Statistical Communique of Changzhou on the 2015

Local Economic and Social Development

Despite the complicated macro economic environment and the heavy tasks to maintain reform and development in 2015, under the strong leadership of the Changzhou Municipal Committee of Communist Party of China and the Changzhou Municipal People¡¯s Government, Changzhou actively adapted itself to the economic ¡°new normal¡±, adhered to innovation, accelerated transformation, and properly managed multiple tasks of stabilizing growth, restructuring industries, promoting reforms, improving people¡¯s living standards, and guarding against risks. As a result, the city maintained a steady economic and social development and made new achievements in 2015.

I. Overview of the Local Economy

The local economy maintained a steady growth. Preliminary accounting shows that Changzhou¡¯s gross domestic product ( GDP ) of 2015 hit 527.32 billion RMB, up by 9.2% ( calculated at constant prices ) in comparison to 2014. Of this total, the value added of the primary industry grew by 3.1% to 14.66 billion RMB, that of the secondary industry grew by 8.5% to 251.60billion RMB, and that of the tertiary industry grew by 10.6% to 261.06 billion RMB. The value added of the tertiary industry accounted for 49.5% of the GDP, up by 1.5% over 2014. And this makes the tertiary industry take over the secondary industry to be the No.1 contributor to the GDP for the first time. As a result, the local economy was restructured from the previous structure in which the secondary industry was the lead contributor to GDP, the tertiary industry was the No.2 contributor, and the primary industry was the No.3 contributor to the new structure with the tertiary industry being the top contributor, the secondary industry being the No.2 contributor, and the primary industry being the No.3 contributor. The per capita GDP ( by resident population ) reached 112,221 RMB, equal to 18,018 US dollars ( converted at the average exchange rate ).

Fiscal revenues grew steadily. In 2015, the general public budgetary revenues grew by 7.5% to 46.63 billion RMB, among which tax revenues grew by 7.3% to 37.37 billion RMB, accounting for 80.1% of the total. And among all tax revenues, value added tax ( VAT ) revenues ( including those transformed from the business tax ) grew by 6.4% to 7.08 billion RMB, business tax revenues grew by 19.1% to 11.38 billion RMB, and corporate income tax revenues grew by 1.4% to 4.26 billion RMB. The general public spending in 2015 grew by 11.6% to 48.53 billion RMB, among which spending on education grew by 16.1% to 7.92 billion RMB, that on science and technology grew by 4.8% to 2.27 billion RMB, that on social security and employment grew by 12.4% to 5.53 billion RMB, and that on health care and family planning grew by 20.1% to 3.85 billion RMB.

The local private sector slowed down. By end of 2015, there were 363,000 private enterprises and individual businesses with a total registered capital of 481.47 billion RMB. The value added of the private sector grew by 9.0% ( calculated at constant prices ) to 354.14 billion RMB, down by 1.1% in comparison to the growth rate of 2014. And the private sector accounted for 67.2% of the GDP, down by 0.3% over the previous year.

II. Agriculture and Rural Economy

Agricultural production remained stable. In 2015, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing combined grew by 5.8% to 27.18 billion RMB ( calculated at current prices ), among which agriculture grew by 6.1% to 14.72 billion RMB, forestry grew by 4.8% to 190 million RMB, animal husbandry grew by 3.5% to 3.88 billion RMB, and fishing grew by 5.5% to 6.83 billion RMB. Furthermore, the output value of the agriculture-related service sectors reached 1.56 billion RMB, up by 10.7% over 2014. The sown area of grain was 2.142 million mu ( 1 mu = 0.0667 hectares ) and the aggregate grain output reached 1.083 million tons, down by 3.2% and 3.4% respectively in comparison to 2014. The rice yield per unit reached 643.5 kg/mu, ranking the highest in Jiangsu for 13 years in a row, and the wheat yield per unit was 356.3 kg/mu.

Modern agriculture speeded up. Agricultural technology and equipment continued to develop. 62,600 mu of high-standard farming land, 27,000 mu of protected agricultural land and 16,300 mu of facility fishery area were created in 2015, making the city¡¯s total to 1.35 million mu, 465,000 mu and 197,100 mu ( taking 33.58% of the city¡¯s total fishery area ) respectively. Besides, the agricultural mechanization rate and the agricultural informationization coverage hit 87% and 60%, up by 1% and 3% respectively. Moreover, agricultural industrialization advanced steadily. 91 leading agricultural enterprises in Changzhou registered a sales volume of 61.8 billion RMB, up by 9.6% over 2014.

