Rugao, a county-level city in Nantong. [Photo/WeChat account: rugaofabu]

The regional gross domestic product of Rugao is expected to surpass 130 billion yuan ($18.84 billion) in 2020, up 7 percent year-on-year, according to a report at the 12th enlarged plenary session of the 12th CPC Rugao committee on Jan 5.

The city's industrial taxable sales revenue is expected to reach 170 billion yuan, up 7.5 percent year-on-year, while that of the service industry reached 180 billion yuan, up 35 percent.

Import and export volume were valued at 25.1 billion yuan in 2020, and the actual utilization of foreign capital was $340 million. Container throughput at local ports surpassed 500,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.

A total of 46 project deals each worth 100 million yuan or more were signed, including 32 that received more than 1 billion yuan each in investment. Construction started on 72 projects each worth 100 million yuan.

In line with its goal to achieve environmentally friendly development, the city shut down 33 chemical manufacturers in 2020.

The rate of good air quality reached 84.3 percent in 2020, with surface water quality ranking top among districts, county-level cities and county in Nantong.

The local government has spent 9.83 billion yuan to improve people's quality of life. The disposable income of urban and rural residents increased 6.5 and 7.5 percent respectively.

To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the local government exempted businesses from 2.62 billion yuan in taxes and offered them 440 million yuan in subsidies to help with the resumption of work and production.

In 2021, Rugao will focus on normalizing epidemic prevention and control, boosting sci-tech innovation, energizing the real economy, promoting reform and opening-up, strengthening environmental protection, pushing forward coordinated urban and rural development, and improving the people's quality of life.