Baotou in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has shown signs of economic recovery in the first half of 2020, with the regional GDP falling by 1.5 percent year-on-year and the rate of decline narrowing by 2.4 percentage points compared with the first quarter, according to the city's statistics bureau.

During the first six months of the year, the added value of industries increased by 8.6 percent year-on-year, and the growth rate was 5.1 percentage points higher than the first quarter.

The total retail sales of consumer goods fell by 14.5 percent year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed by 8.3 percentage points from the first quarter.

Meanwhile, fixed-asset investment fell by 29.7 percent year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed by 5.4 percent compared with the previous five months.

Strategic emerging industries and high-tech industries in the city showed steady development, and investment in high-tech industries is growing strongly.

Among the industries above designated size, the added value of strategic emerging industries increased by 7.1 percent year-on-year, an increase of 5.6 percentage points from the first quarter. The added value of high-tech industries increased by 31.3 percent, 22.7 percentage points higher than the growth rate of industries above designated size in the city.