Statistical Communique of Changz

Statistical Communique of Changzhou on the 2017

Local Economic and Social Development

Faced with complicated macro economic environment and heavy reform & development tasks, the Changzhou local authorities worked hard to make more competitive edges, grow Changzhou ¡°Happiness Tree¡± and advance key business projects in 2017. As a result, the city witnessed improved competitiveness, accelerated economic restructuring, enhanced economic and social developments and improved well-being of its citizens.

I. Overview of the Local Economy

The local economy maintained a steady growth. Changzhou¡¯s gross domestic product (GDP) of 2017 exceeded the 600 billion RMB threshold for the first time and reached 661.84 billion RMB, up by 8.1% (calculated at constant prices) in comparison to 2016. The city ranked the 5th (up from the 6th in 2016) among all 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu in terms of GDP, and the 2nd (tied with other cities) in terms of GDP growth rate. Of the total GDP, the value added of the primary industry reached 15.71 billion RMB, up by 1%; that of the secondary industry grew by 6.8% to 309.86 billion RMB; and that of the tertiary industry grew by 9.7% to 336.27 billion RMB. The per capita GDP (by permanent resident population) topped 140,435 RMB, exceeding the USD20,000 threshold to USD20,800 (converted at the average exchange rate). The percentage of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries in the economy were adjusted to 2.4%:46.8%:50.8%. The percentage of the tertiary industry was up by 0.2 percentage points. The value added of the private sector grew by 8.3% to 446.41 billion RMB (calculated at constant prices), accounting for 67.4% of the total local GDP.

Fiscal revenues grew steadily. In 2017, the general budgetary revenues grew by 8% to 51.88 billion RMB, which placed the city on the 5th among all 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu. Of the total, tax revenues surged by 12.6% (fasted growth in Jiangsu) to 43.14 billion RMB, accounting for 83.1% (second highest percentage rate) of the total. And among all major tax revenues, value added tax revenues for the local part (50% of the total VAT) reached 19.99 billion RMB, up by 33.9%; corporate income tax revenues grew by 27.2% to 6.52 billion RMB; and individual income tax revenues hit 2.75 billion RMB, up by 0.1%. The general public spending in 2017 increased by 8.6% to 55.16 billion RMB. And the spending on public welfare-related matters grew fast. In particular, spending on education increased by 17.0% to 9.79 billion RMB, that on social security and employment grew by 11.1% to 6.06 billion and that on affordable housing surged by 47% to 2.95 billion.

II. Agriculture and Rural Economy

Agricultural production remained stable. In 2017, the total output of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry ad fishing combined grew by 3.4% to 29.36 billion RMB (calculated at current prices), among which agriculture grew by 4.2% to 15.89 billion RMB, forestry grew by 5% to 210 million, animal husbandry dropped by 10.4% to 3.53 billion, and fishing grew by 7.3% to 7.83 billion. Furthermore, the output value of the agriculture-related service sectors reached 1.9 billion RMB, up by 10.8%. The sown area of grain fell by 15% to 1.693 million mu (1 mu = 0.0667 hectares). And the aggregate grain output dropped by 13.3% to 814,000 tons, among which the summer and autumn grain output stood at 194,000 tons and 620,000 tons respectively, down by 22.3% and 9.9% in comparison to 2016. Also in 2017, the grain yield per unit increased by 2.1% to 480.7 kg/mu, among which rice yield grew by 0.4% to 619.7 kg/mu while wheat yield remained roughly the same as last year at 307.3 kg/mu.

Modern agriculture accelerated. In 2017, Changzhou remained as a top city in Jiangsu in terms of agricultural modernization, and ranked No.1 among all Chinese prefecture-level cities in terms of the development level of national modern agricultural demonstration zones. 55,000 mu of high-standard farming land were established in 2017 and the city¡¯s total high-standard farming land accounted for 64% of its total farming land. Meanwhile, with 13,000 mu of newly-created protected agricultural land and 9,000 mu of newly-created facility area, the city¡¯s aggregate protected agricultural land and facility fishery area took up 22.6% and 38% of the city¡¯s total farming land and aquaculture area. Besides, new types of agricultural operators were fostered proactively, lifting the number of family farms and farmer cooperatives to 2,704 and 3,401 respectively. And the overall agricultural mechanization level reached 87%.

