An aerial view of Jining [Photo/Jining News]

According to the recently released comprehensive performance evaluation results of Shandong's 16 cities for high-quality development in 2022, Jining secured a first-class assessment rating.

Last year, the city accomplished a regional GDP (gross domestic product) of 530 billion yuan ($75.17 billion), a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent. Additionally, the general public budget revenue reached 44.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 8.6 percent.

Jining witnessed an accelerated transformation of growth drivers in 2022, leading to manufacturing breakthroughs. A total of 253 provincial champions, specialist enterprises, and gazelle companies emerged in 2022, while five national-level "little giant" enterprises joined the ranks, positioning Jining first in the province.

In recent times, Jining has experienced significant growth due to consistent enhancements in its business environment. The city has made remarkable progress, achieving complete online service coverage for city-level approvals and welcoming 2,000 "four-up" companies. Moreover, the city's effective investment has continued to expand, with 801 key provincial and municipal projects surpassing planned investments by 45 percentage points, accumulating a total of 200 billion yuan.

The city of Jining has made commendable strides in enhancing the quality of life in both urban and rural areas through its efforts toward rural revitalization. Among their notable accomplishments, the city has successfully integrated the bus systems in the main urban area and Yanzhou district, carried out extensive renovations of 129 old neighborhoods, completed 3,043 housing redevelopment projects, and added 107 new pocket parks to their beautiful surroundings.

Social undertakings in Jining made significant progress in its social endeavors to improve the lives and welfare of its citizens. Last year, the city created 66,000 new urban jobs, expanded and reconstructed 27 schools, established 91 new public kindergartens, added 13,000 nursery seats, and opened 315 childcare service institutions and 1,406 senior care facilities.