III. Industry and Construction

Industrial production slowed down.In 2015, the total output value of industrial enterprises above the designated size in Changzhou reached 1110.16 billion. And the value added of these enterprises grew by 8.5%. Of all the industrial output value, the output value of heavy-industry enterprises and light-industry enterprises above the designated size stood at 832.64 billion and 277.52 billion RMB. In terms of the industrial output value of seven industry sectors, the chemistry, machinery, textile&garments, bio-medicine, electronics and construction material sectors grew by 14.9%, 9.3%, 7.2%, 7%, 4.8% and 0.3% to 195.28 billion, 460.27 billion, 97.6 billion, 27.88 billion, 65.61billion and 37.64 billion RMB respectively. In contrast, the metallurgy sector fell by 9.5% to 184.98 billion RMB.

The ten major industrial chains made more contributions to the GDP. In 2015, the aggregate output value of industrial enterprises above the designated size in the ten major industrial chains grew by 8.9% to 381.68 billion RMB, 3.6% higher than the average growth rate of industrial enterprises above the designated size in all sectors. And the ten major industrial chains contributed to 52.6% of the city¡¯s total industrial output value of all industrial enterprises above the designated size. Among the ten major industrial chains, the solar pv, automobile&parts, and rail transportation sectors registered the output values of 63.36 billion, 65.62 billion and 41.15 billion RMB, up by 25.6%, 15.8% and 13.1% respectively.

The construction sector remained stable. In 2015, the construction output value of local construction enterprises was128.85 billion RMB, up by 0.3% over 2014. The floor space under construction fell by 6.4% to 100.510 million m2 and the floor space completed fell by 9.5% to 34.486 million m2. The per capita productivity of the construction sector fell by 0.8% to 279,000 RMB ( calculated by the total construction output value ).

IV. Fixed Asset Investment

The investment structure continued to improve. In 2015, fixed asset investments in Changzhou grew by 6.7% to 339.9 billion RMB, among which investments on the heavy and light industry grew by 6.5% to 175.61 billion RMB and investments on the tertiary industry grew by 7.1% to 163.67 billion RMB. Furthermore, the city¡¯s investment structure was optimized. Investments on hi-tech enterprises increased by 13.9% to 79.46 billion RMB, 7.2% higher than the general fixed-asset-investment growth rate. Of all investments on the heavy and light industry, those on technical innovation and upgrading grew by 6.2% to 116.02 billion RMB, accounting for 66.1% of the total industrial investments. In contrast, real estate investments continued to decline. In 2015, 50.8 billion RMB was invested in the property market, down by 25.5% in comparison to 2014. 39.482 million m2 of residential floor space was developed and 6.378 million m2 of residential floor space was newly started, down by 11.5% and 30.4% respectively.

V. Domestic Trade

The local consumption remained stable. In 2015, the total retail sales of consumer goods grew to 199.05 billion RMB at the provincial average rate, 10.3%, down by 2.8% over 2014. Grouped by consumption patterns, retail sales for the wholesale, retail, catering and hotel businesses reached 24.01 billion, 158.57 billion, 14.99 billion and 1.48 billion RMB respectively, up by 9.4%, 10.1%, 14.2% and 4% respectively. Areawise, retail sales in urban areas grew by 10.6% to 186.11 billion RMB and those in rural areas increased by 5.7% to 12.94 billion RMB.

VI. Open Economy

Foreign trade rose despite all the difficulties. Changzhou¡¯s exports in 2015 stood at 131.92 billion RMB, up by 0.5% over 2014. Exports to countries and regions alongside the Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road maintained a good momentum. For instance, exports to India, ASEAN and Middle East up by 27.6%, 12.3% and 5% respectively. And hi-tech exports grew by 9.7% to 21.74 billion RMB. Machinery and electronics exports took up 54.1% of the city¡¯s total export value, up by 1.6%. The total value of imports and exports of services in 2015 stood at 8 billion RMB, up by 5.1% over 2014. Exports of general trade increased by 0.5% to 97.9 billion RMB.

