Hengqin saw its economy surge by 20.1 per cent for the whole of 2016 compared to one year earlier, attracting total foreign direct investment of US$523 million (MOP4.18 billion/RMB3.59 billion), an increase of 23 per cent year-on-year, local Chinese-language newspaper Macao Daily reported yesterday.
For the year, the free trade zone in Zhuhai reached some RMB15.7 billion in gross regional domestic product, with total fixed assets investment jumping by 19.5 per cent year-on-year to RMB34.6 billion.
The island, located adjacent to the MSAR, is set to help the city’s economic diversification, in line with Chinese government policy.
While the MSAR’s official annual economic data for 2016 has not yet been made available, the local GDP contracted by 5.4 per cent in real terms for the first three quarters of last year to MOP258.6 million, according to official data from the Statistics and Census Service.
On the other hand, revenue received by the Hengqin government soared by 25 per cent year-on-year to some RMB4.51 billion, according to the news outlet.
As at the end of 2016, a total of 27,666 entities had registered in the free trade zone, with total registered capital totalling some RMB1.41 trillion.
