Changsha held a press conference on promoting high-quality economic development on September 20. It is one of the "Changsha's Extraordinary Achievements over the Past Decade" press conference series. In the past ten years, based on the new development stage, Changsha has fully, accurately and comprehensively implemented the new development philosophy, fostered a new development paradigm, and boosted high-quality development. Consequently, the city's high-quality economic development has been put on a fast track in an all-round way.
At the press conference. (Photo/Deng Di, Changsha Evening News)
Three historic strides have been made in Changsha: economic aggregate exceeding one trillion yuan, local general public budget revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan, and permanent population exceeding 10 million. Among them, the city's GDP made leapfrog development, growing from 639.991 billion yuan in 2012 to 1.32707 trillion yuan in 2021. The growth rate ranked sixth among provincial capitals in China. Changsha County, Liuyang City (county-level city) and Ningxiang City (county-level city) ranked 3rd, 8th and 15th respectively on the list of top 100 county economies in China. Furong, Tianxin, Yuelu, Kaifu, Yuhua and Wangcheng districts have been included in China's top 100 urban districts in terms of economy.
Changsha has the most national intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories in China. It ranked 12th among the top 100 cities in digital economic development, with its digital economy totaling nearly 400 billion yuan. There are more than 1.5 million market entities. Changsha has introduced 22 new policies for talents and 45 upgraded ones for talents, attracting more than 2.8 million innovative talents. The ecology of innovation has been significantly improved. Four major laboratories, namely, Yuelu Mountain Laboratory, Yuelu Mountain Industrial Innovation Center, Xiangjiang Laboratory, and Furong Laboratory, have been unveiled successively. The number of innovation platforms grew from more than 300 a decade ago to more than 1,500, and that of high-tech enterprises increased from 825 a decade ago to 5,218. Changsha's innovation concentration and intensity have been greatly improved, and its innovation capacity has risen to the 8th place among national innovative cities.
The Changsha Huanghua International Airport now has two runways and two terminals in service; the Changsha railway network is to greet a second high-speed railway station; a Union-Jack-shaped Changsha metro network has taken shape; and, the Changsha power grid has joined the ultra-high voltage power transmission network. New breakthroughs have been continuously made in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan (CZT) integrated development. The "CZT on the Track" construction has been accelerated. A "half-hour economic circle" has basically taken shape, and rural revitalization demonstration city construction has been sped up.
Changsha fueled an average annual economic growth of 7.8% with an average annual energy consumption growth of 3.0%. Energy consumption per unit of GDP was reduced by more than 20%. The rate of excellent or good air quality rose from 53.7% in 2013 to 83.3% in 2021. The rate of excellent or good water quality of the city's six major rivers reached 100%. The city's forest coverage rate reached 55%, ranking among the top three provincial capitals in China.
Changsha's total import and export volume increased from 54.88 billion yuan in 2012 to 278.03 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 4.1 times. Its trading partners cover 227 countries and regions around the world, and over one-third of the Fortune Global 500 enterprises have invested in Changsha. It has become one of the top 10 cities with fastest improvement in the ease of doing business. It has handled over 1,000 China-Europe freight train trips. Changsha has become the location of such major international grand events as the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and the Global Economic Development and Security Forum of the Boao Forum for Asia.
Changsha has been selected as the happiest city in China for 14 consecutive years. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents doubled from 30,288 yuan and 15,057 yuan in 2012 to 62,145 yuan and 38,195 yuan, respectively. Changsha's experience in acting on the principle that houses are for living in, not speculation has been promoted nationwide. Full coverage of basic old-age insurance and medical insurance for urban and rural residents has been achieved. The coverage of public and government-funded and privately-run non-profit kindergartens stands above 92%, and 98% of schools have completed standardized school construction.
Source: en.changsha.gov.cn
