An aerial view of Haimen, a county-level city in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province [Photo/WeChat account: dongzhouchengshi]

The economy of Haimen, a county-level city in Nantong, is off to a good start this year, in spite of the novel coronavirus outbreak, local media reported on April 8.

The city reported a year-on-year growth of 25.3 percent in industrial taxable sales in the first quarter of this year, selling 31.6 billion-yuan ($4.47 billion) worth of products in total. The public budge revenue reached 1.92 billion yuan during the same period.

The coronavirus outbreak has put serious downward pressure on the city's economy. The local government and the municipal CPC committee have rolled out measures to prevent and control the spread of the disease and help local companies resume operations.

In the first three months, the taxable sales volume of 260 essential companies were valued at 14.37 billion yuan, accounting for 45.25 percent of the city's total.

China Merchants Heavy Industry made more than 2.7 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 429.9 percent; Jiangsu Haixin Shipping Heavy Industries brought in 138 million yuan, up 142.8 percent year-on-year; Aeolon Wind Energy, which started operations last year, earned 141 million yuan in the first quarter of this year.

Local officials said Haimen has played a leading role in the innovative transformation of the manufacturing industry in Jiangsu province.

The city's taxable sales revenue in industrial economy reached 121.2 billion yuan last year, ranking 14th among China's top 100 counties (county-level cities) in terms of industrial development.

"Large companies are the pillars of the regional economy," said Chen Yong, the city's Party secretary, during an economic work meeting on April 3.

To this end, a series of measures have been taken to accelerate the expansion of local industrial leaders. The city aims to cultivate a group of large companies with international competitiveness, leading industrial force and market clout.