Nantong was designated as a national pilot city for water ecology in December 2018. [Photo/zgnt.net]

“A greener city” is local residents’ shared impression of Nantong in recent years.

The government has put much emphasis on the improvement of the city’s landscape, with the green coverage ratio reaching 43.3 percent in the downtown area.

A total of 10 forest parks, nine wetland parks, and 368 downtown parks were built over the past three years, raising the per capita public green area to 18.67 square meters.

The past two years also saw strict enforcement of pollution prevention and control. More than 800 chemical, printing and dyeing, and wire factories along the Yangtze River were shut down, according to Mayor Xu Huimin.