Guangdong Province, one of China's economic powerhouses, fulfilled 2.17 trillion yuan (about 267.6 billion U.S. dollars) in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005, a rise of 12.5 percent on a year-on-year basis.

Latest information from the provincial statistical bureau said the secondary sector or the industrial sector had the biggest rise in terms of the added value in the past year, with the added value amounting to 1.08 trillion yuan and a year-on-year growth of 15 percent.

The industrial sector is followed by the tertiary sector or service trade which accomplished 957.94 billion yuan in added value last year, up 10.8 percent.

The last was the primary sector or the agricultural sector which produced 137.46 billion yuan in added value and had a rise of 3.2 percent in the same year.

The inflow of overseas investment in Guangdong Province totaled 12.68 billion U.S. dollars last year, a year-on-year rise of 26.6 percent.

The growth range was 27.1 percentage points more than the national average for the same year, said sources from the Guangdong provincial statistical bureau.

Contractual overseas investment on the service trade last year made up 5.93 billion U.S. dollars or one quarter of the provincial total.

So far, 176 of the world's top 500 multinationals have built 581 ventures in this southern Chinese province.

Guangdong Province made 788.26 billion yuan (about 97.2 billion U.S. dollars) in retail sales of consumer commodities last year, a year-on-year rise of 15 percent.

Information from the provincial statistical bureau said the growth range was 1.4 percentage points more than that in 2004 or 2.1 percentage points more than the national average for 2005.

By late 2005, nine out of 100 households had private motor vehicles, a rise of 47.7 percent over a year earlier. And the per capita floor space of housing was 25.71 square meters, and 18 percent of the families in the province own more than one apartment.

Guangdong Province invested 695.74 billion yuan (about 85.79 billion U.S. dollars) in fixed assets in the past year, a year-on-year rise of 16.3 percent.

Latest information from the provincial statistical bureau said about 40 percent of the investment, or 272.28 billion yuan, was invested in the industrial sector, a year-on-year rise of 32.1 percent.

Investment in the real estate sector rose steadily in the past year, and 36.94 million square meters of open-market housing were sold in the province, with sales totaling 138.39 billion yuan, according to the information.

The inflow of overseas investment in Guangdong Province totaled 12.68 billion U.S. dollars last year, a year-on-year rise of 26.6 percent.

The growth range was 27.1 percentage points more than the national average for the same year, said sources from the Guangdong provincial statistical bureau.

Contractual overseas investment on the service trade last year made up 5.93 billion U.S. dollars or one quarter of the provincial total.

So far, 176 of the world's top 500 multinationals have built 581 ventures in this southern Chinese province.

Editor: Yan