III. Industry and Construction

Industrial production increased steadily. In accordance with provincial statistics standards, the total output value of industrial enterprises above the designated size in Changzhou grew by 7.8% (calculated at constant prices) in 2017. All seven major industry sectors registered growth. In particular, the machinery, metallurgy, electronics, chemistry, bio-medicine, textile& garments, construction grew by 17%, 20.4%, 17.5%, 14%, 6.2%, 6.3% and 6.8% respectively. In addition, corporate performances picked up, and the profits of industrial enterprises above the designated size is 71.60 billion RMB.

The ten major industrial chains developed fast. In 2017, the aggregate output value of industrial enterprises above the designated size in the ten major industrial chains grew by 15.8%, which accounted for 38.6% of the city¡¯s total output value increase in 2017. All of the ten major industrial chains saw growth, among which, the new energy car & core parts sector grew by 22.9%, the smart power grid sector grew by 22.2%, the new material sector grew by 20.6%, the smart manufacturing equipment sector grew by 18.9% and the new medicine & bio-technology sector grew by 15.4%.

The construction sector maintained steady growth. In 2017, the construction output value of local construction enterprises grew by 9.2% to 139.04 billion RMB. The floor space under construction increased by 3.6% to 95.727 million m2 and the floor space completed grew by 3.7% to 34.418 million m2. The per capita productivity of the construction sector grew by 6.5% to 295,000 RMB/person (calculated by the total construction output value).

IV. Fixed Asset Investment

Fixed asset investments maintained growth momentum. In 2017, fixed asset investments in Changzhou grew by 8.1% to 389.63 billion RMB, among which, industrial investments grew by 8.4% to 207.97 billion RMB and tertiary industry investments climbed by 7.8% to 181.22 billion RMB. Meanwhile, investments from hi-tech enterprises grew by 10.5% to 85.19 billion RMB, accounting for 41% of the total industrial investments. And investments from the private sector climbed by 10.8% to 286.04 billion RMB, accounting for 73.4% of the total fixed asset investments. Furthermore, the city witnessed 23 new key projects in 2017 and five of them were 10 billion RMB or 1 billion USD projects. The city had the most newly-started provincial key projects and the most industrial projects in Jiangsu.

The local housing market enjoyed smooth development. Real estate investments throughout the year increased by 7.3% to 47.91 billion RMB. Of this total, residential investments increased by 7.1% to 33.9 billion RMB. 10.303 million m2 of commercial floor space was sold, up by 10.4%. Of this total, 8.293 million m2 of residential floor space was sold, up by 2.3%. By end of 2017, 4.237 million m2 of commercial floor space remained unsold, down by 20.8% in comparison to 2016. Of this total, 1.158 million m2 of residential floor space was yet to be sold, down by 40.8%.

V. Domestic Trade

The local consumption continued to grow. In 2017, the total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 11% to 244.4 billion RMB. In terms of consumption patterns, sales volume for the wholesale, retail, accommodation and catering businesses reached 30.61 billion, 192.28 billion, 2.06 billion, 19.46 billion RMB respectively, up by 10%, 10.7%, 19.8% and 14.8% respectively. In terms of urban and rural consumption, sales volume in urban areas increased by 10.4% to 227.5 billion RMB and that in rural areas grew by 18.5% to 16.91 billion RMB.

VI. Open Economy

Foreign trade restructured gradually. In 2017, Changzhou¡¯s foreign trade volume stood at 211.76 billion RMB, up by 16.4%. Among this total, exports grew by 13.1% to 155.48 billion RMB while imports grew by 26.4% to 56.28 billion RMB. Local enterprises proactively expanded exports to emerging markets. In particular, exports to ¡°One Belt and One Road¡± countries grew by 14.3% to 51.31 billion RMB, taking up 33% of the city¡¯s total. Furthermore, foreign trade quality continued to improve. General exports reached 124.36 billion RMB, accounting for 80% of the city¡¯s total. And hi-tech exports hit 30.82 billion RMB, accounting for 19.8%.

