Xiangtan reaps rewards as national pilot zone

A city famed as the birthplace of Mao Zedong, Xiangtan in Hunan province is now making a name for itself an economic powerhouse.

Since China began its opening-up and reforms in 1978, the city has made substantial progress toward its goal of becoming a center for advanced machinery and equipment manufacturing, commerce, logistics and ecological tourism, Mayor Yu Aiguo said.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the city has registered double-digit growth for eight consecutive years, reaching 52.31 billion yuan in 2007 - a per capita GDP of 19,000 yuan.