As per the unified regional calculation of gross domestic product (GDP), Sichuan's GDP in the first half of the year was 2,946.33 billion yuan, a 5.4 percent rise year-on-year at constant prices. A breakdown of the data showed that the added value of the primary sector reached 214.28 billion yuan, up 2.8 percent on a year-on-year basis; that of the secondary sector hit 1,054.67 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 5.4 percent; that of the tertiary sector grew 5.8 percent year on year to 1,677.38 billion yuan. On July 17, the reporter was informed by the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics that the province's economy maintained a generally stable performance in the first half of the year, showing steady progress.

Agricultural production is stable with a moderate increase, industrial production is generally steady, and the service sector is growing rapidly.

In the first half of the year, Sichuan's summer grain output rose to 4.651 million tons, increased by 125,000 tons from the previous year, marking a 2.7 percent year-on-year growth. Preliminary statistics show that Sichuan's production of Chinese medicinal herbs amounted to 261,000 tons, a 10.6 percent year-on-year increase. Fruit production totaled 3.910 million tons, up 6.9 percent from the previous year. The output of vegetables and edible fungi was 24.474 million tons, a 4.4 percent increase year-on-year. The number of slaughtered fattened hogs was 30.499 million heads, a 5.8 percent decrease compared to the previous year. The production of aquatic products was 899,000 tons, a 4.7 percent year-on-year increase.

The added value of industries above the designated size in the province rose by 6.2 percent year-on-year, with the product sales rate of its industrial enterprises above the designated size reaching 94.2 percent.

Breaking down economic types, the added value of state-owned enterprises decreased by 2.9 percent year-on-year; that of collective enterprises fell by 10.7 percent from the previous year; that of joint-stock enterprises experienced a 6.9 percent year-on-year increase; and that of foreign-invested enterprises and enterprises invested by Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan were up by 0.9 percent year-on-year.

By industry, 30 out of 41 major industries saw an increase in added value. Among them, the chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industry increased by 20.5 percent year-on-year, the non-metallic mineral products industry up by 8.8 percent compared to the previous year, the petroleum and natural gas extraction industry up by 7.8 percent year-on-year, and the liquor, beverages and refined tea manufacturing industry up by 5.3 percent year-on-year.

By the output of major industrial products, electricity generation increased by 10.7 percent year-on-year; natural gas production was up by 7.6 percent from the previous year; monocrystalline silicon saw a 94.8 percent rise year-on-year; lithium-ion battery production increased by 94.2 percent year-on-year; polycrystalline silicon production grew by 45.7 percent year-on-year; industrial boilers were up by 27.1 percent year-on-year; power generating sets (power generation equipment) increased by 17.5 percent year-on-year; and liquid crystal displays saw a 14.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The high technology manufacturing industry is developing favorably. The added value of high-tech manufacturing sectors above the designated size increased by 6.9 percent year-on-year. Among them, the computer and office devices manufacturing industry grew by 11.6 percent year-on-year; the electronics and communication equipment manufacturing industry increased by 10.0 percent year-on-year; the aviation, spacecraft and equipment manufacturing industry rose by 3.5 percent year-on-year; and the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry grew by 1.5 percent year-on-year.

The added value of the tertiary industry increased by 5.8 percent year-on-year. Specifically, the added value of the leasing and business services industry saw a 21.6 percent rise year-on-year, that of the information transmission, software, and information technology services industry up by 9.3 percent year-on-year, the transportation, warehousing, and postal services industry up by 9.0 percent year-on-year, the accommodation and catering industry up by 7.7 percent year-on-year, and the wholesale and retail industry up by 6.5 percent year-on-year.

Fixed asset investment maintained growth, and the consumer goods market saw a stable increase.

In the first half of the year, investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) increased by 0.9 percent year-on-year. Breaking it down by industry, investment in the primary industry rose by 10.4 percent year-on-year; investment in the secondary industry increased by 14.2 percent, with industrial investment up by 14.4 percent; and investment in the tertiary industry decreased by 4.2 percent year-on-year.

The province achieved 1,325.83 billion yuan in its total retail sales of consumer goods, a year-on-year increase of 4.9 percent. By location of the business units, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 1,106.67 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.8 percent, while retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas amounted to 219.17 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.5 percent. By consumption type, the income of catering reached 184.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.0 percent, while the retail sales of commodities amounted to 1,141.62 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.0 percent. In commodity retail, businesses (units) above the designated size achieved online retail sales of physical goods totaling 87.47 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8 percent.

In terms of hot-selling products, the retail sales of cultural and office appliances by businesses (units) above the designated size increased by 19.1 percent year-on-year, that of the grain, oil, food, beverages, and tobacco products up by 14.2 percent year-on-year, sports and recreation articles up by 13.1 percent year-on-year, traditional Chinese and Western medicines up by 12.7 percent, building and decoration materials up by 11.1 percent, and daily necessities up by 10.5 percent.

The tax-electricity index stays within the boom range. In the first half of the year, the economic sentiment tax-electricity index for the province stood at 104.2, with the production index at 104.0 and the sales index at 104.4.