The Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone – or the Hefei high-tech zone, located in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province – announced on May 9 that its gross domestic product gained by 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to 33.38 billion yuan ($4.81 billion).

That sterling performance ranked it first among the 169 national high-tech zones in China. 

During the three months, the output value of the Hefei high-tech zone's emerging industries and fixed asset investments shot up by 38.7 percent and 24.2 percent, respectively. It also achieved total retail sales of 8.14 billion yuan. These three indicators also ranked it first among the nation's development zones.

The latest data showed that the Hefei high-tech zone's total industrial output value rose by 24.5 percent in the period and its value-added industrial output of businesses above a designated size – referring to those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan – increased by 9.3 percent year-on-year, both taking the lead nationally.