Breakthroughs were made in foreign investment. In 2015, 2.49 billion US dollars of foreign investment was actually utilized and 16 projects were signed, each with an agreed investment of above 30 million US dollars. Among these 16 projects, the AAC Technologies project was worth over 1 billion US dollars, and the Boston Lithium Battery project, the United PV project and the Shunfeng PV project had an investment of over 500 million US dollars each. Besides, 5 new projects and 2 capital-increase projects were invested by Global Fortune 500 companies throughout the year, making a record high in recent years.

International cooperation was strengthened. In 2015, 67 new outbound investment projects were recorded with a total agreed investment of 755 million US dollars from local enterprises, up by 61.7% over 2014. Among these projects, 12 were connected to the ¡° One Belt and One Road¡± initiative with an agreed investment of 360 million US dollars, accounting for 47.8% of the total. Service outsource contracts worth of 380 million US dollars were signed and those worth of 320 million US dollars were executed, up by 21.5% and 17.7% respectively.

Local development zones were upgraded. In 2015, development zones across Changzhou registered a general public budgetary revenue of 29.97 billion RMB and made an industrial investment of 132.38 billion RMB as well as an infrastructure investment of 29.74 billion RMB. Besides, these development zones utilized a total foreign capital of 2.25 billion US dollars and secured an agreed registered foreign capital of 2.36 billion RMB. Moreover, the Changzhou West Taihu Lake Science and Technology Industrial Zone was given a go-ahead to build itself into a provincial hi-tech zone. The Changzhou National Hi-tech District was designated as a national eco-friendly demonstration zone. Besides, the Wujin National Hi-tech Industrial Zone and the Wujin Economic Zone also applied for the status of the national eco-friendly industrial demonstration zone, and passed the on-site inspection jointly conducted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Commerce, and Ministry of Science and Technology. In addition, international cooperation parks like China-Israel ( Changzhou ) Innovation Park and Sino-German Innovation Park maintained a rapid growth.

International exchanges were deepened. Changzhou received 197 foreign delegations of 1025 foreign guests throughout 2015. Among them were 28 groups of 161 embassy and consulate officials, 38 delegations of 215 persons from the city¡¯s international sister cities, and 4 groups of 8 foreign journalists. Two more cities were added to Changzhou¡¯s international sister city list in 2015, namely, La Serena of Chile and Curitiba of Brazil.

VII. Transportation, Post, Telecommunications and Tourism

The local transportation developed smoothly. By end of 2015, the total length of highways in Changzhou reached 9,010 km with 306 km of expressways. In 2015, the total passenger traffic stood at 76.73 million persons, down by 9.3% over 2014. The total freight traffic reached 130 million tons, up by 0.9% over 2014. The Passenger traffic handled by highways fell by 13.5% to 58.56 million persons and the passenger flows were 4.02 billion person-kilometers, down by 4.1% over 2014. The freight traffic handled by highways down by 0.5% to 110 million tons and the freight flows were 11.73 billion ton-kilometers, up by 5.5% over 2014. The passenger traffic handled by railways increased by 11% to 13.692 million persons. Passengers and freight&mails handled by civil aviation reached 1.811 million persons and 18,000 tons respectively. Besides, the volume of freight handled by ports stood at 89.84 million tons, among which the volume handled by the Changzhou Yangtze River Port hit 36.19 million tons. By end of 2015, the total number of motor vehicles for civilian use grew by 10.9% to 968,000 in the city, among which privately- owned motor vehicles grew by 13.1% to 821,000.

Post and telecommunications services grew relatively fast. The total turnover and revenue of post services reached 2.93 billion and 2.6 billion RMB, up by 34.3% and 31.6% respectively. The express mail delivery stood at 120 million units, up by 46.9%. Moreover, express companies above the designated size made 1.74 billion RMB from their primary business, with an year-on-year increase of 40%. The telecommunications services registered a total revenue of 5.27 billion RMB, down by 2.2% over 2014. By end of 2015, there were 1.33 million fixed-line phone subscribers and 5.144 million mobile phone subscribers. Of the total mobile phone subscribers, 1.322 million were 3G-service subscribers and 2.604 million were 4G-service subscribers. In addition, internet users grew by 25.3% to 1.998 million, among which 1.904 million were broadband users, up by 27.8% over 2014.

