Major cities in the Yangtze River Delta, a locomotive of economic growth in eastern China, reported slower gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter as the global downturn intensified, the Wuxi statistical bureau reported on Sunday.

The cities included Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Nantong, Yangzhou, Taizhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Zhoushan.

Their aggregate GDP was 1.2 trillion yuan (US$175.7 billion), up 7.9 percent from a year earlier. That growth rate was 5.2 percentage points less than the year-earlier level.

Exports fell 22 percent to US$91.6 billion and industrial output of major companies in these cities fell 3.7 percent to 2.34 trillion yuan.

However, the cities fared better on two other economic fronts during the first quarter. Fixed-asset investment rose 14.9 percent to 539.2 billion yuan and retail sales rose 14.6 percent to 491.3 billion yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2009)