Changchun, capital of Jilin province, has led the growth of cities in Northeast China over the past year while the region is experiencing challenges during its industrial upgrading.

The city's GDP reached 592.8 billion yuan ($85.86 billion) last year, up 7.8 percent year-on-year, ranking No 1 among capital cities in Northeast China.

By the beginning of this year, 33 State-owned enterprises, 64 of the top 500 companies in China and 71 Fortune Global 500 companies had set up operations in the city.

The number of projects with investment of 1 billion yuan or higher that the city introduced from outside Jilin province reached 87, and actually used investment amounted to 54.1 billion yuan.

"Changchun should seize the great opportunities generated by a range of national and regional development strategies, including the Belt and Road Initiative and the Changchun-Jilin-Tumen River corridor's opening-up, to improve the city's strength by accelerating its industrial upgrading and innovative development," said Wang Junzheng, Party chief of the city and a member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China Jilin provincial committee.

The city has also made great progress in cutting excessive industrial capacity and reducing energy consumption.

In 2016, the city's cement output dropped by 9.7 percent year-on-year and the total area of sold commercial residential buildings reached 10.18 million square meters, up 25.5 percent year-on-year.

The output of the city's six major energy-consuming industries contributed 13.6 percent of Changchun's GDP, compared with 14.6 percent the previous year.

In addition, the city's industrial economy ended its negative growth period in March, generating output of 927.8 billion yuan last year, up 8.6 percent year-on-year.