With solid foundation, Xiangzhou charts clear path for growth

Xiangzhou District Chief Liu Qiying delivered the 2019 government report at the 4th Session of the 9th Xiangzhou District People's Congress on Feb 26, reviewing the past year's achievements and charting a future path.

Xiangzhou's GDP grew by 7 percent to 132.4 billion yuan ($19.8 billion) in 2018. Added value of industrial enterprises above a designated size soared 16.9 percent to 31.8 billion yuan while total fiscal revenue rose 19.5 percent to 51.3 billion yuan. Total retail sales of consumer goods increased 7.4 percent to 84.6 billion yuan, and total volume of imports and exports hit 115.6 billion yuan, an increase of 3 percent.

Statistics show that Xiangzhou's industrial enterprises above a designated size made a total profit of 22.8 billion yuan in 2018. The advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing industries achieved added values of 19.4 billion yuan and 8.5 billion yuan, up 22.1 percent and 16.3 percent respectively.

Last year 194 companies in Xiangzhou got the nod as High & New-Technology Enterprise (HNTE) firms, putting the total number to 788, or 38.3 percent of Zhuhai City's total number of HNTEs.

It's not all about economic growth. Xiangzhou spent 5.18 billion in improving livelihoods accounting for 81.5 percent of the general public budget expenditure. And 25,000 jobs were created. Xiangzhou also spent heavily in improving water quality. Last year it overhauled 1,127 km of pipe networks, built 1.8 km of sewage pipes, and repaired a damaged 0.8 km of pipes. Lovers Avenue, Nanwan and Qianshan interchanges, as well as other vital transportation nodes, were upgraded, costing some 70 million yuan. Residents had access to 16 new community parks which required a combined investment of 170 million yuan.

Meanwhile, 2.39 billion yuan was put into education, a year-on-year increase of 9 percent. The Meihua Middle School, Gree School, Beishan Primary School, Meihua and Tongle kindergartens were opened last year and together provided 5,400 new seats.

Picturesque Xiangzhou [Photo provided by Xiangzhou District]

The main targets for Xiangzhou's socioeconomic development in 2019 are:

-Regional GDP growth of 7 percent;

-Added value growth of 10 percent among industrial enterprises above a designated size;

-Growth of 7.5 percent in total retail sales of consumer goods;

-Growth maintained in fixed-asset investment and import-export volume;

-General public budget revenue growth of 2 percent; 

-Growth of over 8 percent in per capita disposable income.