Foreign investment continued to improve. Throughout the year, 372 new foreign-invested projects were pledged with a committed foreign capital of 4.61 billion USD. Of this total, 57 projects were above 30 million USD each, 14 more than those of 2016. And 36 projects were above 100 million USD each, 12 more than those of 2016. 137 new projects were in the ten major industrial chains with a pledged foreign capital of 1.86 billion USD. In addition, 2.55 billion USD was actually invested in the city in 2017. And 6 new Fortune 500 company invested projects as well as 4 new regional headquarters and functional facilities of multinational companies were established.

The city further integrated itself to the world. In 2017, the local ¡°go global¡± efforts were enhanced. 67 new outbound investment projects were made with a total pledged investment of 830 million USD. Moreover, overseas industrial parks and key projects were proactively advanced. For instance, Trinasolar¡¯s 100 million USD project in Vietnam was carried out smoothly. Meanwhile, the service outsource sector grew fast. Service outsource contracts worth of 650 million USD were signed and those worth of 560 million USD were executed, up by 32.9% and 36.2% respectively. Of this total, offshore service outsource contracts worth of 220 million USD were signed and those worth of 190 million USD were executed, up by 40.2% and 33.3% respectively. Besides, the Changzhou Airport was furthered connected to the world. It opened up 4 outbound air routes to Siem Reap of Cambodia, Nha Trang of Vietnam, Phuket Island of Thailand and Macao.

Local development zones were upgraded. In 2017, development zones across the city developed fast. For instance, the Changzhou National Hi-tech Distict ranked the 4th place among all national hi-tech zones in Jiangsu and Wujin National Hi-tech Industrial Zone ranked No.1 among all national county-level hi-tech zones across China. Meanwhile, these development zones secured a pledged foreign investment of 3.46 billion USD and received a total foreign investment of 2.1 billion USD. Of all the new investment projects in 2017, 39 of them had an investment of above 1 billion RMB or a pledged investment of above 30 million USD each. And among the 39 big projects, 20 of them were domestic projects with a total investment of 66.61 billion RMB. The remaining 19 were foreign investment with a total investment of 1.55 billion USD. A number of key industrial projects were introduced, like the Tech-New Group¡¯s car core system project, the Times-SAIC-Motor battery project, the Sunway Communication¡¯s Jiangsu industrial park project, the Kangde Group¡¯s carbon car parts project, and the Ruizhi Tech project.

International exchanges remained active. Changzhou received 190 foreign delegations of 1639 persons throughout 2017. Among them were 21 groups of 129 embassy and consulate officials, 35 groups of 346 persons from international sister cities and 6 groups of 62 foreign journalists.

VII. Transportation, Post, Telecommunication and Tourism

The local transportation remained stable. By end of 2017, the total length of highways in Changzhou reached 9,200 km and 306 km of them were expressways. In 2017, the total passenger traffic stood at 63.983 million persons, down by 11.2% over 2016. The total freight traffic stood at 146.694 million tons, up by 9.5%. The passenger traffic handled by highways fell by 16.7% to 45.19 million persons and the passenger flows dropped by 13.1% to 3.23 billion person-kilometers. The freight traffic handled by highways grew by 9.7% to 120 million tons and the freight flows increased by 10.7% to 13.51 billion ton-kilometers. The passenger and freight traffic handled by railways grew by2.0% and 9.4% to 14.63 million persons and 1.192 million tons respectively. Passengers and freight & mails handled by civil aviation reached 2.511 million persons and 19,000 tons, up by 28.4% and 20.3% respectively. Besides, freight handled by ports grew by 11.1% to 104.281 million and that handled by the Changzhou Yangtze River Port in particular climbed by 17% to 47.144 million tons. By end of 2017, the total number of automobiles for civilian use hit 1.228 million, among which private ones topped 1,048,000.

