Vital hub goes full speed ahead to become a world-class city

Nanchong in Sichuan province is a key hub along China's Silk Road Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It is making great efforts to build itself into a world-class city for economic development, tourism and culture, according to local officials.

Nanchong is a center for logistics, commerce and finance in northeastern Sichuan province with a large wholesale market for grain, oil, pork and silk products.

The city has a series of competitive industries including automobile parts, petrochemical sector, modern agriculture and logistics. There are also emerging industries such as new materials, information technology and biological medicine.

The total area for the industrial parks in Nanchong reaches 111 square kilometers, with 609 industrial enterprises above a designated size.

Nanchong plays a key role in boosting the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone, an initiative by Southwest China's Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality. It is set to become an engine of economic growth in the country's vast western region.

In 2018, Nanchong's GDP reached 200.6 billion yuan ($28.4 billion), ranking fifth in Sichuan province. Disposable income per capita was recorded at 21,163 yuan, ranking second in the province.

This year, Nanchong intends to achieve a GDP of more than 220 billion yuan, with fixed assets investment exceeding 180 billion yuan and public budget revenue surpassing 12 billion yuan.

Covering 12,500 sq km, Nanchong has a population of 7.6 million, ranking second in Sichuan. It is titled as a merit city in China for clean energy, the silk industry, gardens and tourism. Located in the Jialing River ecological tourism zone and the Three Kingdoms cultural tourism area, Nanchong has picturesque landscape, four distinct seasons, diverse cultural relics and clear air. It is home to 34 A-level tourism spots.

Nanchong has a history of over 2,200 years. Emperor Gaozu, also known under the name Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 24) established the city as Anhan.

The city is a cradle for the traditional Chinese culture originated from the Three Kingdoms period (220-280).

It is famous nationally and worldwide for its cultural heritage such as lantern shows, shadow puppets and paper-cutting.

Nanchong is also an important production base for commodity grain and agricultural products. It is renowned as the hometown for high-quality oranges and other fruit such as pomelos, peaches, plums and grapes. It also has a competitive edge in industries such as livestock farming, silk, forestry and high-quality grain oil.

Nanchong has abundant education resources and is home to 85 research institutions.

By the end of 2018, the city had built 8,583 medical institutes and three national third-grade hospitals.

(China Daily 09/17/2019 page25)