In the first quarter of this year, the industrial economy of Harbin in China's northernmost Heilongjiang province continued to improve, with fixed industrial asset investment showing rapid growth.

It increased 91.9 percent year-on-year, ranking second among all sub-provincial cities in the country.

The growth of industrial investment in Harbin was mainly driven by investment in large projects costing over 100 million yuan ($15 million) and strong growth in manufacturing investment.

In the same period, completed investment in projects costing more than 100 million yuan accounted for 83.1 percent of the city's total industrial investment, an increase of 109.8 percent year-on-year. 

These projects contributed 90.8 percent of the city's industrial investment growth, and are the main body of industrial investment.

This year, a total of 151 industrial projects, each with a total investment of 50 million yuan or more, have been listed as the city’s key projects, with an annual planned investment of 13.72 billion yuan.

As of March 31, 50 projects had started or resumed construction, with a construction rate of 33.1 percent.

The four pillar industries of Harbin led the city's industrial investment in the first quarter, accounting for 37.3 percent of the city's industrial investment in place and representing a year-on-year increase of 42.8 percent.

Completed investment in the equipment manufacturing industry accounted for 14.6 percent of the city's industrial investment, a year-on-year increase of 172 percent, and the pharmaceutical industry's completed investment accounted for 5.3 percent of the total, a year-on-year increase of 39.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the petrochemical industry's completed investment accounted for 5.5 percent of total industrial investment, an increase of 310.9 percent. Completed investment in the food industry accounted for 11.9 percent of all industrial investment, a year-on-year decrease of 23.7 percent.

In addition, industrial investment by private capital accounted for 64.8 percent of the city's total, an increase of 142.8 percent year-on-year. It reached a record high for this period of the year since the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15).