Post and telecommunications services grew fast. The total turnover and revenue of post services reached 5.22 billion and 4 billion RMB, up by 28.5% and 18.2% respectively. Revenues of express delivery services grew by 16.9% to 2.87 billion RMB and the volume of express parcels climbed up 15.1% to 190 million units. The telecommunications services registered a total revenue of 5.64 billion RMB, up by 3.2%. By end of 2017, there were 1.139 million fixed-line phone subscribers and 6.005 million mobile phone users. Of the total mobile phone users, 4.794 million were 4G service subscribers. In addition, internet users grew to 2.298 million households, among which 2.294 million were broadband users.

Tourism enjoyed a fast growth. In 2017, the local tourism sector generated a total revenue of 95.37 billion RMB, with a year-on-year growth of 14.4%. The total number of tourists to the city grew by 9.9% to 66.004 million. Of this total, 65.827 million were domestic tourists, registering a year-on-year growth of 9.9%. And they contributed to a tourism revenue of 93.68 billion RMB, up by 14.2%. They city also received 177,000 inbound overnight tourists who generated a tourism revenue of 150 million USD, up by 21.4% and 17.7%. By end of 2017, the city boasted 31 national Class-A scenic areas, among which were 3 5A scenic areas (second highest number among all 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu) and 9 4A ones. The city also had 4 provincial agricultural tourist demonstration sites and 45 provincial 3-star and above countryside tourism sites.

VIII. The Financial Sector

The local financial sector developed smoothly. By end of 2017, Chinese yuan-denominated and foreign currency deposits in financial institutions across the city grew by 134.19 billion to 1019.19 billion RMB, up by 15.2%. Of this total, household savings grew by 4.8% to 357.85 billion RMB. Meanwhile, Chinese yuan-denominated and foreign currency loans of all the financial institutions in the city increased by 63.66 billion to 671.8 billion RMB, up by 10.5%.

The local insurance sector enjoyed a rapid growth. By end of 2017, insurance companies across the city totaled 72, among which were 28 property insurance companies and 44 life insurance ones. Insurance premium throughout the year climbed by 24.5% to 28 billion RMB, among which life insurance premium grew by 30.5% to 22.1 billion RMB while property insurance premium increased by 6.3% to 5.9 billion RMB. Insurance companies paid an indemnity of 6.95 billion RMB, up by 3.1%. Of this total, life indemnity stood at 3.43 billion RMB, up by 3.3% whereas property indemnity increased by 3% to 3.52 billion RMB.

The local securities market slowed down. By end of 2017, there were 54 securities business offices across the city, managing 1.099 million securities accounts. The total securities transaction volume in 2017 plunged by 24.8% to 1462.59 billion RMB, among which A-share transactions plummeted by 45.5% to 909.22 billion RMB, B-share transactions surged by 77.6% to 57.02 billion RMB, fund transactions surged by 426.5% to 176.08 billion RMB and bond transactions climbed by 52.5% to 320.27 billion RMB. In addition, the city witnessed the highest number of new IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) in history, 12 all together, bringing the the total number of public-traded local companies to 55. Besides, 30 new companies were traded in NEEQ (National Equities Exchange and Quotations), bringing the city¡¯s total to 124.

IX. Science and Technology Innovation

Local innovation continued to rise. In 2017, 33,973 patent applications were made, among which were 11,556 invention patent applications. And 16,423 patents were granted, among which were 2,830 invention patents. Patents per 10,000 persons reached 28.6. Besides, 178 new hi-tech enterprises were established, bringing the city¡¯s total to 1,234. The output value of hi-tech enterprises above the designated size accounted for 46.6% of the city¡¯s total industrial output value. Furthermore, 279 provincial and national-level science & technology projects were approved and 1,250 industry-academy-research integration projects were newly created. Besides, Changzhou ranked the 4th in Jiangsu in terms of science & technology progress. Skilled professionals continued to grow both in quantity and quality. By end of 2017, the city boasted 296,500 skilled professionals, making the per capita skilled professionals to 1,053 persons/10,000 workers.

