A memorable sunset comes to Zibo city. [Photo/VCG]
Zibo city in East China's Shandong province has seen rapid advances and significant transformation in several key areas over the past 10 years and its future is bright, according to a top municipal official.
Its gross domestic product hit 420.06 billion yuan ($63 billion) in 2021 and per capita GDP topped 89,000 yuan, said Zibo Party Secretary Ma Xiaolei, speaking at a news conference in the city on Sept 13.
Zibo Party Secretary Ma Xiaolei gives a speech at a news conference in Zibo on Sept 13. [Photo provided to shandong.chinadaily.com.cn]
As the only city in China whose territory covers resource-exhausted terrain, mining areas and old urban industrial zones, Zibo has made breakthroughs in replacing the old drivers of economic growth with new ones.
Its transformation of these areas won praise from the State Council – China's Cabinet – in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021.
It has been transforming traditional industries – including heavily polluting chemicals factories and coal-fired power plants – into ones that are efficient and environmentally friendly.
An exterior view of Zibo Science City, a bright and modern facility that typifies the metropolis. [Photo/zbnews.net]
It has also fostered emerging industries, such as new materials, intelligent equipment, new medicine, and electronic information.
The current number of high-tech enterprises based in Zibo is 3.6 times more than 10 years ago. Additionally, the production value of these businesses last year accounted for 47.1 percent of the city's total industrial production value, according to the local government.
Zibo continues to strive to build an eco-friendly environment, something it has been doing for a decade. [Photo/IC]
The city's natural environment has also seen steady progress over 10 consecutive years. The number of days with good air quality has doubled those in 2013. Moreover, Zibo has been recognized by the State Council as one of the four cities with the most obvious improvements to the quality of the environment.
Zibo has taken the lead in Shandong to map out an action plan for common prosperity, characterized by a more equal distribution of wealth among its residents.
The income of Zibo's urban and rural residents increased by 89.8 percent and 115.9 percent, respectively during the period, Ma said. In the first half of this year, the per capita disposable income of urban residents and rural residents stood at 24,703 yuan and 14,413 yuan, respectively.
