In the first quarter of this year, the leading economic indicators of Harbin city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province improved significantly, showing a steady recovery of economic operations in the new year. 
 
During the period, Harbin's GDP reached 100.34 billion yuan ($15.05 billion), a surge of 14 percent.
 
The city's total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries reached 8.43 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.7 percent and an increase of 8.9 percentage points from the same period last year.
 
Among them, the output value of animal husbandry and forestry increased by 6.5 percent and 23.6 percent, respectively.
 
From January to March, the added value of the city's industries above designated size increased by 19.1 percent year-on-year.
 
The added value of the equipment manufacturing, food and pharmaceutical industries respectively increased by 33.7 percent, 11.6 percent and 8.9 percent year-on-year.
 
Meanwhile, the city's strategic emerging industries grew rapidly, achieving a year-on-year increase of 41.8 percent.
 
The added value of the new materials, new energy vehicles, new-generation information technology and bio-industry sectors increased by 160 percent, 94.8 percent, 40.8 percent and 13.9 percent year-on-year, respectively.
 
Moreover, the city's consumer market continued to recover.
 
In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods in Harbin amounted to 51.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.5 percent. The value added of the wholesale and retail industry increased by 35.8 percent year-on-year, contributing 30.7 percent to the city's GDP growth.
 
In the first quarter, the city's completed fixed-asset investment increased by 47.8 percent year-on-year, ranking second among 15 sub-provincial cities across the country.
 
Also, Harbin contracted 32 projects each with an investment of more than 10 million yuan from outside Heilongjiang province, an increase of 21 from the same period last year. The contracted value was 38.4 billion yuan, an increase of 1.3 times year-on-year.