Innovation platforms advanced fast. Throughout 2017, 71 new provincial and national R & D institutions were created, bringing the city¡¯s total ¡°Two Stations and Three Centers¡± R & D entities to 1,448. Of this total, 730 of them were national and provincial R & D entities. Furthermore, 15 new incubators were created, bringing the city¡¯s total to 136. The aggregate floor space of these incubators exceeded 8.9 million m2 and a total number of over 6,800 science & technology star-ups were incubated by end of 2017. Besides, 31 more local enterprises passed the examination of the national industrialization & informationization integration management system, the highest number in Jiangsu.

Development of hi-tech industrial parks accelerated. The Changzhou Science and Education Town ranked the 2nd place in China¡¯s Best Industrial Park List for 4 years in a row. The Jiangsu Zhongguancun Hi-tech Industrial Zone was selected as China¡¯s Top 10 Best Lithium Battery Industrial Park for Investment. The Jintan Economic Development Zone was recognized as a national IP (intellectual property) pilot zone. The Changzhou Economic Development District¡¯s smart micro-motor industrial park was incorporated into the second group of National ¡°Torch¡± Featured Industrial Bases. Besides, there were 16 projects in the China-Israel (Changzhou) Innovation Park and 66 Israel-invested companies & Sino-Israeli joint ventures across the city by end of 2017.

X. Education, Culture, Public Health and Sports

Education continued to improve. By end of 2017, the city had a total number of 718 schools with 842,000 registered students and 61,000 faculties. In particular, there were 10 higher education institutes with 123,000 registered students, 19 secondary education schools (technical schools included) with 64,000 registered students, 161 middle schools with 171,000 registered students, 211 primary schools with 291,000 registered students and 312 kindergartens with 138,000 registered students. The nine-year compulsory education coverage maintained 100% while gross enrollment rate to senior high schools also stood at 100%. Changzhou scored 89.94 points in terms of educational modernization and remained in the first tier in South Jiangsu for 4 years in a row. Furthermore, educational hardware continued to improve. 81 key educational construction projects were executed and 24 new campuses were completed with an additional schooling capacity for 22595 students. Education developed at all levels. The city witnessed 10 new provincial premium kindergartens, 13 municipal premium ones and 7 municipal ones with distinctive features. Besides, 15 schools received the title ¡°new premium schools of compulsory education¡± while 6 compulsory education programs were selected as premium ones. Moreover, the local vocational education sector earned 3 demonstration programs of Ministry of Education, 3 provincial modern program clusters of secondary education, 2 modern program clusters of 5-year higher vocational education, 6 provincial modern apprenticeship programs. All the key development indicators of the vocational education sector ranked high in Jiangsu. In addition, Changzhou also carried out pilot projects like digital learning demonstration communities, community education groups and community learning tours.

Cultural services continued to improve. By end of 2017, there were 11 arts performance associations, 7 arts & cultural galleries, 27 museums. There were also 6 public libraries with a total book collection of 5 million copies, which received 2.469 million visitors throughout the year. The city also had 7 local radio programs and 7 local TV programs, with subscribers to cable TV programs and digital TV programs hitting 1.215 million households and 1.14 million households. Besides, public cultural services continued to progress, the construction work of Changzhou Cultural Square advanced, and 330 grass-root level cultural service centers were established. Furthermore, great achievements were made in artistic works. The original Xi opera drama Farewell to My Dear was performed in the Guangzhou International Arts Festival as the only drama from Jiangsu. The original Xi opera drama Sunset of Qingguo Alley was performed in the South China Local Opera Show as a key representative drama of Jiangsu. And the Xi opera drama Magnolia Blossom won the Wenhua Award. Moreover, more efforts were made to protect cultural relics and promote cultural spirits. For instance, the Grand Canal Memory Museum was opened to the public, the former residence of Huang Zhongze was refurbished, and memorial halls of famous Changzhou locals like Tang Jingchuan, Zhou youguang, Zhang Tailei were constructed at a faster pace. In addition, more efforts were made to bring tangible cultural benefits to the public. The mass cultural campaign ¡° Cultural 100¡± was held for four years in a row, with the 2017 campaign launching 9 series of 306 cultural activities.

