Concerns of growth at cost of environment

Zheng Fenming, director of the Institute of Modernization Strategy at the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, said the government should increase investment in innovation, education and research and development to ensure healthy and sustainable economic development in the coming years.

"The government should prioritize the development of environmentally friendly industries that consume less energy and resources in the years ahead," Zheng said.

"The government and companies invested too much in developing real estate and other industries that consume a great deal of land resources and energy in recent years, causing serious environmental pollution," Zheng said.

China's GDP reached more than 24.8 trillion yuan ($4 trillion) in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percent.

The country's GDP is projected to grow at 7.5 percent this year, a slowdown from the double-digit growth of previous years.

Guangdong province, one of the country's economic powerhouses, led the country with registered GDP of 2.846 trillion yuan in the first half, 8.5 percent up from the same period last year.

Guangdong has ranked first in GDP among all provincial areas for more than two decades since the country adopted reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970s.

Zhuang Na contributed to this story.