Decade of progress and growth recorded by city of Nanchang

Nanchang in Jiangxi province has made solid progress in its industrial development, agriculture, commerce, public services and infrastructure over the past decade, said local officials.

Nanchang, the political, economic, cultural, scientific, educational and transportation center of Jiangxi, has seen its GDP surge from 300.05 billion yuan ($41.96 billion) in 2012 to 665.05 billion yuan in 2021, ranking 15th among provincial capitals in China.

The operating income of industrial enterprises above designated size in Nanchang climbed from 385.5 billion yuan in 2012 to 772.3 billion yuan in 2021. Nanchang was rated as an advanced city with high-quality industrial development in the province for four years straight.

Nanchang is now home to two industries worth 100 billion yuan each. One is the electronic information industry, whose operating income increased from 17.77 billion yuan in 2012 to 173.45 billion yuan in 2021. The other heavyweight is the new material industry. In 2020, its value exceeded 100 billion yuan and 381 enterprises were rated above designated size.

The scale of the digital economy in Nanchang reached 274.95 billion yuan in 2021.Honggutan district in Nanchang has more than 200 virtual reality enterprises and over 4,000 digital economy enterprises. In 2021,the district's digital economy revenue exceeded 15 billion yuan.

In 2018, the operating income of Nanchang's electronic information industry exceeded 100 billion yuan. That year, the city's LED chip production capacity ranked among top three globally and the city became the largest production base of high-power LED light sources in China.

The values of Nanchang Xiaolan Economic and Technological Development Zone; Nanchang Economic and Technological Development Zone; and Nanchang National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone all reached 100 billion yuan. Among them, Nanchang National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone's operating income exceeded 300 billion yuan, the first of its kind in the province.

To date, the city is working on more than 70 aviation equipment industry projects, and an industry chain covering research and development, manufacturing and operation of the aviation industry is taking shape. According to local officials, the city has become an important base for research and production of domestic aircraft and training aircraft in China.

Leveraging its advantages, Nanchang has hosted many global events, including the World Conference on VR Industry, and the 2022 China Aviation Industry Conference and Nanchang Air Show, said a local official.

In terms of agriculture, Nanchang now boasts an effective agricultural system, which is integrating with 5G technology and the internet of things.

Song Zhongquan, who is responsible for the Feiran Ecological Park in Nanchang, noted that staff members can remotely control the irrigation system with their smartphones.Thanks to IoT technology, the greenhouse in the park has a comprehensive control system which monitors water, fertilizer, light and temperature. It has resulted in an output two to three times that of traditional farming methods.

In Nanchang, the total vegetable output increased from 1.15 million metric tons in 2012 to 1.34 million tons in 2021. The comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvest reached 79.26 percent, ranking among the highest in the province.

By June, 475 agricultural products in Nanchang had obtained the label of organic and green food. For example, Sanjiang pickled radishes in Nanchang have been certified a national geographical indication product. Junshan Lake crabs in Jinxian county were added into the list of characteristic agricultural products in China, and local tea company Riantea was among the list of Chinese agricultural brands.

In the past decade, Nanchang has promoted the integration and development of traditional commerce, e-commerce and modern logistics to unleash the potential of the consumer market, a local official said.

Up to now, Nanchang has 38 large and medium-sized commercial complexes and 18 characteristic commercial streets, of which two are at national level and 12 at provincial level.

The total retail sales of social consumer goods in Nanchang increased from 111.65 billion yuan in 2012 to 287.87 billion yuan in 2021,and the total amount rose from 19th to 14th place among provincial capitals in China.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), Nanchang's total import and export value exceeded 110 billion yuan.

The number of enterprises involved in export business has increased from 515 in 2010 to 1,048 in 2020.

In 2021, the export of mechanical and electrical products in Nanchang reached 54.4 billion yuan. It accounted for 60.6 percent of the city's total export value.

Wang Zhigang, vice-president of Huaqin Technology, which has a smart hardware center in Nanchang, said the city will have an annual production capacity of 50 million laptops in the future. That is to say, one out of every five laptops sold in the world will be manufactured there.

The number of countries and regions that trade with Nanchang increased from 20 in 2010 to more than 200 this year. From January to June, Nanchang's imports from and exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States and South Korea were 12.48 billion yuan, 10.02 billion yuan and 7.03 billion yuan respectively, up 96.2 percent, 27.4 percent and 34.3 percent year-on-year respectively.

Nanchang is also riding the wave of cross-border e-commerce. In 2021, the import and export value of cross-border e-commerce in Nanchang reached $2.26 billion.

The rapid development of the economy and society has brought about the need for better transportation and infrastructure, said a local official. Considering this, Nanchang has refined its transport network and put forward a goal to ensure drivers can get on the expressway within 30 minutes and arrive in central parts of the city in 60 minutes.