The city of Jingjiang – located in East China's Jiangsu province – has witnessed a significant increase in the exports of ships it builds, as well as the overall vitality of its emerging industries.
These are contributing to the expansion of the city's total revenue from exports, local media reported recently.
Work gets underway at a shipyard in Jingjiang. [Photo/WeChat ID: jingjiangfabu]
In the first half of this year, the city's gross domestic product reached 62.78 billion yuan ($8.77 billion), an increase of 8.6 percent compared with the same period last year, according to data from the local statistics bureau.
The city's international trade has also shown a positive trend, with total imports and exports in the first six months were worth $2.27 billion, an increase of 21.8 percent compared with the previous corresponding period.
The city's exports alone during the period reached $1.85 billion, achieving a remarkable growth rate of 32.4 percent year-on-year.
That pronounced growth in Jingjiang's economy and foreign trade can be attributed to strong support from pillar industries and the vibrant emergence of new industries in the area, officials said.
Key private enterprises have played a significant role in driving the growth of foreign trade, they added.
Jingjiang is acclaimed for being the biggest private shipbuilding center in China and the biggest national-level ship exports base. In the first half of this year, the export volume and value of new ships increased by 38 percent and 36.3 percent respectively, while the export of marine engineering systems – such as anchor chains and mooring chains – increased by 49.8 percent.