Liangjiang's auto industry is maintaining its rapid growth, in the face of the of the COVID-19 outbreak. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

During the first half of the year Liangjiang New Area -- in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality -- achieved a 4.8 percent increase in GDP and 26.05 billion yuan ($3.73 billion) in total industrial added value, both ranking first in the megacity, according to area officials.

They said that after the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle was upgraded into part of the national strategy earlier this year, Liangjiang and Sichuan's Tianfu New Area responded by working together to promote industry development, innovation and the opening-up.

In particular, Liangjiang's Guoyuan port joined hands with Sichuan's Yibin and Luzhou ports to build a shipping center on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. From January to June, 15,900 freight containers were shipped between Yuzhou port and Guoyuan port, while the trains from Guoyuan port to Sichuan's Chengdu, Meishan and Xichang transported 31,000 containers.

To deal with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on economy, Liangjiang established special teams to help companies resume work. Some 301 companies above designated size -- those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) or more -- realized 100 percent resumption of output in Chongqing.

Automobile manufacturers, represented by Changan and SAIC Motor, turned to intelligent and high-end products and continued to expand into overseas markets, officials said.

From January to June, Changan Ford exported over 7,000 vehicles worth 2 billion yuan, while SAIC Hongyan's vehicles become a hit in Southeast Asia and achieved a sales volumes worth 9 billion yuan during the same period.

Officials said Liangjiang is targeting becoming a national digital economy construction and artificial intelligence innovation and development pilot area. Relying on the development of several digital economy related projects, Liangjiang achieved an added value of 12.6 billion yuan in its digital economy in the year to end May, an increase of 12.8 percent year-on-year.

They also said that Liangjiang is seizing the opportunities flowing from growing online business -- by organizing online investment promotions, contract signing, recruitment programs and live streaming to stimulate consumer spending.

Statistics showed that during the first half of this year, the added value of Liangjiang's services industry increased by 4.4 percent, while online sales hit 48.46 billion yuan, a staggering increase of 91.2 percent.