The regional gross domestic product, or GDP of the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone – also known as the Hefei high-tech zone – expanded by 7.9 percent year-on-year to 71.2 billion yuan ($9.9 billion) in the first half of this year, according to official statistics.

Statistics also showed that the zone – which is located in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province – registered a robust growth of 20 percent in its new market players in the first six months, taking the total number of businesses there to 92,800.

Total investment in fixed assets reached 14.72 billion yuan in the period, a 13.8 percent increase.

The construction industry in the zone also experienced growth, with an output value of 32.92 billion yuan, up 12.3 percent.

The revenue of the service industry above a designated scale hit 17.07 billion yuan. The general public budget revenue advanced to 3.35 billion yuan, a 17.4 percent increase, while the retail sales of consumer goods reached 14.48 billion yuan, rising 15 percent.

Moreover, the per capita average disposable income of permanent urban residents increased by 7.1 percent during the first half of this year to 28,878 yuan.