Tourism enjoyed a steady growth. In 2015, the local tourism sector generated a total revenue of 73.1 billion RMB, with a year-on year growth of 11.7%. Of the total, the revenue from domestic tourism grew by 12.3% to 71.84 billion RMB and the revenue generated by international visits topped 121 million US dollars, up by 18.8% over the previous year. The city received 54.557 million throughout the year, up by 9.1% over 2014. Of the total, 54.43 million were domestic tourists, up by 9.1% and 127,000 were inbound overnight visitors, up by 5.4%. By end of 2015, Changzhou boasted 3 provincial and 1 national holiday resorts, and 33 national Class-A tourist attractions, among which were 2 5A attractions and 9 4A attractions. The city also had 17 national industrial and agricultural tourist demonstration sites, 25 4-star provincial countryside tourist sites, 3 provincial industrial tourist sites, and 6 provincial tourist bases for self-drive travels. There were also 140 local travel agencies and one of them made it to the top 20 in Jiangsu. Besides, there were 56 star hotels, among which were 8 5-star hotels and 21 4-star hotels. Tourist attractions were also enriched and upgraded in 2015. For example, the Tian Muhu Lake Resort was selected as one of the first national holiday resorts and the Changdang Lake Resort was designated as a provincial holiday resort. In addition, the 5A Yan-city tourist site passed the national review and the Baosheng Park and the South Jiangsu Gloabl Harbor Shopping Mall were newly opened up. Moreover, Changzhou became a Taiwan- free-travel source city in 2015. And new international air routes were opened to Japan, Taiwan, etc..

VIII. The Financial Sector

The local credit market remained stable. By end of 2015, RMB deposits of financial institutions across the city grew by 51.23 billion RMB to 743.87 billion RMB, up by 7.4% over 2014. Of the total, household savings grew by 4.7% to 319.38 billion RMB. Loans of all the financial institutions in the city increased by 56.48 billion RMB to 535.46 billion RMB, up by 11.8%. Of the total, household loans hit 123.38 billion RMB, up by 15.2%. Besides, progress was made in financial reforms and innovation. For instance, the Jiangnan Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. was successfully established and became operational.

The local insurance sector maintained a steady growth. By end of 2015, insurance companies across the city totaled 67, among which were 28 property insurance companies and 39 life insurance companies. Insurance premium throughout the year grew by 15.6% to 15.66 billion RMB, among which life insurance premium grew by 17.0% to 10.49 billion RMB while property insurance premium grew by 13.2% to 5.17 billion RMB. Insurance companies paid an indemnity of 5.51 billion RMB in 2015, up by 12.5% in comparison to 2014. Of the total, life indemnity stood at 2.17 billion RMB, down by 6.5% whereas property indemnity surged by 29.5% to 3.34 billion RMB.

The local stock market was active. By end of 2015, there were 40 securities business offices across the city, managing over 960,000 securities accounts with 124.65 billion RMB worth of A shares. The total securities transaction volume in 2015 surged by 229% to 3217.23 billion RMB, among which A-share transactions surged by 275.9% to 2894.68 billion RMB, B-share transactions surged by 408.4% to 3.5 billion RMB, fund transactions grew by 132.0% to 74.94 billion RMB, and bond transactions increased by 39.6% to 244.11 billion. By end of 2015, there were 38 publicly traded local companies with an aggregate financing of 40.9 billion RMB, among which 24 were domestically traded companies and 14 were internationally traded ones. Two companies had their Initial Public Offerings ( IPO ) in 2015, i.e. Changzhou Tronly New Electronic Material Co., Ltd and Changzhou Tenglong Auto Parts Co., Ltd, raising a total fund of 710 million RMB.