The local public health service developed fast. By end of 2017, there were 1,326 medical institutions with 26,700 hospital beds across the city. The city¡¯s medical staff totaled 32,500, among which were 13,100 licensed/assistant doctors and 14,300 registered nurses. On average, every one thousand citizens had 2.78 licensed/assistant doctors. Furthermore, comprehensive reforms on public hospitals were further advanced. Nearly 150 entities of various medical cooperation types were established, which included medical alliances, specialized hospital networks, and hospital-government cooperation. 839 family doctor teams were established and 75% of the primarily targeted population signed in for the family doctor service. Changzhou municipality and Jintan District won the Jiangsu 10 Innovation Award for Family Doctor Subscription Services. Meanwhile, the per capita subsidy for basic public health services rose to 70 RMB. The city continued to carry out public health services like breast & ovarian cancer examinations for women, oral disease examinations for children and pit & fissure sealing treatments. Key indicators for the development of National AIDS Prevention & Control Demonstration Zone were among the top in Jiangsu. Vaccination outpatient services were 100% up to standard. 24 programs were qualified as National Natural Science Foundation programs. And the city made a record in terms of number, level and funding of provincial and national high-level programs. Changzhou also had the most newly-established provincial health towns (sub-districts), villages (communities) and units among all the 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu. The birth rate remained stable and second babies accounted for 43% of all the newborns in 2017.

The local sports service grew steadily. By end of 2017, Changzhou boasted 13,218 playgrounds, among which were 27 stadiums and 30 gymnasiums. 511,000 m2 of new sports facilities was created. The city also hosted 9 international, 26 national and 35 provincial sports games. In the 13th National Sports Games, athletes from the city won 13 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals, making an all-time high.

XI. Population, People¡¯s Livelihood and Social Security

The local population remained stable. By end of 2017, there were 4.717 million permanent residents, among which 3.387 million were urban residents. And the urbanization rate reached 71.8%. The total number of registered residents grew by 1.1% to 3.788 million, among which 1.866 million were males, up by 0.7% whereas 1.922 million were females, up by 1.3%. The birth rate and death rate of the registered residents stood at 9.5¡ë and 9.1¡ë respectively, with a natural population growth rate of 0.4¡ë.

Employment and entrepreneurship were constantly promoted. In 2017, 135,500 persons were newly employed, 56,200 laid-off workers were reemployed, 17,800 persons started their own business with government support, and 11,400 disadvantaged persons became employed with government aids. The end-of-year registered urban unemployment rate was 1.82%.

People¡¯s incomes were on a steady rise. In 2017, the per capita disposable income of local residents grew by 9% to 41,879 RMB. The per capita disposable income of urban residents increased by 8.5% to 49,955 RMB whereas that of rural residents grew by 8.6% to 25,835 RMB. The ratio of the urban residents¡¯ income to the rural residents¡¯ income stood at 1.93:1. The per capita spending in 2017 grew by 6.3% to 25,496 RMB. The per capita spending of urban residents rose by 5% to 28,445 RMB while that of rural residents grew by 7.7% to 17,849 RMB.

CPI grew at a mild pace. The city¡¯s general Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 101.9. All the eight major categories of consumer goods saw price hikes. In particular, the prices of food & cigarettes & liquors, garments, housing, daily consumer goods & services, transportation & telecommunications, entertaining/educational/cultural goods & services and other goods & services grew by 1%, 1%, 2%, 3.4%,3.3%, 1.7%, 2.6% and 1.5% respectively.

Efforts to provide security housing were enhanced. In 2017, 25,757 new security housing units were started and 22,904 units were basically completed. 1,209 new households enjoyed public rental housing, among which 613 households were given rental housing units directly while 596 households received rental subsidies. And the local affordable housing coverage project won the China Livable Model Project Award.

