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Jiangsu: Market Profile
09 April 2019
Major Economic Indicators
Economic Indicators | 2017 | Jan - Nov 2018 | ||
Value | Growth (%, y-o-y) | Value | Growth (%, y-o-y) | |
Gross Domestic Product (RMB bn) | 8,590.1 | 7.21 | 6,703.93 | 6.71 |
Per Capita GDP (RMB) | 107,189 | 6.81 | — | — |
Added Value Output | ||||
Primary industry (RMB bn) | 407.7 | 2.21 | 217.93 | 1.61 |
Secondary industry (RMB bn) | 3,865.5 | 6.61 | 3,060.43 | 5.91 |
Tertiary industry (RMB bn) | 4,316.9 | 8.21 | 3,425.63 | 7.81 |
Value-added Industrial Output2 (RMB bn) | — | 7.51 | — | 5.11 |
Fixed-assets Investment (RMB bn) | 5,300.0 | 7.5 | — | 5.6 |
Retail Sales (RMB bn) | 3,173.7 | 10.6 | — | 8.3 |
Inflation (Consumer Price Index, %) | — | 1.7 | — | 2.3 |
Exports (US$ bn) | 363.3 | 13.9 | 369.2 | 12.7 |
By foreign-invested enterprises (US$ bn) | 211.4 | 13.4 | 204.4 | 7.0 |
Imports (US$ bn) | 227.8 | 19.8 | 240.4 | 16.3 |
By foreign-invested enterprises (US$ bn) | 165.4 | 18.6 | 170.3 | 13.0 |
Utilised Foreign Direct Investment (US$ bn) | 25.1 | 2.4 | — | — |
Notes:
1 In real terms
2 For all state-owned enterprises and other forms with annual sales over RMB20 million
3 Jan-Sep 2018
Sources: Jiangsu Statistical Yearbook 2018, Jiangsu Statistical Bureau, China’s Customs Statistics
General Background
Jiangsu has a total area of 102,600 sq kilometres. Jiangsu had a population of 80.29 million in 2017. Jiangsu’s GDP ranked the second in China in 2017, after Guangdong, accounting for about 10.4% of the national total. Jiangsu has a strong private sector. By the end of 2017, there were about 1.92 million private enterprises, comparing to 286,000 in 2002. Jiangsu has the largest number of private enterprises in China.
The southern Jiangsu (蘇南) area – Suzhou (蘇州), Wuxi (無錫), Changzhou (常州), Nanjing (南京) and Zhenjiang (鎮江), which is part of the Yangtze River Delta economic region, is the province’s economic hub. GDP of the southern Jiangsu area accounted for 57.0% of Jiangsu’s total GDP in 2017.
Major Indicators of Jiangsu’s Regions (2017)
Southern Jiangsu (蘇南) | Middle Jiangsu (蘇中) | Northern Jiangsu (蘇北) | |
GDP (RMB bn) | 5,017.5 | 1,754.4 | 2,026.9 |
Retail Sales (RMB bn) | 1,831.6 | 562.2 | 780.0 |
Actual FDI (US$ bn) | 15.4 | 5.1 | 4.7 |
Per capita GDP (RMB) | 150,200 | 106,637 | 66,934 |
Source: Jiangsu Statistical Yearbook 2018
Industry
The proportion of industry in GDP increased to 51% in 2006 before edging down to 39.6% in 2017 while the share of services continued to increase in the last decade. Historically, Jiangsu had a much stronger light industry sector. However, after 1993, growth of the heavy industry sector accelerated and overtook that of the light industry. Jiangsu is a strong production base of machinery and it is one of the major petrochemical industry bases of China.
Composition of GDP (%)
2006 | 2017 | |
Primary | 7.1 | 4.7 |
Secondary | 56.5 | 45.0 |
Industry | 51.0 | 39.6 |
Tertiary | 36.4 | 50.3 |
Source: Jiangsu Statistical Yearbook 2018
Composition of Gross Industrial Output (%)
2000 | 2017 | |
Heavy Industry | 57.0 | 72.1 |
Light Industry | 43.0 | 27.9 |
Notes: For all state-owned enterprises and other forms with annual sales over RMB20 million
Source: Jiangsu Statistical Yearbook 2018
The pillar industries in Jiangsu are electronics, telecommunications, chemicals, machinery and equipment, automobiles manufacturing and metallurgy.
