Aerial photo taken on March 26, 2018 shows tourists visiting a tea plantation in Fuyang District of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

HANGZHOU, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The gross domestic product (GDP) of east China's Zhejiang Province grew 6.6 percent to 4.32 trillion yuan (611 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of the year, the provincial bureau of statistics said Thursday.

Wang Meifu, the chief statistician of the provincial bureau of statistics, said Zhejiang's economy maintained strong development momentum and the economic structure continued to be optimized in the first three quarters of the year.

A breakdown of the data showed the core industries of the digital economy witnessed a growth of 13 percent in value added in the first three quarters of the year. The value added of the province's high-tech industry, advanced technology industry, equipment manufacturing industry and strategic emerging industry increased by 12.8 percent, 6.8 percent, 6.4 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively.

As a major province of the private economy, Zhejiang's private investor confidence has risen significantly in the January-September period, as private investment grew 7.7 percent, accounting for 62.9 percent of the total investment of the province.

In the same period, the foreign trade of Zhejiang rose by 6.3 percent, and imports and exports increased by 2.8 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.

Zhejiang's exports accounted for 13.5 percent of the country's total export volume. Exports to countries along the Belt and Road reached 573.3 billion yuan, up 12.8 percent, accounting for 34.1 percent of the total exports of the province. ■