NANJING, July 22 (Xinhuanet) -- East China's Jiangsu province, one of the country's leading economic powerhouses, signed 967 million US dollars worth of contracts involving overseas engineering, labor power-exporting, design and consulting projects during the first half of the year, a 33.8 percent rise year-on-year.

　　Meanwhile, the six month period saw the province reap 899 million dollars in turnover from the contracting of overseas engineering projects, which involved sending local laborers abroadand offering consulting services for overseas clients.

　　The turnover for the period showed a rise of 45.4 percent year-on-year.

　　The province sent nearly 13,970 people to work abroad during the period, bringing the total number of people working overseas to about 75,100 by the end of June, up 11 percent from the 2002 level.

　　Nantong, Nanjing and Suzhou led other cities in Jiangsu province in the combined value of overseas contracts signed duringthe six-month period. Enditem