Shanghai’s economy registered 3% GDP growth year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023.

Between January and March this year, Shanghai’s GDP hit 1.05 trillion Yuan ($153.84 billion), according to Shanghai Statistics Bureau data. 

Although production and demand showed indications of improvement, the city’s unemployment rate remained stable. 

In addition, the primary sector’s value edged up 1.7% year-on-year, whilst the secondary sector declined 0.9% compared to the same time in 2022.

The tertiary sector grew 4.3%, 4 percentage points more than last year as a whole, Shine News reports. 

Furthermore, the value of Shanghai’s accommodation and catering industry, along with the leasing and business service industry, rose by 11.1% and 5.4% in Q1, respectively.

Shanghai’s value-added industrial output has also witnessed a recovery, with an 11.6% rise last month, 2.8% more than in February. 

Moreover, between January and March, Shanghai’s top three manufacturing industries registered a combined 3.1% rise in output value compared to the same time last year. Within these industries, the output of artificial intelligence and bio-pharmaceuticals rose by 10.7% and 6.2%, respectively. 

The Shanghai Statistics Bureau also said the city’s market vitality continued to rise. In Q1, a total of 103,000 businesses were set up in Shanghai, a 30.4% rise over the year before. Enterprises within the information and technology service industries rose 33.6% and 24.6% compared to Q1 2022.

There was also a recovery in small and medium-sized enterprises. Between January and March, the year-on-year fall in the output value of SMEs in the industrial sector narrowed by 8.5% and 11% compared to January and February, respectively. The rally was higher than Shanghai’s entire industrial sector. 

Furthermore, foreign investment in Shanghai edged up. In the first two months of 2023, there was an 18% rise in foreign investment used to reach $4.96 billion. Investment utilised within the scientific research and technical services industry rose 72.1%.