Shanxi province saw a 7 percent GDP growth in 2017, 0.1 percent higher than the national average, entering a reasonable growth range for the first time since 2014.

The agriculture sector continued to outperform as the total grain output in 2017 reached 13 billion kilograms with a per unit yield of 270.4 kilograms, the fourth highest yielding year in history.

The annual industrial added value increased by 7 percent, 5.9 percent higher than last year. According to calibrated statistics, annual investment in fixed assets rose by 6.3 percent, 1.2 percent higher than the first half of 2017 and 1 percent higher than the first three quarters. Annual retail sales of consumer goods grew by 6.8 percent, a 1.6 percent increase from the beginning of the year.

Shanxi stepped up efforts in reducing its excessive coal and steel production. Twenty-seven coal mines were closed in 2017, slashing 22.7 million tons of production capacity and 3.3 million tons of steel capacity.

The sales area and revenue of commercial buildings in Shanxi saw an increase of 17.2 percent and 32.2 percent respectively in 2017. By the end of December, the area of unsold commercial buildings was reduced to 12.3 million square meters, a decrease of 5.4 million square meters compared with 2016.

The Shanxi government also continued to reduce costs for companies above designated size in 2017. These companies in Shanxi benefited from an increase of marginal profit by 4.6 yuan ($ 0.72) per 100 yuan of revenue. Debt asset ratio also dropped by 1.2 percent in 2017.

Supply-side reform in agriculture is also underway as the annual total added value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery sectors topped 82 billion yuan , a 3.1 percent increase from last year. The service sector is playing a prominent role in leading economic growth with a 7.8 percent growth in added value and its contribution to GDP growth exceeds 60 percent.

Shanxi is also moving to reduce its dependence on coal as emerging industries are taking the lead in driving industrial growth. Traditional industries are moving towards high-end development and high-tech industries are booming as industrial investment in technological reform keeps growing with high investment returns.

Emerging sectors of strategic importance are undergoing rapid growth with a 10 percent increase in added value, 3 percent higher than average industries. The new-energy car sector saw an increase of 180 percent, the high-end equipment manufacturing sector an increase of 47.6 percent, the materials sector 8.6 percent and the biological industry 11.1 percent.

Shanxi is also witnessing an increase in private investment with annual fixed asset investment topping 340.9 billion yuan. Tourism consumption is also picking up with a 26.2 percent increase in annual total revenue and a 26.5 percent growth in the number of tourists.

The business environment in Shanxi keeps improving as emerging sectors are growing, market participants are increasing and business regulation reform is being implemented. According to statistics from the Industry and Commerce Department, the number of newly-registered market participants exceeded 394,000, an increase of 16.4 percent, while the service sector saw an increase of 17 percent.