PaxOcean Engineering Zhoushan Co, a shipyard located in Dinghai district, Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Dinghai district in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province saw steady economic growth in the first quarter of the year, local media reported on May 27.

Statistics show that the district realized GDP of around 12.28 billion yuan ($1.78 billion) during the period, up 7.7 percent year on year and 0.2 percent higher than the city's average.

Product upgrading of local companies is a major driving force behind the growth. In the district's companies above the State designated scale (companies with annual revenue of above 20 million yuan), value of new products increased by 31.8 percent in the first three months, at nearly 1.39 billion yuan, and contributed 61 percent of the total output growth of these companies.

Emerging, high-tech and equipment manufacturing industries saw a value-added increase of 5.3 percent, 8.7 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively. 

"The better-than-expected growth can primarily be attributed to the local economic reforms in recent years, and some favorable national policies in tax reduction and financing support," said Xu Zhiyuan, an analyst of the local statistics bureau. 

Xu noted that industrial companies focusing on shipbuilding, machine manufacturing and aquatic product processing, and service industries dealing with transport, finance and non-profit services contributed the most to the GDP growth.