Guangdong posts slow rise in output

FIRST-QUARTER industrial output growth slowed to a crawl in south China's Guangdong Province as the global downturn took its toll on the export hub.

The provincial economic and trade commission yesterday said the output of major industrial enterprises rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier to 303.788 billion yuan (US$44.5 billion).

The growth rate was 12.7 percentage points lower than the year-earlier level and 4.2 percentage points below the national average. The rate was 0.1 percentage point above the level in the first two months.

The aggregate profits of large enterprises, those with annual sales of at least 5 million yuan, fell 33.73 percent to 21.72 billion yuan in the first two months, the commission said.