Beijing registered a gross domestic product (GDP) of 354.2 billion yuan (US$43.7 billion) in the first three quarters this year, a year on year rise of 10.5 percent, the latest statistics have shown.

The growth rate is very close to the average annual growth rate of 10.7 percent for the past ten years, indicating that Beijing's economy is still developing quickly, a spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau said on Friday.

The spokesperson forecast a double-digit economic growth rate for the whole of 2005, ascribing the fast growth to macro-control policies and the readjustment of economic structures.

The added value of the agricultural sector reached 7.56 billion yuan (US$9.3 billion) in the first three quarters, down by 3.1 percent over the same period last year. The added value of the industrial sector went up by 11.5 percent year on year to reach 150.43 billion yuan (US$18.57 billion) and the added value of the tertiary sector was 196.21 billion yuan, up 17.9 percent.

The added value of the high-tech industries reached 37.28 billion yuan (US$8.1 billion), up 17.9 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2005)