Hengqin generated almost 25 billion yuan in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first six months of 2024, a year-on-year rise of 6.1 percent, according to a briefing from the Zhuhai district’s statistics bureau.
The service industry provided the vast bulk of Hengqin’s GDP during that period, a total of 22.8 billion yuan, with telecommunications, software and information technology-related services experiencing the most growth. While industrial production contributed a tiny fraction of total GDP, the sector’s contribution grew by 81 percent year-on-year – led by electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing and pharmaceuticals manufacturing.
The district’s foreign trade reached 10.92 billion yuan for the period, a year-on-year increase of six percent. Exports were valued at 6.48 billion patacas, while imports were valued at 4.445 billion yuan.
[See more: Hengqin hails growing economic ties with Macao]
The value of consumer goods sold in Hengqin during the first six months of 2024 was up 23 percent, year-on-year – coming in at 1.78 billion yuan.
According to the briefing, 58,583 business entities were operating Hengqin at the end of June, growth of just 1.8 percent in comparison to the same period in 2023. The number of Macao-backed businesses there, however, climbed 11.6 percent to 6,411 (and made up 11 percent of the total).
Hengqin is closely connected to Macao via the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone, which has aided the district’s recent economic growth through a slew of business-friendly policies.