IX. Science and Technology Innovation

Local innovation continued to rise. In 2015, 38,559 patent applications were made, among which were 13,211 invention patent applications. 21,585 patents were granted, among which were 2,664 invention patents. Patents per 10,000 persons reached 18.78. Besides, 140 hi-tech companies were established in 2015, bringing the city¡¯s total to 1,126. The output value of hi-tech companies above the designated size hit 497.56 billion RMB, taking up 43.4% of the total output value of industrial enterprises above the designated size. Furthermore, 530 national and provincial science and technology programs were approved with a total national and provincial funding of 530 million RMB. In addition, 1,116 industry-academy-research integration projects were newly created in 2015. Research and development ( R&D ) expenditures in 2015 accounted for 2.67% of the GDP.

Innovation platforms were accelerated. In 2015, 73 new provincial and national corporate R&D institutions were created, bringing the city¡¯s total ¡°Two Stations and Three Centers¡± R&D entities to 1,159. Of the total, 602 were national and provincial R&D entities. In addition, 16 incubators and accelerators were established with a floor space of over 1 million m2. By end of 2015, Changzhou boasted a total number of 108 incubators and accelerators with an aggregate floor space of over 8 million m2. Construction work on the Jiangsu Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center and four provincial industrial research institutes was advanced, and two out of the four institutes were officially inaugurated. Moreover, 20 key municipal public R&D institutes were either completed or upgraded in 2015.

South Jiangsu Innovation Demonstration Zone was advanced. The main framework of the South Jiangsu Innovation Demonstration Zone ( Changzhou section ) was basically established with the Changzhou Science and Education Town as its core, Changzhou National Hi-tech District and Wujin National Hi-tech Industrial Zone as its key parts and multiple industrial parks as its main components. The China-Israel ( Changzhou ) Innovation Park was accelerated and the city¡¯s key-talent- innovation-driven strategy generated noticeable benefits. In addition, the provincial Science and Technology Service Demonstration Zone in the Science and Education Town was regarded as a featured demonstration zone. The Wujin National High-tech Industrial Zone and the Jiangnan Graphene Research Institute were designated as regional science & technology service pilot zone and industrial science & technology service pilot institute respectively by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

X. Education, Culture, Public Health and Sports

Educational modernization was steadily advanced. By end of 2015, the city had a total number of 691 schools with 793,200 registered students and 57,000 faculties. Modernization of schools was vigorously advanced. For instance, 108 school construction projects were implemented with a total investment of 1.6 billion RMB. In 2015, Changzhou scored 88.06 points in terms of educational modernization. Education quality continued to improve. For instance, 77.46% of national college entrance exam takers in the city reached the second-tier college admission line in 2015. The higher technical education admission rate of the city¡¯s vocational school graduates remained the highest in Jiangsu for 16 years in a row. In addition, the city¡¯s vocational schools won 8 first prizes and 3 second prizes in the 2015 National Vocational School Skill Competition and 51 first prizes and 120 second prizes in the 2015 Jiangsu Provincial Vocational School Skill Competition, achieving a high position in Jiangsu. Moreover, students from Changzhou won 335 provincial first prizes and 547 provincial second prizes in five major national competitions (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and information technology). Local schools also made great progress in 2015. For example, 16 senior high schools established 17 provincial curriculum programs. 10 vocational education school groups and 37 compulsory education school groups were set up. And 70% of popular senior high school¡¯s annual student recruitment numbers were allocated through the unified municipal senior high school entrance exam. Plus, 90.2% of migrant worker¡¯s children were admitted to local public schools. Changhzou also took a leading position in vocational education in China. The year 2015 witnessed the city¡¯s successful completion of the ¡°Model School of National Secondary Vocational Education Reform and Development¡± project. By end of 2015, the city had 45 provincial brand and featured disciplines, and 5 provincial high-level model training bases were completed and became operational.

