Yao has benefited from Liuzhou's economic transformation as traditional industries like steel, plagued by excess capacity and decreasing demand, are losing steam. Support for emerging sectors is a priority on the government's agenda.
Statistics from Liuzhou's government work report showed that its GDP growth was 8 percent in 2015, lower than the yearly growth of 9.8 percent on average between 2011 and 2015, due to a sluggish secondary industry.
Its modern tertiary sectors, led by the service sector and tourism, have started to make bigger contributions to the economy, accounting for around 36 percent of the city's GDP last year, compared with 28 percent in 2010.