During 2020, the Chongchuan district of Nantong city in East China's Jiangsu province withstood the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, successfully completing the task of administrative adjustments while making achievements in establishing a moderately prosperous society.

China's government has a development goal of creating what is known as "a moderately prosperous society in all respects", or a Xiaokang society, through modernization and the elimination of poverty.

Last year, the district's gross domestic product topped 148.26 billion yuan ($22.92 billion), with the general public budget revenue reaching 12.05 billion yuan and total retail sales coming in at 67.02 billion yuan.

Twenty-one projects with investment of at least 1 billion yuan were attracted to settle in the district and work started on 27 major and large projects.

To lay a solid foundation for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), this year Chongchuan district will regard paying equal attention to the development of advanced manufacturing and modern service industries as its long-term strategy, according to Liu Hao, Party secretary of Chongchuan district.

Liu said that the district will strive to improve its so-called "345" industrial system in 2021. This comprises the three leading industries of IT application innovation, the internet of vehicles and artificial intelligence. Then, there are the four supporting industries of electronics information, high-end equipment, new materials and green building.

Finally come the five functional industries of high-end trading, modern finance, professional services, culture and tourism and health maintenance – with all three categories working to create an industrial influence that extends from the district's downtown, an economic center in the Yangtze River Delta's north wing.

Centering on enhancing its core competitiveness, the district will spare no effort to achieve further high-quality development and become integrated into the modern economic system of the YRD's core metropolitan area in 2021, Liu added.