Xiamen is achieving significant economic growth, as indicated by its performance in the first half of this year. [Photo/taihainet.com]

Xiamen's GDP grew by 8 percent year-on-year in the first six months of this year, according to statistics announced by Xiamen's government on July 24.

The statistics also showed that 1,190 companies in the industries above the designated scale in Xiamen increased production, 53 more compared with the same period last year. 

Thanks to the policy of tax and fee reductions implemented in Xiamen, in the first half of this year a fiscal burden of more than 25-billion-yuan ($3.64 billion) had been removed for enterprises.

Xiamen held an investment promotion conference this year, which contributed significantly to the city's economic growth. To date, a total of 517 investment projects have landed in Xiamen this year, worth a total of 466.6 billion yuan. Among them, 90 projects were signed with world's top 500 enterprises and central enterprises for a total investment of nearly 60 billion yuan.

Also, the total amount of Xiamen's foreign trade and foreign capital accounted for 46.5 percent and 41.9 percent respectively of Fujian province's total.

In terms of the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, Xiamen's amount of exports to countries and regions along the Maritime Silk Road increased by 14.8 percent. Some 34 Maritime Silk Road shipping routes completed 641 trips in the first half of this year, with container throughput of 501,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

Xiamen also continued to deepen its exchanges with Taiwan by holding exchange activities, such as the Straits Forum. A total of 251 Taiwan companies have been listed on the Taiwan Capital Board at the city's Cross-Straits Equity Exchange thus far.

In addition, passenger volumes of the ferry route between Xiamen and Taiwan's Jinmen county reached 982,000 in the first half of this year, up 22.4 percent year-on-year.