The industrial output value of enterprises above designated size in Ningbo was valued at 486.5 billion yuan ($74.85 billion) in 2021, ranking seventh nationwide, official data shows.

The figure also represents a yearly uptick of 11.9 percent, with the growth rate placed 10th in the nation alongside Xiamen, East China's Zhejiang province. 

Suzhou, in East China's Jiangsu province, which has not released related statistics, was not included in the ranking.

The city's fast growth in industrial added value was primarily driven by sectors including artificial intelligence, new materials and high-tech manufacturing.

The rising R&D spending of local enterprises has also bolstered the increase. Official statistics show that R&D spending among local industrial enterprises above designated size in the past year surged 28.1 percent year-on-year to 50.3 billion yuan.

The local government has set the goal of increasing the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size to 680 billion yuan by 2025.

Its industrial added value is also targeted to reach 810 billion, accounting for about 40.5 percent of the city's economic output.

In addition, the city will strive to ensure the profit margin of local above-designated-size industrial enterprises is one percentage point higher than the national average.

In 2021, the added value of the manufacturing sector in China amounted to 31.4 trillion yuan, ranking first in the world for 12 consecutive years and accounting for nearly one third of the world's total.