Dalian's GDP approached 800 billion yuan and its per capita GDP surpassed $16,000 in 2021, 1.7 times and 1.6 times the amount of 2012 respectively, according to local statistics.

Its GDP rose 3.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, 0.8 percentage point higher than the national average. Its fixed-asset investment and foreign trade saw year-on-year increases of 11.5 percent and 11.7 percent respectively in the first six months.

The city insists on an innovation-led development path and stresses the construction of key projects with good prospects for high-quality growth, local authorities said.

Yuan Chi, director of Dalian's science and technology bureau, said Dalian has made great progress over the past decade in science and technology and firmly implemented a strategy of development driven by innovation.