A night view of Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu] 

The added value of the service sector in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province amounted to 79.573 billion yuan (12.24 billion) in the first half of this year, up 12.9 percent year-on-year, the second highest in the province.

The amount accounted for 46.5 percent of the city's gross domestic product (GDP) over the six-month period.

Robust growth was also seen in the city's accommodation and retail sectors, with their revenues registering a year-on-year growth of 68.3 percent and 37.3 percent respectively.

The online sales in Huzhou over the period grew 30.9 percent to 39.72 billion yuan.

As of June, the number of tourist visits in Huzhou reached 53.46 million, up 35.3 percent year-on-year, recovering to 100.9 percent of the level in 2019.

The city reported an uptick of 47.5 percent in tourism revenue, which was valued at 73.5 billion yuan in the first half of this year.

Stable growth was also seen in Huzhou's logistics sector. Official statistics show that the city's container throughput via inland rivers reached 221,900 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit), growing by 10.6 percent and ranking first in Zhejiang.

From January to June, the balance of loans in Huzhou surged 21.8 percent to 683.651 billion yuan, while the balance of deposits in the city amounted to 672.291 billion yuan, up 11.9 percent.

Over this period, 80 key projects in Huzhou's service sector completed 4.2 billion yuan in investment, accounting for 116.7 percent of the target pre-set by the city for this year.

The city also made notable progress in the extension of the value chain of the local service sector.

In 2018, online retailer Vipshop selected Huzhou as its operational headquarters in East China. The company is constructing a giant smart logistics park, with a warehousing area of more than 600,000 square meters. After completion, it will have a daily processing capacity of 500,000 orders.