Yantai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province reported a GDP growth of 4.5 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, reaching nearly 435 billion yuan ($64.5 billion yuan), which is 3.6 percentage points higher than the provincial growth rate during the same period, according to data released by the city's statistics bureau on July 26.

Yantai has announced a wide range of measures to properly coordinate the epidemic, prevent it from affecting different market players' viability, and stabilize economic growth in the face of numerous hurdles, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and a changing global environment.

According to official data, the added value of the city's primary, secondary and tertiary industries totaled 16.86 billion yuan, 189.32 billion yuan, and nearly 228.82 billion yuan  from January to June, up 6 percent, 5.2 percent, and 3.8 percent, respectively.

In the first half of the year, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery industries increased by 6.3 percent year-on-year, after overcoming the impact of unfavorable factors such as COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters and a struggling livestock and poultry market.

The city witnessed a fast recovery in industrial production from January to June, with its added value for industrial enterprises above designated size up 11.5 percent year-on-year. The city's service sector has also experienced a boom, and official data indicates that the number of service enterprises above designated size increased by 22.9 percent year-on-year from January to May, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality.

Personal incomes have also grown steadily in Yantai in the first half of the year, with the average per capita disposable income reacing 22,318 yuan, an increase of 4.4 percent year-on-year.