The local cultural service prospered. By end of 2015, there were 11 arts performance associations, 8 arts&cultural galleries and 26 museums. There were also 4 public libraries, which received 2.172 million persons in 2015. The city also had 7 local radio programs and 7 local TV programs, with subscribers to cable TV programs and digital TV programs hitting 1.179 million and 1.166 million respectively. Furthermore, preservation and inheritance work on history and culture was enhanced in 2015. For example, the preservation and utilization work on the QingquoAlley Historical and Cultural Block progressed smoothly. And the memorial hall of the famous martyr of Communist Party of China, Yun Daiying, was established and opened to the public. In 2015, the State Council officially designated Changzhou as a famous national historic and cultural city. In addition, several exquisite art works were produced throughout the year. For instance, the original Xi opera drama the Sunset of Qingguo Alley was successfully staged in the second Jiangsu Art Show Month and received the Jiangsu Wenhua Outstanding Drama Award. It was also selected as a key provincial drama to be performed in Beijing next year. Besides, dramas like Love in the Dragon City, Happy Carrot, Great Poetry Emperor and Last Night of Empire also won great recognition. Cultural campaigns to entertain the public were also carried out, with over 10 private museums, over 100 cultural societies and almost 2000 artists and cultural workers participating in them. As a result, millions of citizens enjoyed tangible benefits. Moreover, the cultural industry sustained a rapid growth in 2015. The first-phase Dragon City Creativity Industry Base was selected as a cultural-financial cooperation project by the Culture Ministry. The base also received the title of National E-commerce Demonstration Zone. Meanwhile, the Taihu Lake Art Town, the Oriental Salt Lake Resort and the Baosheng Park were all constructed at a faster pace. In 2015, the value added of the local cultural industry accounted for 5.8% of the GDP.

The local public health service enjoyed a healthy development. By end of 2015, there were 1,196 medical institutions and 24,263 hospital beds across the city. The city¡¯s medical staff totaled 29,600, among which were 12,009 licensed/assistant doctors and 12,531 registered nurses. On average, every one thousand citizens had 2.55 licensed/assistant doctors. Comprehensive medical reforms were also deepened. For example, 11 municipal public hospitals and 7 county-level ones took a coordinated step to implement the comprehensive drug price reforms and abolish the traditional drug-profit-based hospital funding practice. The categorized diagnosis and treatment system was established. And 8 first and second class hospitals teamed up with grass-root level medical institutions to set up 380 hospital beds and 21 featured medical departments. In addition, private capital was attracted to the public health undertakings. For instance, 72 private medical institutions were newly established with 1,200 beds in 2015. Furthermore, the fundamentals of the health care system were consolidated. The participation rate of the new rural cooperative medical system (NCMS) continued to be at 100% with the per capita premium reaching 603 RMB. Meanwhile, the actual reimbursement rate for inpatient treatments climbed to 56.03%. Throughout the year, grass-root level medical institutions were upgraded, 11 of which were newly built, renovated or expanded. In addition, public health services were delivered in a standard manner. The per capita subsidy for basic public health services reached 50 RMB and service types were expanded to 12 categories of 45 items. The city¡¯s infectious disease morbidity rate was also below the provincial average. By end of 2015, 72.2% of the city¡¯s vaccination outpatient services were digitalized and 80.7% of citizens had e-medical records. Premium medical services were improved as well. Key medical facility projects - the new headquarters of the Changzhou Maternal and Child Care Hospital, the Zhonglou District compound of the Changhzhou First People¡¯s Hospital, and the clinical center of the Changzhou Third People¡¯s Hospital, etc. - were advanced. With the readjustment of the city¡¯s administrative districts, 3 new first-aid substations were set up in 2015. Moreover, family-planning services were continuously improved. With the full implementation of the two-child policy, 2,114 local couples filed applications for a second child throughout 2015.

The local sports service boomed. By end of 2015, Changzhou boasted 12,340 playgrounds, among which were 26 stadiums and 35 gymnasiums. New achievements were made in the public sports service system. Both the city and all its districts &county-level cities were selected among the first batch of Jiangsu Municipal Public Sports Service Demonstration Zones. Construction work of sports facilities was advanced in an orderly manner. In 2015, the construction work of one district-level sports center started and 4 township-level sports centers and 32 sports demonstration projects were completed. 637 community fitness lanes were built or upgraded. Besides, free physical fitness tests were provided to 30,000 persons. Efforts were made to improve sports facilities and ensure the availability of fitness facilities within 10-minute walk in townships and rural areas. 5 international sports games were held throughout 2015 ( China Badminton Masters, West Taihu Lake International Half-marathon Race, Tour de Taihu Lake International Road Cycling Race (Wujin section), 7th U21 Female Hockey Asian Championship, 2015 China-Serbia Men¡¯s International Basketball Challenge ). And 26 national sports games (including tournaments of national sports associations) and 14 provincial sports games were also hosted in Changzhou in 2015. Also in 2015, 13 athletes from the city made it to the top 3 in international sports games and 63 made it to the top 3 in national sports games. For instance, in the 2015 World Swimming Championships in Russia, athletes Shi Qianlin and Shen Duo from Changzhou won the gold medal for the women¡¯s 4*100 medley relay together with their teammates. And this made the total number of Changzhou gold medalists to 20. Plus, 47 elementary and high school sports competitions in 20 categories ( track and field, swimming, basketball, volleyball, football, table tennis, badminton, tennis, chess games, shooting, weight lifting, etc. ) were organized in 2015.

