Guangdong sees slow income growth

South China's Guangdong Province, one of the nation's economic powerhouses,
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has been urged to put more effort into increasing the per capita income of rural 9o"AZT#q"v`k
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and urban residents.UAMoH)g,I

In0z Y2q+}(t)` Last year, the urban per capita income of Guangdong was 16,016 yuan ($2,053),
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z6^/y[h+V an increase of 8.4 percent compared with the previous year, according to the
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Guangdong Provincial Statistics Bureau.&|q4H'u-[,f]
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However, Guangdong's rate of increase was lower than the nation's average, "nur*J
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which stood at 12.1 percent last year.t3[^-~&Nc

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The rate was also lower than that of Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang, three
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5}3kg&\TkhU4G other economic powerhouses in East China, which hit 14.3 percent, 13.5 percent
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Z&l:BE-m and 12.1 percent, respectively, according to a recent study by the Guangdong
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h#XEN\'N Provincial Situation Research and Survey Centre.
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t,Y3y+bZPp y The study also showed the rate of increase of Guangdong's per capita income
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1@w Hv6W0d&d"C in rural areas, 5,080 yuan ($651) last year, was only 8.3 percent.
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Q6E[np7ul_SkB@ It was lower than that of the three eastern provinces, and the nation's 3yweAE(ceK:b(Y

#{X RomOI average of 10.2 percent.
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+G i*UCL "It is now a crucial time for the southern province to attach more importance
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to increasing rural and urban residents' income," Zhang Changsheng, a leading
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researcher with the center, told China Daily yesterday.
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HEq(deQwE The researcher attributed Guangdong's lower per capita income to the [QS&b8Y h;Z}v
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provincial government's "relatively unbalanced" strategy in economic development
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:T'zQ!d+co'g$h in recent years.
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According to the study, Guangdong's GDP last year was higher than the other
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three provinces, more than 2,596 billion yuan ($332.8 billion).
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In addition, the southern province's export and import volume totalled $527.2 w|_-~!YR

Phq:A5Kk5NF billion last year, which was also the highest among the four economic [:`Kj$I qK

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;F/rw c$ic%| "According to the government's economic and social development planning,
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Guangdong in recent years has given too much importance to industrial 0\!iN7ebr1}@)B

)S x+b:M)P development, but has not outlined its strategy on how to improve the income of
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rural and urban residents," Zhang said.