Tianjin's manufacturing sector, which has been the economic backbone of the city since last year, grows robustly and powers the port city's economy.

Contributing 24.1 percent of Tianjin's GDP, manufacturing industries played key roles in the city's stable and sound economic performance last year.

Meanwhile, the total output value of industries above designated size -- enterprises with annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) or more -- soared 18.4 percent to top 2 trillion yuan. Their profits saw a year-on-year increase of 50.7 percent.

Accordingly, investment in the sector also went further ahead, growing by 13.8 percent year-on-year.

In this year, to further consolidate and boast the positive momentum of the sector, the metropolis will take more initiatives.

Tianjin will promote a total investment of 210.7 billion yuan in 304 project construction; and plan several major projects as supplement to areas of weakness. The goal is to fully implement  502 key industrial projects with investment totaling  366.7 million yuan.

It expects more than 100 digital workshops and intelligent factories, and for its 5G base stations to hit  50,000.

Also, city and state-level and environmental-friendly model enterprise are expected to reach 200 and 150, respectively this year.