A bird's-eye view of Nantong. [Photo provided to en.nantong.gov.cn]

The GDP of Nantong in Jiangsu province exceeded 1.18 trillion yuan ($165.14 billion) in 2023, an increase of 5.8 percent from the previous year.

The agricultural industry maintained steady development with sufficient supply of produce. Last year, the city was home to over 8 million mu (533,333 hectares) of farmland, yielding about 3.43 million tons of grain, and over 2.28 million mu of vegetable land with 5.42 million tons of produce.

The industrial economy highlighted robust development in key sectors with the output value of high-end textile, shipbuilding and oceanographic engineering, and new material sectors rising at double-digit increase. The above-designated-size private businesses in the city experienced 9.4 percent year-on-year increase in added value.

The service industry witnessed improvements in both quality and quantity. The added value of the industry accounted for 47.1 percent of the city's economic aggregate in 2023. In the first 11 months of last year, the service providers above designated size in the city generated 107.01 billion yuan in operating revenue, up 3 percent compared with the previous year.

The income of residents in Nantong increased steadily. The per capita disposable income of local residents expanded by 5.6 percent year-on-year, reaching 51,853 yuan and the income ratio between urban and rural residents dropped to 1.90.