The economy of Taiyuan city, capital of North China's Shanxi province, stabilized in the first half of the year (H1), with major economic indicators beginning to move in the right direction, according to local officials.

The city posted gross domestic product or GDP of 181.02 billion yuan ($25.86 billion) during the past six months, down 3.9 percent year on year – but, critically, the decline slowing down in the second quarter, narrowing by 2.8 percentage points compared with the GDP retraction in the first quarter.

Officials said that the added value of the primary industry in H1 amounted to 1.14 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 3.0 percent.

They said the added value of the secondary industry and the tertiary industry reached 65.27 billion yuan and 114.61 billion yuan, respectively, down 2.4 percent and 4.8 percent year on year.

The added value of manufacturers above a designated size – those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan or more – fell 2.9 percent in the first half. But the rate of decline narrowed by 1.6 percentage points from the fall in the first five months.

Fixed asset investments continued to grow in the six months, with investment increasing 9.4 percent year on year and the growth rate accelerating by 0.3 percentage points compared with that of the previous five months. 

Fiscal revenue also improved. The city's general public budget revenue was 20.50 billion yuan, down 11.3 percent, but the rate of decline narrowed by 6.6 percentage points from the first five months.

Meanwhile, per capita disposable income increased to 16,368 yuan during the period, up 2.8 percent year on year. The income growth rate in the first half was 1.0 percentage point faster than that in first quarter, officials said.

In addition, consumer spending on the internet continued to expand between January and June despite the influence of the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

Businesses above a designated size realized online retail sales of 2.59 billion yuan in H1, accounting for 7.7 percent of Taiyuan's retail sales, representing a year-on-year increase of 21.2 percent.