The economic performance of Zhangjiagang in East China's Jiangsu province had a good start in the first quarter of this year, according to the Zhangjiagang Bureau of Statistics.

Official data showed that from January to March, the city's GDP stood at 62.67 billion yuan ($9.78 billion), up 17 percent compared with the same period in 2020.

The city's industrial enterprises above designated size totaled 129.24 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, up 35 percent year-on-year. The metallurgical industry realized a total profit of 5.57 billion yuan, up 249 percent year-on-year, driving 146 percent of the city's profit growth.

In addition, the industrial added value of Zhangjiagang was 29.71 billion yuan in the first quarter, an increase of 19.5 percent year-on-year, supporting the city's GDP growth by 9.0 percent.

Remarkable achievements have also been made in the 13 foreign funded projects, which have brought 317 million yuan in registered capital, a year-on-year increase of 62.7 percent.

In the first quarter of 2021, enterprises in Zhangjiagang achieved a cumulative operating income of 160.30 billion yuan, up 45.4 percent year-on-year. The corresponding cumulative profit was 10.07 billion yuan, up 269.9 percent compared with the same period in 2020, which was the highest growth rate in recent years.

In addition, the general public budget expenditure was 7.28 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, showing a steady year-on-year increase of 9.2 percent. Among this, the housing security expenditure was 15 times that of the same period last year.