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

The local population was on a steady rise. By end of 2015, there were 4.701 million permanent residents with a year-on-year growth of 0.1%, among which 3.291 million were urban residents. And the urbanization rate reached 70.0%. The total number of registered residents grew by 0.6% to 3.709 million, among which 1.836 million were males, up by 0.4% and 1.873 million were females, up by 0.8%. The birth rate and death rate of the registered residents stood at 9.6¡ë and 7¡ë respectively, with a natural population growth rate of 2.7¡ë.

Efforts were made to promote employment. In 2015, 133,000 persons were newly employed, 12,979 persons started their own business with government support, and 11,362 disadvantaged persons became employed with government aids. And the registered urban unemployment rate remained below 4%. Besides, the second Changzhou College Student Entrepreneurship Competition was successfully organized and 330 business proposals were collected subsequently. The new enterprise-school apprenticeship system was initiated, which brought companies and schools together to produce workers in a targeted manner. Moreover, employment and entrepreneurship for the handicapped were actively promoted with 853 disabled persons being newly employed in 2015. The year 2015 also witnessed an increase of 38,500 highly-skilled talents and the number of highly-skilled talents per 10,000 workers reached 824.

People¡¯s incomes were on a steady rise. In 2015, the per capita disposable income of the city¡¯s residents increased by 8.3% to 35,379 RMB, among which the per capita disposable income of urban residents grew by 8.2% to 42,710 RMB while that of rural residents increased by 8.8% to 21,912 RMB. The ratio of the urban residents¡¯ income to the rural residents¡¯ income stood at 1.95:1. The per capita spending in 2015 grew by 7.9% to 22,234 RMB, among which the per capita spending of urban residents grew by 7.5% to 25,358 RMB and that of rural residents increased by 9.1% to 14,764. The Engel Coefficient of urban residents and rural residents stood at 28% and 31.7%, down by 0.3% and 0.1% respectively over 2014.

CPI grew at a mild pace. The city¡¯s general Consumer Price Index ( CPI ) stood at 101.6 in 2015. Among the eight major categories of consumer goods, the prices of transportation and telecommunications fell by 4.4%. CPI for food, garments, home appliances&maintenance, health care&individual goods, housing, cigarettes&wine, and entertaining&educational&cultural goods and services stood at 104.0, 103.1, 102.4, 101.4, 101.2, 101.1, and 100.9 respectively.

Security housing was advanced in an orderly manner. Construction work on security housing units was well underway. In 2015, 19,065 new security housing units were started and 15,847 security housing units were basically completed. 953 new households enjoyed public rental housing, among which 710 households were given rental housing units directly and 243 households received rental subsidies. In 2015, 93.41% of the city¡¯s urban security housing system was completed.

Social security was improved. By end of 2015, 1.338 million residents joined the enterprise employee¡¯s endowment insurance system, up by 2.5% over the previous year. 1.881 million residents joined the urban worker¡¯s basic medical insurance system, up by 5.5% over 2014. 1.087 million residents joint the urban unemployment insurance system, up by 3.3%. The three major insurance systems ( endowment insurance, medical insurance, and unemployment insurance ) covered 98% of the total population. Besides, pensions to retirees grew for 11 years in a row, with a per capita growth rate of above 10%.

