Tree houses at a scenic spot in Xiaoshan district of Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/VCG]

Xiaoshan district in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, has played a leading role in promoting the high-quality growth in the province, said a top official of the district at a briefing on the district's social and economic achievements made over the last decade on Sept 28.

The GDP of the district has grown at annual average growth rate of 6.9 percent to 200 billion yuan ($28.1 billion).

In the first half of 2021, the added value of the firms above a designated size or with their annual revenue exceeding 20 million yuan amounted to 55.41 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth rate of 4.9 percent.

Since 2018, the added value of the core industries of digital economy in Xiaoshan has risen at an average annual pace of 20 percent.

Over the past decade, Xiaoshan has attracted more than 18,000 high-caliber skilled workers. A number of high-level innovation platforms such as the International Sci-Tech Innovation Center at Zhejiang University, the High-Level Research Institute for Information Technology at Peking University and the Hangzhou Institute of Xidian University have been set up in the district.

Over the past 10 years, Xiaoshan has renovated 47 old residential communities and 1,747 buildings, benefiting more than 49,000 residents.

The district has been honored as the demonstration zone for its efforts in preserving the ecological environment.

Xiaoshan has been praised for its achievements in bringing prosperity to its residents. The affordable income of residents in urban and rural areas has grown at an average annual growth rate of 8.5 percent and 9.6 percent.