The economy of Guangzhou posted a robust 16.4 per cent annualized growth in the first half of this year on strong industrial and export sectors but credit tightening and power and land shortages are seen as emerging curbs on the growth.

Gross domestic product (GDP) of the capital of southern China's Guangdong Province rose to 186.55 billion yuan (US$22.48 billion) in the first half, representing a growth 3 percentage points higher than that for the same period last year, the government announced yesterday.

Industrial output increased by 22 per cent to 259.21 billion yuan (US$31.23 billion) on expanded demand at home and abroad, said vice-mayor Shen Bonian.

With the exact foreign trade figures for June not yet available, exports increased by 28 per cent to US$7.74 billion in the first five months. Imports rose by 32 per cent to US$8.87 billion.

Fixed-asset investment grew by 26 per cent although it started to slow down in the second quarter, with macroeconomic control measures, including credit and land supply tightening, implemented nationwide to cool the economy.

Guangzhou attracted US$1.41 billion pledged foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first six months, up 6.6 per cent, and US$1.22 billion actually utilized FDI, up 10.9 per cent.

Retail in the city went up by price-adjusted 11 per cent to 80.09 billion yuan (US$9.65 billion), with urban consumer prices up by 1.3 per cent.

Considering the stronger performance in the second half last year, Guangzhou's economy was expected to register a slower 15 per cent full-year growth this year, Shen said.

Shen, however, listed power and land shortages and difficulty for enterprises borrowing working capital as notable issues in the economy. As a worsening issue for a number of large Chinese cities, power shortages were expected to continue to affect Guangzhou in at least three years with new generation capacity yet to come on line.

With stricter land administration nationwide, especially that for various development zones, the supply of land was expected to be tighter in the city.

Credit tightening, as a result of the ongoing macroeconomic control, would continue to affect some enterprises.

Editor: Donald