A news briefing concerning Hohhot’s economic situation and financial expenditure was held at the Inner Mongolia International Exhibition Center on Jan 20.

The news briefing was held by Hohhot Municipal Publicity Bureau.

Li Hong, spokesperson for the Hohhot government, presented the city’s economic data for 2016.

“2016 marks the start of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020),” Li said. “Hohhot has made great efforts to promote supply-side structural reforms,” she said. “The government attaches great importance to steady growth, structural adjustment, and risk prevention so as to ensure strong economic development momentum for Hohhot,” she added.

(1)Economy continues to operate within a reasonable range

According to preliminary estimations, gross regional value reached 328 billion yuan ($47.7 billion) in 2016, an increase of 7.7 percent compared with the previous year. The economic growth volume and growth rate have both ranked third in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, 0.2 percentage points higher than expectations at the beginning of the year.

Budget revenues hit 27 billion yuan, increasing 9 percent compared with the previous year. Total industrial added value grew by 9.3 percent, 0.3 percentage points higher than expected at the beginning of the year.

Fixed-asset investments reached 184.5 billion yuan, increasing 14 percent; the total sales volume of retail goods reached 148 billion yuan, up 9.5 percent; the per capita disposable income for permanent urban residents reached 40,164 yuan, up 7.5 percent; and the per capita disposable income for permanent rural residents reached 14,503 yuan, up 7.5 percent.

The major economic indexes are within a reasonable range and the overall trend for economic development is better than expected, and above average for the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

(2)Supply-side structural reforms steadily promoted

In 2016, Hohhot enacted a series of measures to clear up projects that violated laws and rules in the coal and steel industry.

So far, 26 companies have reduced unnecessary production capacity.

Meanwhile, many measures were also enacted to reduce the real estate inventory, develop the housing rental market, and relax restrictions for the use of housing accumulation funds to buy homes.

In order to reduce the operation costs for businesses, Hohhot has launched a series of measures to streamline administration and delegate power to lower levels of government; reduce taxes; reform electricity pricing; diversify sources of funding; and decrease logistics costs.

(3)Industrial transformation gains pace

In 2016, the Hohhot government continued to optimize industrial structures and attached great importance to the tertiary industry. Hohhot also made 12 new development plans for the development of finance, trade, and medicine.

The service industry has contributed more to economic growth in 2016 with 83.5 percent of new job openings in urban areas being provided by the industry.

Many industries have seen great advances, including organic food, environmental protection, advanced equipment manufacturing, and big data.

In particular, the output of the dairy industry accounted for 57.9 percent of the total in the entire autonomous region, and 32.9 percent of the total across China.

(4)A number of major projects launched

More than 300 projects with more than 100 million yuan invested in them were launched in 2016. The projects have so far attracted further investment of 84.39 billion yuan.

Significant progress has been made in the information industry. China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom have invested about 4.5 billion yuan to build a big data center.

Great breakthroughs have also been made in big infrastructure projects, including the construction of a new airport, subway Line 2, the first stage of an underground pipeline and a football training center.

In 2017, Hohhot will continue to deepen reforms and keep its economy open to investment.

A news briefing concerning Hohhot’s economic situation and financial expenditure is held in the Inner Mongolia International Exhibition Center on Jan 20. [Photo/hhhtnews.com]

Li Hong, spokesperson for the Hohhot government, reports on the city’s economic data during 2016, at a news briefing held on Jan 20. [Photo/hhhtnews.com]