SHENZHEN'S economy got off to a robust start in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, underpinned by solid growth in foreign trade and robust growth in high-tech industrial output.

Official data released by the city’s statistics bureau today show that Shenzhen’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew to 831.50 billion yuan (US$114.75 billion), an increase of 6.4% compared with the same period a year ago. 

China’s economy grew 5.3% in the first quarter from a year ago, accelerating from the 5.2% growth in the previous three months and driven mainly by robust growth in high-tech manufacturing. Meanwhile, Guangdong’s economy achieved an increase of 4.4% from a year ago between January and March, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the same period last year. 

Staffers of BYD pose for a photo to mark the Shenzhen-based NEV maker rolling its 7 millionth new energy vehicle (NEV), a Denza N7, off the production line March 25. BYD’s official Weibo account

A breakdown of Shenzhen’s overall economic performance in the first three months of the year shows the added value of the primary industry edged up 0.6% year on year to 498 million yuan.

The added value of the secondary industry expanded 10.3% from a year ago to 281.23 billion yuan. The added value of the tertiary industry grew to 549.77 billion yuan, recording a growth of 4.5% compared with the same period last year.

According to China's GDP accounting and data release system, the primary industry refers to agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries (excluding service industries of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries). The secondary industry refers to mining and quarrying (excluding mining support service activities), manufacturing (excluding repair of fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment), production and distribution of electricity, heating power, gas and water, construction. The tertiary industry is service industry, and refers to the other industries except primary and secondary industry (excluding international organizations).

Dubbed China’s Silicon Valley, Shenzhen is the country’s tech hub and now home to many leading Chinese tech companies such as Tencent, Huawei, DJI and BYD. As China promotes the new quality productive forces that are intended to introduce a technological and innovation-fueled economic transformation, Shenzhen has seen its high-tech sector playing an increasingly pivotal role in driving its economic growth. 

In the first quarter, Shenzhen's added value of high-tech manufacturing increased 13.1% year on year, led by firms such as new energy vehicle giant BYD and tech heavyweight Huawei. 

BYD, the world’s largest maker of new energy vehicles, reported a year-on-year increase of 13.4% in production in the first quarter to 612,315 units. The firm, which delivered a total of 3.02 million pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles last year, rolled its 7 millionth new energy vehicle off the production line March 25, the first automaker in the world to produce 7 million new energy vehicles.

Huawei, which has seen a resurgence in its premium smartphone sales since it released its Mate 60 series in August after its once-lucrative handset business was crippled under rounds of U.S. sanctions since May 2019 on the exports of key components to the company, shipped 64% more smartphones year on year in the first six weeks of 2024 to gain a market share of 16.5% to put it in second place in China, the world’s largest smartphone market, according to analyst firm Counterpoint Research.

Official data show that industries closely related to the new quality productive forces performed remarkably well in the first quarter. The added value of pharmaceutical firms above designated size, a statistical term used in China to refer to firms with annual main business revenue of 20 million yuan or more, grew 24.1% year on year, while the computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing increased 16.7% from a year ago. The production of major high-tech products continued to grow rapidly, with the production of 3D printing equipment, electronic components, and service robots increasing 62.9%, 72% and 45.6%, respectively.

Official figures released April 19 show that Shenzhen’s foreign trade grew 28.8% year on year to 1.02 trillion yuan in the first quarter, exceeding the 1-trillion-yuan mark for the first time in a decade. Exports grew 28.2% year on year to 642.44 billion yuan, while the city's imports reached 377.85 billion yuan, an increase of 29.9% year on year, according to Shenzhen Customs.

Shenzhen’s cross-border e-commerce, which has seen fast expansion in recent years on the city’s supportive policies and favorable business environment, has become a new growth engine to boost Shenzhen’s foreign trade. The sector topped 110 billion yuan from January to March, an increase of more than 95% year on year and accounting for 19% of China’s total of 577.60 billion yuan and more than half of Guangdong’s provincial total.

Meanwhile, data from the Southern Power Grid Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau show that Shenzhen’s electricity consumption , a key barometer of economic activity, during the first quarter increased 11% year on year, another sign that the city’s economy has powered ahead strongly.