Chongqing's economy grew 12.3 pct last year: official

According to the Chongqing government's economic data from last year released at a conference on Wednesday, Chongqing maintained steady growth in its economy, accelerated transformations to its growth model, promoted structural adjustments and improved the quality and performance of economic growth.

Huang Ke, head of the Chongqing Auditing Bureau, said at the conference that the city's GDP totaled 1265.67 billion yuan ($209.01 billion) and that the economy grew 12.3 percent year on year, 4.6 percent above the national average.

Huang said the city's total volume of foreign trade reached $68.7 billion, up about 30 percent from the previous year, ranking the city 10th in China and first in the midwestern region of the country. The city's foreign direct investment was 21.5 percent above the national average, prompting Huang to say that the investment environment in the city for foreign companies will be much more promising in the near future.

According to the data, Liangjiang New Area accrued one-third of the total foreign direct investment with actual utilization of foreign investment up to $3.17 billion. The area accounted for 44.4 percent of the city's total foreign trade, an increase of 43 percent compared with the same period last year.