Chen Huiyu, head of Rudong county, delivers a report on the government's performance in 2020, on Jan 12. [Photo/WeChat account: rudongfb]

The fifth session of the 17th Rudong County People's Congress took place on Jan 12 at the county's convention center in Rudong – administered by Nantong city in East China's Jiangsu province – with county head Chen Huiyu delivering a bullish report on the government's performance in 2020.

Faced with the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic at the start of 2020, Rudong nonetheless achieved remarkable results in both epidemic prevention and control and economic development, Chen said. In 2020, three new nucleic acid testing laboratories were established and close supervision was conducted of the imported cold-chain food.

The county's GDP hit 112 billion yuan ($17.3 billion) for 2020, according to a preliminary estimate, a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent, with the general public budget revenue coming in at 6 billion yuan, up 4 percent.

Fixed-asset investment rose by 10 percent to 47 billion yuan, 28.5 billion yuan of which was industrial investment, up 12 percent. Retail sales of consumer goods in 2020 totaled 40.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2 percent.

Rudong cut more than 1.6 billion yuan in taxes and fees in 2020, benefitting 58,000 businesses and other market operators. Per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents climbed by 5 percent and 6.9 percent respectively.

Last year, Rudong ranked 37th among China's top 100 counties and cities in terms of county economic competitiveness, four positions higher than the previous year.

The report also released the economic and social growth targets for 2021. A growth target of 7 percent was set for the county's GDP, while the general public budget revenue is projected to rise by at least 5.8 percent.

Retail sales of consumer goods and import-export volumes are seen increasing 6 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

In addition, the report predicts that per capita disposable income of both urban and rural residents will grow faster in the current year than the local economy and the urban registered unemployment rate will stay under 3 percent. Investment in research and development is projected to account for at least 2.66 percent of GDP.

Renewed efforts will also be made to improve the environment, with a promise to focus on cutting emissions and protecting local ecosystems.