Western China’s industrial value added increased by 13.2 per cent in the first six months of this year, according to the State Statistics Bureau, well ahead of the 5.9 per cent recorded in the coastal region and 6.8 per cent in central China. Rural fixed asset investment increased by 42.1 per cent in the west, compared with 26.7 per cent along the coast and 38.1 per cent in the central regions.

Figures for individual western provinces audited by the bureau confirm that the interior is leading the economic recovery. For the first six months of the year, Sichuan’s industrial output increased by 13.5 per cent to Rmb601.5bn, 6.4 percentage points higher than the national average and four percentage points higher than last year’s growth. Over the same period, Chongqing’s industrial value added increased 12.5 per cent.