Guangdong Province, south China, is expecting a 13-percent growth of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, said Pu Xinmin, director of the Provincial Statistics Bureau.

From January to September, the province reported 930.2 billion yuan (US$113.4 billion) of GDP growth, up 13 percent over the same period last year.

Pu attributed the rapid growth to the expansion of heavy industry, investment in fixed assets and foreign investment utilization.

The added industrial value reached 388.7 billion yuan (US$47.4 billion), up 20.8 percent. Fixed asset investment totaled 305.7 billion yuan (US$36.96 billion), a year-on-year increase of 29 percent. Foreign trade reported US$200.9 billion US dollars, up 25.8 percent.

Transportation and tourism sectors, which were badly hit by the SARS outbreak, had recovered by September. Overseas traveler arrivals in the province totaled 7.21 million in August, up 2.7 percent.

As China's "window" to the world, the province would make more efforts in its opening-up drive, said Pu.

(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2003)