BOAO, Hainan, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Major emerging economies maintained an upward momentum in 2017 due to a drastic rise in external demand and stable domestic consumption demand, said a Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) report Sunday.

The report, titled "Development of Emerging Economies Annual Report 2018," was released at a press conference of the BFA annual conference, running from April 8-11 in south China's Hainan Province.

The major emerging market economies, defined by the forum as "E11," refer to economies in the Group of 20 (G20), namely Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.

They saw an average GDP growth of about 5.1 percent in 2017, or an increase of 0.5 percentage points year on year.

The growth was 1.4 percentage points higher than the world's average, enabling the E11 to continuously take the lead among the emerging-market and developing economies, it said.

The report analyzed their new development in economic growth, employment and income, price and monetary policy, international trade, international direct investment, international commodities, and debt and financial markets.

As the largest emerging economy, China kept a middle-high economic growth of 6.9 percent in 2017, contributing approximately one third to global economic growth and continuously acting as the largest contributor to the global economy, it said.

Russia and Brazil pulled themselves out of a lingering economic recession and their economic growth turned from negative to positive, according to the report.

In 2017, the job markets of emerging economies were generally stable, with somewhat eased inflation pressure, a vigorous rebound of international trade and a generally stable financial market. However, their debt levels have continued to soar and international trade growth has remained feeble, it said.