Hebei saw steady economic growth in the first six months, the provincial statistics department said on Friday.

The GDP of the province reached 1.32 trillion yuan ($215 billion) in the first half of this year, up 8.7 percent year-on-year. The primary industry witnessed an increase of 2.7 percent to 136 billion yuan, and the service sector rose by 8.3 percent to 455 billion yuan. The manufacturing sector increased the largest by 10 percent to 725 billion yuan, according to the provincial statistics department.

“Though the growth is slower, it's not easy to maintain the growth momentum amid measures to optimize the economic structure,” said Yang Jingxiang, spokesman for the statistics department, at a news conference on Friday.

Hebei will cut more than 1 million tons of antiquated iron and steel production facilities, meaning small iron and steel companies will be shut down, according to the provincial government.

“Though these efforts slowed down the economic growth now, it will fuel the local economy to grow in a more sustainable way,” the spokesman said.