A geographic information industrial park in Deqing county, Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hz66.com]

The added value of the service sector in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province amounted to 163.13 billion yuan ($25.1 billion) in 2021, up 9 percent year-on-year, the highest growth of all cities in the province, official statistics show.

Wang Haiqiang, an official at the Huzhou municipal development and reform commission, attributed the robust growth to a string of innovative measures taken by the government to bolster the service sector.

One such approach is helping enterprises expand sales by leveraging commercial livestreams. In Zhili town, a national manufacturing hub for children's wear located in Huzhou's Wuxing district, more than 2,000 livestream studios have been set up. Every minute, nearly 1,000 pieces of clothes are sold in the town via these livestreams, according to a local official.

Six industrial parks in Huzhou were also designated provincial innovative development zones for the service sector last year, making the city the first city in Zhejiang to see all its administrative areas host such a zone.

Another measure unveiled by the city is the distribution of coupons to stimulate consumption. In 2021, Huzhou issued coupons worth 157 million yuan. Sales of social consumer goods in the city totaled 155.62 billion yuan, up 9.2 percent year-on-year.