy director of the Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing. "The city's service consumption has transformed to diversification and personalization."

The digital economy has opened new consumption areas. With the rapid growth of artificial intelligent products, e-payment technologies and logistic industries, online shopping has become the norm of daily consumption, the Beijing Bureau of Statistics said.