The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics and the Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing released the "2017 Statistical Communiqué on the Economy and Social Development of Beijing" on Feb. 27. According to the report, Beijing last year kept at a steady momentum of economic development and maintained social harmony and stability. The report lists new achievements made by the capital city in economic development, social progress, urban construction and improvements in people's livelihood over the past year.
The city's annual GDP totaled 2.8 trillion yuan (US$443.6 billion); the per capita GDP of its registered residents reached 129,000 yuan. It added 422,000 more jobs across the urban regions, and registered urban unemployment rate stayed at 1.5 percent. The consumer price index rose modestly, by 2 percent year on year.
Upgrading economic structure
At the end of 2017, Beijing formulated guidelines on accelerating scientific and technological innovation to build a series of industries with high-grade, precision and advanced economic structures. The guidelines emphasized on constructing a national center for scientific discovery and technology innovation with worldwide influence and brought forward accelerating the development of 10 high-grade, precision and advanced industries. One of these emerging industries of strategic importance is driverless vehicles, for which Beijing boasts resources, competitive advantages and development potentials. Earlier this February, the city began field testing driverless cars, developed by companies including Baidu, BAIC BJEV and FOTON, in Haidian district.
Beijing's industrial structure continuously improved to be more high-grade, precise and advanced, with the development mode changing from accumulation of resources to phasing-out of non-capital functions. According to the new report, the value added of the high-tech industry accounted for 22.8 percent of the city's GDP, a 0.1 percentage point increase over the previous year; the value added of the strategic emerging industry contributed to 16.2 percent of the city's GDP, with a rise of 0.2 percentage points over the previous year. The service sector accounted for over 80 percent of the city's economy, to which finance, information services, and science and technology services contributed over 50 percent.
Meanwhile, the city continued to upgrade the makeup of its consumer spending. Spending on services accounted for 51.3 percent of total consumer spending, and contributed to 70 percent of the growth in total spending. Infrastructure investment saw rapid growth, which continued to prioritize on public transportation and people's living standard. Investment in commercial services and information services as key sectors increased by 120 percent and 42.8 percent respectively. Foreign investment in information services, commercial services, and science and technology services accounted for 54.2 percent, 9.4 percent, and 8.3 percent respectively.
Improving development quality
In 2017, Beijing saw more blue skies than previous years as its air quality continued to improve. The annual average concentration of fine particles (PM2.5) reached 58 micrograms per cubic meter, a drop of 20.5 percent over the previous year. Annual average concentration of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide in Beijing reached 46 micrograms per cubic meter and 8 micrograms per cubic meter respectively, down by 4.2 percent and 20 percent over the previous year.
Better efficiency and more effectiveness from businesses had also led to improvement in residents' sense of gain. In 2017, the per capita disposable income of Beijing residents was 57,230 yuan, up by 8.9 percent year on year, or 6.9 percent after adjustment to inflation, outperforming economic growth by 0.2 percentage points. Social security also improved, with minimum wage standard for employees and minimum standard for unemployment insurance benefits up by 110 yuan and 80 yuan respectively over the previous year. Basic pension and welfare payment standard for urban and rural residents increased twice in 2017.
In addition, Beijing maintained effort in accelerating the construction of a livable city with convenient life, bountiful services and beautiful environment. Its subway routes extended 35 kilometers in 2017, reaching a total of 609 kilometers at the end of the year. About 5 percent more households began using natural gas for heating, bringing the total to 9.45 million households. Moreover, the city increased its 100,000-square meter central heating locations to cover 630 million square meters.
The city built 34 more kindergartens in 2017, bringing the total to 1,604. It added 349 health institutions, totaling 10,986. The book collection of its public libraries grew by 2.9 percent, and it opened one more museum to the public free of charge. The treatment rate of municipal sewage reached 92 percent, up by 2 percentage points, and the per capita green park area reached 16.2 square meters, up by 0.1 percent.
Seeking innovation
The value added of the new economy in 2017 accounted for 32.4 percent of Beijing's GDP with an increase of 0.2 percentage points over the previous year. The added value of the high-tech industry and the strategic emerging industry among industries above a designated scale were both up by double digits, each contributing to over 50 percent of the city's industrial growth.
The online retail volume of wholesale and retail enterprises above the designated scale accounted for 20.5 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, up by 1.9 percentage points over the previous year. The business income of the financial information services and non-financial institutions payment services in the internet financial services sector increased by 35.1 percent and 62.7 percent respectively.
"Beijing has yielded fruitful results in scientific and technological innovation, laying a foundation for the establishment of a science and technology innovation center with international influence," said an official from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The R&D expenditure in the city amounted for 5.7 percent of its GDP, staying atop the country.
According to the report, the enthusiasm for innovation and entrepreneurship was strong owing to Beijing's favorable policies. The number of various innovative and entrepreneurial service institutions such as shared workspaces, incubators, accelerators and university science parks reached 400 in the city in 2017, with a total area of 6 million square meters, offering services to over 30,000 enterprises and teams.