A news conference on Yantai's achievements over the past 10 years gets underway in Yantai on Sept 19. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yantai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, has been committed to high-quality development, and has made remarkable achievements in the past decade, according to a top municipal official at a news conference held on Sept 19.

Official data showed that its gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 500.9 billion yuan ($71.41 billion) in 2012 to 871.2 billion yuan in 2021, ranking 26th nationwide, and its per capita GDP hit 123,000 yuan. The city's general public budget revenue rose from 35.74 billion yuan in 2012 to 64.66 billion yuan last year.

Currently, Yantai has developed into a key economic city in Shandong province. According to official statistics, the total profit of Yantai's industrial enterprises above the designated size led Shandong province, and the total foreign trade value ranked second in Shandong, while its regional GDP, general public budget revenue, actual use of foreign capital, and total retail sales of consumer goods ranked third across the province.

Over the past 10 years, Yantai has been committed to expediting the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones. Investment in the new economy was 67 percent of Yantai's total, and the output value of the city's high-tech industry accounted for 58.3 percent of the city's total, 15.8 and 11.5 percentage points higher than the provincial figures.

In the past 10 years, Yantai has developed four industries with annual sales of 100 billion yuan each and four industries with annual sales of 10 billion yuan each, and 58 listed enterprises now call Yantai home. The city has established two industrial clusters at the national level, which are the biomedical and advanced structural materials industrial clusters. The manufacturing sector also experienced a boom during the same time period.

Yantai has also witnessed a significant growth in innovation-driven development. It is home to 376 technological innovation platforms at or above the provincial level, and a total of 1,542 high-tech enterprises have settled in Yantai, which is 7.1 times more than the figure in 2012.

Currently, Yantai is beefing up efforts to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and cultivate a number of strategic emerging industries, which are expected to advance the high-quality development of the city.