Haimen district in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, has experienced strong growth in imports and exports during the first half of 2023. [Photo/ntjoy.com] 

The economy of Haimen district in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, is expected to continue growing due to its strong performance in investment, consumption and foreign trade over the first half year of 2023, according to official statistics.

In the first half of 2023, the district GDP reached 87.12 billion yuan ($12 billion), a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percent.

Since the beginning of this year, Haimen has built a "3+2" industrial system, with the "3" referring to the three major advantageous industries of high-end equipment manufacturing, advanced metal materials, and life and health, and the "2" referring to the two high-growth industries of new energy and new-generation information technology. 

In the first half of this year, the district signed31 major industrial project agreements with a total investment of more than 30 billion yuan ($4.12 billion), including three projects with a total investment of 5 billion yuan and eight major foreign-invested projects.

Haimen has also focused on creating various new consumption scenarios and a complete service system to stimulate local consumption. In the first half of this year, the district's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 27.66 billion yuan, an increase of 11.8 percent year-on-year. At the same time, the district saw the addition of 11,600 new market entities, a year-on-year increase of 109.4 percent.

The district's strong growth in imports and exports has also become a strong engine for development. In the first half of this year, Haimen achieved a total foreign trade import and export value of 17.95 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.7 percent.

According to the district's commerce bureau, the export of mechanical and electrical products, which accounted for more than half of the district's total, has driven the development of supporting industries such as optoelectronics in Haimen. Many high-tech enterprises have set up operations in the district, it said.