Jiangsu Province is showing signs of recovery from the global economic downturn, fueling hopes of steady growth this year, latest figures from the provincial statistics bureau have showed.

The province resumed investment growth in the last two months of last year, while sales of commercial residential properties also started to rebound with a 233 percent monthly growth in residential space last December from that of a month earlier, the figures showed.

Export-oriented enterprises have been one of the worst-hit sectors in the economic crisis but Jiangsu still saw a 16.9 percent increase of its export value with a total value of US$234 billion in the year, the bureau reported.

"Although the impact of the global financial crisis hasn't bottomed out yet, Jiangsu will try to increase its contribution to the nation's economic recovery by taking the lead in maintaining steady economic growth," provincial governor Luo Zhijun said in his government report at the second session of the 11th provincial people's congress that opened Thursday.

Jiangsu, long known as one of the country's economic powerhouses together with neighboring Zhejiang Province and Shanghai Municipality, is "risk-resistant" and "innovative" in the face of an economic slowdown, Luo said.

Placing steady economic development on top of the agenda, the governor said the province would continue to stimulate domestic demand and develop an open economy this year.

Rural reform and development as well as infrastructure spending would be key to spurring domestic consumption, he said.

Being home to a high concentration of private companies, Luo said the province would also step up efforts to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and hi-tech companies by facilitating their access to loans.

Similarly, he said Jiangsu would actively attract investment in such advanced industries as R&D, logistics, environmental protection and services.

"The financial crisis has actually provided an opportunity for us to optimize industrial structures and encourage technological innovations," the governor said.

Sha Weiping, chairman of Jiangsu Silk Group, said his company has benefited from the general confidence and optimism expressed by the governor at a difficult time. With continued investment in R&D and production, Sha said his company achieved double-digit growth in profit last year.

(China Daily February 6, 2009)