Service sector grows fast in China's old industrial base

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 ◆ Service sector grows fast in China's old industrial base

The continuous industrial restructuring has made Liaoning, an old industrial base in northeast China, witness a fast growth in the service sector in 2001.

According to statistics released by the local government, the province's gross domestic product (GDP) climbed up 9 percent to 503.31 billion yuan (US$60.6 billion) last year, 1. 7-percentage-point-higher than the country's average.

Of the total, some 204.39 billion yuan (US$24.6 billion) was produced by the service sector, up 11.2 percent over 2000. And that made by the industrial sector stood at around 244. 42 billion yuan (US$29.45 billion), up only 7.7 percent on a year-to-year basis.

Due to the rapid development in the local service industry, more job opportunities were created. By the end of last year, people working with the private enterprises rose up by 15.5 percent to 4.668 million, accounting for 20.5 percent of all the employed.

Besides, the province's retail sales of consumer goods in 2001 hit 203.49 billion yuan (US$24.5 billion), up 10.1 percent over 2000. And the total revenue from the tourism industry was 31.2 billion yuan, up 22.5 percent.

The output value of new and high-tech products soared up 26.6 percent to 128.11 billion yuan