A view of Rugao, a county-level city of Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: rugaofabu]

Rugao, a county-level city of Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province, ranked 22nd on the list of China's 100 Most Competitive Counties in 2023 released by CCID Consulting on July 25, one place higher than in 2022.

The coastal areas of East China have the largest number of counties on the list, including 23 counties or county-level cities in the top 100 located in Jiangsu — the most of any province in the country.

Since the launch of the "Top 100 Counties" list seven years ago, its influence has been increasing, and it has become a benchmark for measuring the high-quality development of counties.

The comprehensive evaluation was based on four main indicators: economic strength, growth potential, wealth, and sustainability, as well as eight secondary indicators and 27 tertiary indicators.

In 2022, the GDP of Rugao exceeded 150 billion yuan ($20.93 billion), an increase of 3 percent. The city's revenue in the general public budget reached 8.45 billion yuan, up 8.6 percent. Its investment in research and development accounted for 2.4 percent of GDP. Investment in fixed assets totaled 53 billion yuan, up 6 percent.

The city's retail sales of consumer goods totaled 54 billion yuan, an uptick of 1 percent. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached 56,583 yuan and 28,120 yuan, respectively, increases of 5.3 percent and 7 percent.