Urban areas of China's Yangtze Delta see slower Q1 GDP growth

Special
Report: Global Financial Crisis

NANJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Major cities in the
Yangtze River Delta, a locomotive of economic growth in eastern China, reported
slower gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter as the global
downturn intensified, the Wuxi statistical bureau reported Sunday.

The cities included Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi,
Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Nantong, Yangzhou, Taizhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing,
Huzhou, Shaoxing and Zhoushan.

Their aggregate GDP was 1.2 trillion yuan (175.7
billion U.S. dollars), up 7.9 percent from a year earlier. That growth rate was
5.2 percentage points less than the year-earlier level.

Exports fell 22 percent to 91.6 billion U.S. dollars
and industrial output of major companies in these cities fell 3.7 percent to
2.34 trillion yuan.

However, the cities fared better on two other
economic fronts during the first quarter. Fixed-asset investment rose 14.9
percent to 539.2 billion yuan and retail sales rose 14.6 percent to 491.3
billion yuan.