Nantong development area sees robust industrial development

The GDP of the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area, or NETDA – located in Nantong city in East China's Jiangsu province – last year rose to 84.24 billion yuan ($13.33 billion), an increase of 9 percent year-on-year.

The result is said to mark a good start to the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), according to Zhang Jianhua, secretary of the Party working committee of the NETDA.

Since last year, the NETDA has been focusing on the revitalization of its leading industries, with new ventures in information technology, high-end equipment, medicine and health and new energy.

In 2021, the taxable revenue of the new generation information technology industry hit 33.1 billion yuan, an increase of 50 percent compared on the previous year. Taxable revenue for the high-end equipment industry and the new energy industry reached 34.4 billion yuan and 10 billion yuan, surging 30 percent and 140 percent, respectively. The per hectare tax revenue of the biomedical industry reached 6.3 million yuan, jumping 38.8 percent.

Innovation is widely seen as key to industrial development, with talent being the foundation of innovation. Last year, the NETDA held the fourth Nengda Cup Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition which was understood to have yielded impressive results.

In the previous year, the area also set up a sci-tech innovation fund with a total investment of 100 million yuan. In addition, the number of invention patents owned per ten thousand people last year was 65, ranking it first in all regions administered by the city.