East Lake Hi-tech Development Zone (Optics Valley) in Wuhan, Hubei province saw rapid economic growth during the first half of 2017.

Total revenues for all businesses in the zone reached 565.9 billion yuan ($83.69 billion), up 12.59 percent year-on-year.

Industrial investment was 17.01 billion yuan, a rise of 55.04 percent year-on-year.

The value of imports and exports totaled 53 billion yuan, year-on-year growth of 35.3 percent, representing 60 percent of total imports and exports from the whole of Wuhan, and 37.7 percent of the province’s total imports and exports.

A total of 9,220 new businesses entered the zone in the first half of the year, up 16.2 percent year-on-year.

The first five months also saw 9,647 patent applications in the zone, an increase of 20.9 percent year-on-year.

Cheng Yongwen, a senior official in the zone’s administration department, expressed his approval for the achievement and gave his work requirements for the next half year at an economic conference on July 20.

"We should be clear about the responsibilities we shoulder and the challenges we face," said Cheng.

"We need foresight and speed to grasp good opportunities," he added.