(Yicai) April 23 -- Shanghai's economy expanded 5.9 percent in the first three months of the year, logging the fastest pace of first-quarter growth for four years.

Shanghai's gross domestic product stood at CNY1.35 trillion (USD197.7 billion) in the three months ended March 31, its statistics bureau announced yesterday. The city’s year-on-year growth rate outpaced the national figure of 5 percent.

Shanghai’s economy got off to a strong start this year, mainly thanks to proactive policy measures and the gradual effects of long-term investment in leading and strategic emerging industries, Ma Haiqian, deputy director of the Shanghai Development and Reform Research Institute, told Yicai.

The city's industrial, consumption, investment, and foreign trade figures all surpassed the national average in the quarter. Key industries, including new energy vehicles and integrated circuits, are growing fast.

The output of Shanghai's three leading industries -- artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and IC -- climbed 16 percent. The IC industry was the fastest grower at 21 percent, followed by AI at 19 percent, and biomedicine at 10 percent.

The output of the city’s strategic emerging industries increased 9 percent, with NEVs up 35 percent and high-end equipment up 9 percent.

Industrial production climbed 6.2 percent, compared with 3.7 percent a year earlier. The rise was also higher than the national average of 6.1 percent.

In recent years, geopolitical conflicts have led to a diversification of global supply chains, which has further highlighted Shanghai's competitiveness in high-end manufacturing and new energy, Shen Kaiyan, director of the Institute of Economics at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told Yicai. Exports of high-tech products, including ICs and electric vehicles, have surged, driving local industrial production, she added.

Shanghai’s other economic indicators also performed strongly. Total retail sales of consumer goods jumped 5.5 percent, while fixed asset investment climbed 7.6 percent, both much higher than the national average of 2.4 percent and 1.7 percent. 

Shanghai's total foreign trade surged 22 percent, also outpacing the national average of 15 percent, with imports and exports up 27 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Exports of solar cells, EVs, and lithium batteries skyrocketed 184 percent, 135 percent, and 99 percent, respectively, while those of ICs grew 15 percent.

The city's financial sector grew 10 percent, and turnover in major financial markets increased 36 percent. As of March 31, deposits and loans at financial institutions in the city had risen 13 percent and 6 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and other external uncertainties such as fluctuations in global demand, Shanghai’s balanced development across manufacturing, science and innovation, services, investment, consumption, and foreign trade has created a diversified set of economic pillars that can offset single-point risks and reflect the economy’s strong resilience, Shen said.

In the first quarter, Shanghai's consumer price index increased 0.6 percent, and the per capita disposable income grew 3.6 percent to CNY26,689 (USD3,910). The unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione