Hunan's regional gross domestic product (GDP) reached over 2.45 trillion CNY in the first half of this year (H1), an increase of 4.5% year on year, said the Hunan Provincial Bureau of Statistics on July 17, 2024. Its economy performed stably overall, showcasing a steady rebound. The added value was 175.654 billion CNY for the primary industry, 884.491 billion CNY for the secondary industry, and over 1.39 trillion CNY for the tertiary industry.

Industries achieved sound and stable development. The added value of provincial agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery increased by 2.9% year on year, of which the output of vegetables (including edible fungi) grew by 3.4%. The value-added industrial output rose by 6.8%, of which the equipment manufacturing up 8.3% while the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing up 18.7%. The culture and tourism industry kept booming, with revenue from sports, entertainment, and culture and art industries surging by 32.0%, 21.6% and 20.2% respectively.

Domestic demand saw steady expansion. The province's total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 5.7% year on year. Of which, the businesses engaging in retail; catering; gold, silver and jewelry; cosmetics; and, sports and recreational goods over the designated size grew by 8.4%, 13%, 17.7%, 14.5%, and 35.3% respectively.

Emerging drivers showed greater strengths. The added value of Hunan's large-scale high-tech manufacturing sector increased by 16.3% year on year. Of which, the electronic and telecom equipment, and computers and office equipment grew by 23.5% and 28% respectively. The 3D printing equipment and service robots of large-scale industrial enterprises rose by 63.5% and 42.6% respectively.

Both development quality and efficiency improved. Hunan government collected 186.66 billion CNY in fiscal revenue, up 5.6% year on year. The added value of large-scale industries in industrial parks and zones at the provincial-level and above grew by 8.6%, accounting for 68.5% of the total. Between January and May, the total profits of large-scale industrial enterprises increased by 8.2%, 11 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

Market continued to flourish. There were 58,800 "Four-Above" units provincewide at the end of June, up 12.6% year on year. The "Four-Above" units refer to the industrial enterprises above designated size; the construction and real estate development and management companies with designated qualification or higher; the wholesale, retail, accommodation, and catering companies above designated size; and, the service industries above designated size. By the end of June, various outstanding loans of financial institutions across the province amounted to 7.35 trillion CNY, an increase of 8.7%.

People's livelihood has been effectively guaranteed. The province's expenditures on urban and rural communities, social security and employment, and agriculture, forestry, and water resources increased year on year by 28.6%, 4.5%, and 3.9% respectively. There were 451,000 people newly-employed in urban areas, 250,000 unemployed people found new jobs while 57,000 people with difficulty finding jobs became employed.