Chongqing's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 9% from the previous year to RMB 103.22 billion in the first quarter, according to statistics released by the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

Chongqing's total retail sales of consumer goods increased more than 20% from a year earlier in the first quarter, while the industrial increase amounted to RMB 41.27 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 8%.

The city's consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) declined 1.8% and 2.8% respectively in the first quarter, compared with the same period of last year.

Chongqing will invest RMB 530 billion to achieve a GDP growth rate of 12% in 2009, said Huang Qifan, vice mayor of Chongqing.