Guangzhou's economy is seeing steady growth and the city's foundation for high quality development continues to strengthen, according to a report on the first half of this year released by the Guangzhou municipal development and reform commission on July 22.

The city has implemented the new national concepts of development and is playing a pioneering role in economic restructuring. It has achieved fruitful results in the face of downward pressure and a complex economic situation.

In the first half year, the Guangzhou government carried forward industrial structure upgrades with expansion in gross output of 6 percent. The value added by industries with annual revenue of over 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) increasing by 7.4 percent.

The first half of 2018 saw an accelerated pace in the shift from old economic drivers to new ones. And business activities in entrepreneurship and innovation remain robust. As the momentum of emerging industries grows, the added value of strategic new industries is expected to increase by 10 percent.

In the first half year, Guangzhou advanced in R&D and innovation. National scientific and technological infrastructure projects like the South China Sea Undersea Observation System and the New Geophysical Research Vessel were approved and put into action. By the end of June, the volume of the city's patents increased by 24 percent, reaching 43,956.

Fruitful economic achievements have been made by the Guangzhou government in the first half year. Revenue in local government general public budgets increased by 8 percent to 86.67 billion yuan, 81.1 percent of which was attributable to tax revenue, a year-on-year increase of 1.1 percent. Profits of companies with annual revenue of over 20 million yuan rose by 11.8 percent from January to May.

Employment and commodity prices remain stable, with 131,300 new urban jobs created over the course of the first half year. The registered urban unemployment rate dropped to 2.3 percent. The disposable income of urban and rural citizens rose respectively by 8.1 percent and 10.3 percent and the consumer price index (CPI) was up 2.3 percent.

The beautiful night-time view of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]