iangsu Province in east China registered 429.1 billion yuan (52.9 billion U.S. dollars) in gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year, up 15.2 percent year-on-year.

According to the provincial statistical bureau, the growth rate was five percentage points higher than the national average of 10.2 percent.

In the three-month period, Jiangsu's industrial enterprises each with annual sales of more than 5 million yuan realized 220.36 billion yuan in value-added output, up 22.6 percent. The growth rate was 5.9 percentage points higher than the national average.

The bureau said the province invested 219.4 billion yuan in fixed-assets between January and March, up 28.6 percent; the growth rate was 6.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier. Of the total, 148.8 billion yuan went to urban areas, up 26.5 percent.

Over the three months, retail sales in Jiangsu amounted to 168.03 billion U.S. dollars, up 15.5 percent. After deducting price changes, the growth was 15.2 percent.

In the first quarter the province scored 90.9 billion yuan in fiscal revenue, up 18.3 percent. The growth rate was 1.7 percentage points higher than the year-earlier level.

Source: Xinhua