A production line at JA Solar, a Baotou manufacturer of high-performance photovoltaic products for the global solar power industry [Photo/Baotou Daily]

In the first half of 2021, the regional gross domestic product or GDP in Baotou, in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, came in at 162.70 billion yuan ($25.12 billion) – with a year-on-year increase of 15.7 percent, ranking it 86th among the nation's cities.

The added value of Baotou's primary industry was 2.41 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.9 percent, while that of the secondary industry was 76.68 billion yuan, jumping 20.7 percent. Elsewhere, the added value of the tertiary industry was 83.61 billion yuan, a 12.3 percent gain on the same period last year.

During the six months, the added value of industries above a designated size was 17.6 percent, ranking Baotou first among the 12 leagues and cities in the autonomous region.

Baotou has reportedly accelerated the transformation of government functions and made every effort to create a dynamic and first-class business environment.

Related policies – including the implementation Opinions on Creating a First-class Business Environment and Accelerating the High-quality Development of the Private Economy – were issued during the period. 

A total of 455 projects have been signed since the start of the year, involving an investment of 579.9 billion yuan.

Some 257 projects have been implemented, in such areas as new energy, new materials and equipment manufacturing.

It is expected that the number of contracted projects will reach more than 1,000 in the year.

By end-July, 714 major projects in the city had started or resumed construction, with a resumption rate of 100 percent and completed investment of 69.13 billion yuan.

In the first half, the city recorded total imports and exports worth 12.10 billion yuan, ranking it first in the autonomous region.

That figure reflected a year-on-year increase of 59.4 percent, with a growth rate 43.3 percentage points higher than that of the region.