Social welfare continued to improve. The year 2015 saw a substantial increase of Changzhou¡¯s basic living allowances. The basic living allowance for residents in Tianning District, Zhonglou District and Xinbei District stood at 670 RMB per month, that in Jintan District and Liyang County-city stood at 590 RMB, and that in Wujin District stood at 620 RMB. In 2015, 23,351 households and 39,734 persons were covered by the basic living allowance system, among which were 7,906 urban households of 13,123 residents and 15,445 rural households of 26,611 residents. A total sum of 177 million RMB worth of basic living allowances was handed out. In 2015, 152,997 residents received direct medical aids of 59.075 million RMB. By end of 2015, there were 108 aged care institutions with 21,968 beds, accommodating 12,274 persons. In addition, the sales volume of lottery tickets throughout the year was 1.102 billion RMB. In 2015, local charity organizations collected a total donation of 118 million RMB and handed out a total relief fund of 86.46 million RMB, covering 160,000 persons in need.

XII. City Construction and Public Utilities

The local road network continued to develop. In 2015, Changzhou-Liyang Expressway, the west extension line of West Yanzheng Rd. and the fast-track upgrading project of Jintan-Wujin Highway were completed and became fully operational. And Changzhou Metro Line 1 was being built smoothly throughout the year. West Laodong Rd. ( fromWuxing Rd. to Longjiang Rd), Sanbao Street ( from Changjiang Rd. to Wuxing Rd.), Fuyang Rd. ( from Qingyang Rd. to West BeiTanghe Rd.) and West Feilong Rd. were either renovated or newly built and became fully operational. The newly built roads like North Yongning Rd. ( from Xinyi Rd. to West HengTanghe Rd.), North Xintang Rd. ( from Xinyi Rd. to Longhui Rd.), Xinyi Rd. and Longhui Rd. ( from North Zulin Rd. to North Xintang Rd.) were almost ready for operation.

Public transportation services continued to improve. By end of 2015, there were 306 bus lines, 3,055 buses and 3,680 taxis. 28.9% of residents¡¯ local travel and commuting was made via public transportation. Besides, bus lines were extended to all local towns, townships and villages.

Public utility services improved. In 2015, the total local power consumption grew by 3.3% to 40.8 billion kWh, among which the household power consumption of urban and rural residents grew by 6% to 3.44 billion kWh. Besides, the city¡¯s annual water and gas supplies hit 250 million and 780 million cubic meters respectively.227 million cubic meters of sewage was treated and 9,338 lamps were installed throughout the year. In addition, public utility infrastructure continued to improve. For instance, the RiDesheng River Emergency Water Intake project with a capacity of 300,000 cubic meteres was completed. Upgrading projects of tap water deep processing techniques like the theXishi Bridge Water Plant and Weicun Village Water Plant were also started. Besides, infrastructure upgrading projects on rainwater-sewage diversion and sewage treatment in old neighborhoods were largely completed.

XIII. Ecology and Environmental Protection

The eco-city campaign deepened. By end of 2015, there were 9,782.1 hectares of green land, among which were 2,479.5 hectares of green park land. The per capita green park space hit 13.9 m2 and the city¡¯s green coverage rate reached 43.1%. Besides, green lanes were built alongside the city¡¯s elevated highways, their extension lines, Lihua Rd., Guanghua Rd., and Da Guangming Rd in 2015. And the Hengtang River Wetland Park and Baidang River Green Land were also completed. Efforts to plan and build model villages were also underway. For instance, 7 local villages were approved to be Beautiful Countryside Model Villages and 8 other villages were on their way to become such model villages. Plus, living conditions in rural areas continued to improve. Changzhou received the National Award for Best Living Environment in 2015.

The local environment continued to improve. The year 2015 saw continued environmental improvements and marked the 4th consecutive year in which Changzhou ranked the 2nd place in terms of environmental achievements among all cities in Jiangsu. Throughout 2015, 1270 air-pollution prevention & treatment programs and 356 water quality treatment programs were implemented. As a result, there were 258 days with good air quality throughout the year, up by 22 days in comparison to 2014. That is to say, 70.7% of all the days throughout 2015 had good air quality. In addition, 2015 also witnessed the reduction of COD£¬ammonia nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, and oxynitride emissions by 3.44%, 3.61%, 2.51% and 2.74% respectively, thus making the city overfulfill its total emission cut goal for the 12th Five Year Plan period.

Note:Unless otherwise said to be calculated at comparable prices, all figures in the communique were calculated at current prices.