Chen Lei, acting head of Rudong county, delivers a government works report for 2021. [Photo/WeChat account: rudongfb]

The first session of the 18th Rudong County People's Congress was held on Jan 11 at the convention center in Rudong county, administered by Nantong city in East China's Jiangsu province, with Chen Lei, acting head of the county, delivering a report on the government's performance last year.

Over the past five years, Rudong has achieved leapfrog economic and social development. Preliminary figures show that the county's regional GDP in 2021 hit 128 billion yuan ($20.1 billion), while revenue in the general public budget came in at 6.85 billion yuan, up 26 percent on 2016.

Per capita disposable income of residents during the same period climbed from 26,700 yuan to 41,400 yuan, growing faster than the local economy. The average annual growth of fixed-asset investment was 9 percent.

In 2021, total retail sales of consumer goods hit 48 billion yuan, 1.5 times that of 2016. Foreign trade value came in at 42 billion yuan, with an average annual growth of 20.4 percent. Research and development expenditure accounted for 2.66 percent of GDP last year.

Over 2,900 hectares of afforestation was added last year, increasing the forest coverage rate to 24.3 percent.

The report also released the economic and social growth targets for 2022. A growth target of at least 7.5 percent was set for GDP, while general public budget revenue and fixed-asset investment is projected to rise by some 8 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Retail sales of consumer goods and import-export volumes are seen increasing by 10 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.

In addition, the report predicts that per capita disposable income of both urban and rural residents will grow faster than the local economy and the urban registered unemployment rate will remain under 2 percent. Research and development expenditure is projected to account for at least 2.7 percent of GDP.

Renewed efforts will also be made to improve the environment, with a promise to focus on energy saving and emissions cuts.