The first session of the 18th Jining Municipal People's Congress opens on Feb 23. [Photo/Jining News]

The first session of the 18th Jining Municipal People's Congress opened in Jining, East China's Shandong province on Feb 23.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Lin Hongyu, Party secretary of Jining, with 505 deputies from all walks of life in attendance.

Yu Yongsheng, mayor of Jining, gave a presentation on the municipal government's work report during the ceremony. He gave an overview of the government's activities during the previous year and explained the government's goals for the next five years as well as key work plans for 2022.

According to Yu, the next five years will be critical for Jining in terms of speeding up the transition from old to new economic engines and achieving high-quality development.

Yu said that Jining should make full use of its complete industrial system, advantageous location, profound culture, and abundant natural resources to boost manufacturing, science and technology, modern water and air logistics, urban construction, rural revitalization, cultural development, and environmental protection.