Share of Total Revenue from Principal Business of Leading Industry Groups (2017)
% share of Total Total Revenue from Principal Business | |
Electronic and Telecommunications | 12.4 |
Electrical Equipment and Machinery | 10.9 |
Raw Chemical Materials and Chemical Products | 10.5 |
Smelting and Pressing of Ferrous Metals | 6.4 |
General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing | 5.9 |
Manufacture of Automobiles | 5.0 |
Special Purpose Machinery Manufacturing | 4.6 |
Source: Jiangsu Statistical Yearbook 2018
Technology-intensive industry and capital-intensive industries (such as electronic and telecommunications etc.) have been developing fast. Jiangsu is moving towards the development of new and high technology products. Jiangsu is now an important IT manufacturing base. Many Taiwanese IT manufacturers are attracted to invest in Kunshan (昆山) and Wujiang (吳江).
Jiangsu has successfully promoted many famous brands such as Chunlan air-conditioner (春蘭空調), Senda shoes (森達皮鞋), Bosideng down coat (波司登羽絨服), Little Swan washer (小天鵝洗衣機) etc.
Tourism
Jiangsu is a famous destination for tourists. In 2017, Jiangsu received 747 million (+9.6%) domestic tourists and 3.7 million (+12.2%) overseas tourists. Overseas tourists generated a total of US$4.2 billion (+10.3%) foreign exchange revenue while domestic tourists generated a total of RMB1,131 billion revenue (+13.6%).
Foreign Trade
Major exports included electronic and mechanical products, new and high technology products, automatic data processing machines & accessories, garments and clothing accessories. Major export markets included the US, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. In 2017, exports to Hong Kong accounted for 8.8% of Jiangsu’s total exports.
As a manufacturing base, major imports included electronic and mechanical products, high technology products, integrated circuit and liquid crystal display panel. Major import sources included South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
Foreign investment
Foreign investments in Jiangsu are still mainly engaged in the manufacturing sector, particularly in telecommunication equipments, computer, machinery, chemical products and textiles. However, its share in FDI has continued to decrease. In 2017, utilised foreign direct investment (FDI) in the manufacturing sector amounted to US$11.2 billion, accounting for 44.5% of the total FDI, a drop from 62.4% from 2012.

Jiangsu’s services sector is attracting an increasing share of FDI. In 2017, FDI in the service sector accounted for about 43% of the total, while this share was only 6.5% in 2001. Real estates accounted for about 13.8% of the utilised FDI in 2017.
In 2017, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the US were the top overseas investors. In 2017, Hong Kong accounted for 57.8% of the total utilised FDI.
Consumer Market
Jiangsu was the third largest consumer market, after Guangdong and Shandong. Retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB3,173.7 billion, accounting for 8.7% of China’s total in 2017. In 2017, annual per capita disposal income of urban households reached RMB43,622 (+8.6%).
Composition of Per Capita Expenditure of Urban Household (%)
2000 | 2017 | |
Food, drinks & alcohol | 41.1 | 27.5 |
Clothing | 9.2 | 6.6 |
Household facilities, article and service | 10.7 | 6.2 |
Medicine & medical services | 5.5 | 5.7 |
Transportation & communications | 7.4 | 14.3 |
Recreation, cultural & education | 12.6 | 12.4 |
Residence | 8.2 | 24.4 |
Source: Jiangsu Statistical Yearbook 2018
Major foreign-invested retail enterprises that have established their presence in Jiangsu include Walmart from the US, Metro from Germany, Carrefour from France, Auchan from France, and China Resources from Hong Kong. Meanwhile, indigenous enterprises have also grown quickly, for instance, Suguo (蘇果), Suning (蘇寧), Wenfeng Big World (文峰大世界).
Economic Indicators of Jiangsu Cities (2016)
Cities | GDP (RMB bn) | Per Capita GDP (RMB) | Gross Industrial Output* (RMB bn) | Retail Sales (RMB bn) | Exports (US$ bn) |
Suzhou (蘇州市) | 1,732.0 | 162,388 | 3,200.6 | 544.3 | 187.2 |
Wuxi (無錫市) | 1,051.2 | 160,706 | 1,554.4 | 345.8 | 49.5 |
Nanjing (南京市) | 1,171.5 | 141,103 | 1,093.6 | 560.5 | 34.4 |
Zhenjiang (鎮江市) | 401.0 | 125,962 | 677.3 | 136.6 | 7.0 |
Changzhou (常州市) | 661.8 | 140,435 | 1,208.6 | 244.4 | 22.9 |
* For all state-owned and other forms of enterprises with annual sales over RMB20 million
Source: Jiangsu Statistical Yearbook 2018