Social security was on a steady rise. By end of 2017, 1.434 million local residents were covered by the enterprise employee¡¯s endowment insurance system, up by 4.0% over 2016. 2.011 million residents were covered by the urban workers¡¯ basic medical insurance system, up by 4.2%. And 1.164 million residents were covered by the urban unemployment insurance system, up by 4.3%. The three major insurance systems (endowment insurance, medical insurance and unemployment insurance) covered 98.5% of the total population.

Social welfare continued to improve. In 2017, with the integration of subsistence allowance standards in Tianning District, Zhonglou District, Xinbei District, Wujin District, Jintan District and Liyang County, the subsistence allowance for local residents was raised to 760 RMB per month. By end of the year, 17,617 households and 28,074 persons were covered by the local subsistence allowance network, among which were 5,886 urban households & 8,852 persons and 11,731 rural households & 19,222 persons. A total subsistence allowance of 180 million RMB was handed out. Also in 2017, 352,000 residents received direct medical aids of 79.49 million RMB. By end of 2017, there were 108 aged care institutions with 24,867 beds, accommodating 13,968 persons. The sales volume of lottery tickets throughout the year hit 1.13 billion RMB.

XII. City Construction and Public Utilities

Local infrastructure continued to advance. In 2017, the construction work of Liyang-Gaochun Expressway and Changzhou-Yixing Expressway started. That of No.233 National Highway (Jintan Section) and No. 360 Jiangsu Provincial Highway (Liyang Section) was well underway. Besides, West Changhong Rd. was upgraded. Huiguo-Jinxiu Rd., the west extension of West Feilong Rd., and Lushu Rd. were basically completed. The construction work of Metro Line 1 and Line 2 was accelerated. Moreover, road infrastructure was improved in rural areas. 183.5 km of rural roads was either built or upgraded. Water projects with earthwork of 46.196 million cubic meters were completed. And 20 km2 of land with soil erosion was restored. Extension & cleaning work on Xinmeng River and Xingou River was also advanced smoothly.

Public transportation continued to improve. By end of 2017, there were all together 335 bus lines, 3,680 public buses and 3,680 cabs. 27% of residents¡¯ travels were made via public transportation. And the public bus network covered all towns, townships and villages across the city.

Public utilities continued to improve. Throughout 2017, the total local power consumption grew by 5.8% to 45.5 billion kWh, among which the household power consumption of urban and rural residents grew by 7.2% to 4.48 billion kWh. Besides, the city¡¯s annual water and gas supplies hit 270 million and 1.05 billion cubic meters respectively. Meanwhile, 280 million cubic meters of sewage water were treated. And 1.769 million tons of household garbage were treated and all of them were made non-hazardous.

XIII. Ecology and Environmental Protection

The eco-city campaign continued. The city¡¯s green coverage in built-up areas stood at 43.1% and the local tree coverage in built-up areas reached 26.2%. The eco-city and forest-city campaigns were proactively advanced. The Huang Liangbang Wetland Park and a number of community sports parks were built. Besides, 3 eco-projects like the green project on West Yanzheng Rd. won the Jiangsu Premium Project Award. Plus, the beautiful countryside campaign was in full swing. The Taozhuang Village of Liyang County won the title ¡°National Model Livable Village¡±.

More efforts were put to environmental protection. The ¡°263¡± special environmental protection campaign continued in full strength. By end of 2017, a total number of 315 chemical enterprises were either shutdown. And 2,583 husbandry & poultry farms were either closed or relocated. Furthermore, 716 air pollution prevention and treatment projects and 664 water cleaning projects were concluded. The good air quality rate stood at 68.2%. The average concentration of fine particles was 49 mcg/m3. Water from drinking water sources remained up to standard. 63.6% of surface water under provisional supervision was at or above III water quality level. Emissions of COD, ammonia-nitrogen, SO2 and NOx were cut by 4.88%, 5.98%, 6.12% and 4.01% respectively. And the city was selected as a national low carbon pilot city in 2017.

Note:

Unless other wise said to be calculated at comparable prices, all figures in the communique were calculated at current prices.