An analysis of value-added tax (VAT) invoice data reveals five salient trends characterizing Jingzhou's economic performance in the first quarter of 2024:

Accelerated Development of New Quality Productive Forces: The emerging sectors of the new economy demonstrated robust growth, with an 8.18% year-over-year increase. Advanced manufacturing registered a notable 17.96% year-over-year growth rate, sustaining its trajectory of rapid expansion.

Sustained Commitment to Green Transformation: Support services related to energy conservation, environmental protection, and other environmentally sound technologies experienced significant gains, with year-over-year increases of 29.31% and 59.78%, respectively.

Continued Expansion of the Real Economy: The manufacturing sector, in particular, exhibited a positive growth trajectory. In Q1 2024, manufacturing sales revenue rose by 9.66% year-over-year, accounting for 40.33% of the city's total sales. This represents an increase of 1.86 percentage points compared to the same period in the previous year, underscoring the sector's critical contribution to Jingzhou's ongoing economic advancement. Within the manufacturing sector, the equipment manufacturing sector saw a remarkable 20.31% year-over-year increase in sales revenue.

Vigorous Consumer Spending: Consumer spending on services displayed resilience and vigor, growing by 6% year-over-year. Specifically, sales revenue derived from scenic spot management and travel agency services increased by 49.68% and 20.22% year-over-year, respectively. Film screenings and artistic performances also contributed positively, with sales revenue increasing by 24.56% and 14.15% year-over-year, respectively.

"Two News" Policy Initiatives Yield Tangible Results: The ongoing promotion of large-scale equipment upgrades and the implementation of trade-in programs for consumer goods are producing demonstrable positive effects. Corporate investment in machinery and equipment increased by 13.58% year-over-year. Driven by the enhanced and expanded scope of the consumer goods trade-in policy, retail sales of home audio-visual equipment such as televisions and daily-use home appliances like refrigerators increased year-on-year by 12.35% and 56.78% respectively. Furniture retail sales grew by 41.06% year-on-year. Additionally, retail sales of communication devices like mobile phones, newly covered by the expanded policy, surged by 81.89% year-on-year.