(Yicai) May 30 -- Shenzhen's industrial output, investment in fixed assets, and exports had double-digit growths in the first four months of this year, but consumption in the southern Chinese city continued to narrow despite drawing more visitors from Hong Kong.

The industrial output of enterprises above a designated size, which refers to those with an annual revenue of at least CNY20 million (USD2.8 million), rose 12.8 percent in the four months ended April 30 from a year earlier, compared with a 2.1 percent year-on-year growth in the same period of 2023, according to data by Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Statistics released yesterday. China's growth rate was 6.7 percent.

Shenzhen's fixed-asset investment jumped 11.2 percent, up 7 percentage points compared to that of China. Industrial investments surged 66 percent, boosting the sustained growth of the city's industries. 

Exports surged 34 percent to around CNY893.3 billion (USD123.2 billion), while imports rose 28 percent to CNY517.3 billion, the data showed. Shenzhen's aggregated imports and exports and relevant growth rate, its exports and growth rate, and imports growth rate all ranked first among China’s top 10 cities in foreign trade, with only its total imports ranking lower.

Shenzhen's total retail sales of consumer goods climbed 2.3 percent to about CNY323.5 billion (USD44.6 billion), versus China's 4.1 percent jump. The city's consumption growth rate has continuously narrowed since the start of the year.

Consumption in Shenzhen rose 5.6 percent in the first two months from a year earlier and 4.3 percent in the three months ended March 31. However, the figure jumped 7.8 percent last year from the prior one, making it part of the Chinese cities with total retail sales of consumer goods of more than CNY1 trillion (USD137.9 billion).  

The lack of domestic demand is one of the major obstacles to speeding up economic growth, Zheng Tiancheng, an expert from the China Development Institute, told Yicai.

Shenzhen has launched multiple supportive measures targeting holiday and cross-regional consumption by Hong Kong residents traveling to the Chinese mainland since the start of the year, with local merchants organizing nearly 400 promotional events. 

The Commerce Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality released a "trade-in" action plan on May 27, hoping to boost the share of autos, household appliances, and communication gear trade-ins to more than 24 percent this year. 

Editor: Martin Kadiev