News

District invests in its citizens

By Hao Nan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-14 07:58

The GDP of Jiangjin district, Chongqing municipality has doubled over the past three years with an annual increase of 16.7 percent.

Local government revenue increased to 2.5 billion yuan in 2009.

The figures have proved the success of the district's transport, industrial and economic strategies, said authorities.

The government distributed 10,000 televisions to poor families in August, a move to promote the district's livelihood project.

"A good quality of life is the foundation of development and harmony," said Wang Yinfeng, Party chief of Jiangjin district committee.

"It is also vital to governing capacity and therefore is listed as a top priority on local authorities' agendas."

According to a district financial report, the local government has used more than 60 percent of its budget on projects to improve citizens' lives.

It plans to invest 33.7 billion yuan within the next two and a half years to support similar initiatives.

Jiangjin spent 1 billion yuan this year on education, public security, healthcare, agriculture, forestry and water affairs and a housing guarantee system.

The investment represented more than 60 percent of total district government revenue, listed at 1.6 billion yuan in the first half of this year.

Since 2008, nearly 2,000 poor college students have received 6.2 million yuan in incentives from the Jiangjin government.

Low income primary and secondary school students are exempt from paying school fees.

This month, authorities gave 35 million yuan to provide free milk to 77,000 primary students.

And now, 71,000 poor residents have received subsistence allowances.

The average annual disposable income of urban residents is 15,000 yuan, a 60 percent rise over years past.

Average annual income of rural residents is 6,000 yuan, marking a 40 percent increase.

More than 16 billion yuan has been spent in accelerating the construction of government-subsidized houses.

By the end of this year, nearly 950,000 square meters of low cost public rentals for rural migrant workers, graduates and low-income families will be built.

Around 10,000 rural dilapidated homes will also be rebuilt.

Low-income families receive free color televisions from local authorities. Provided to China Daily

A pepper farmer is excited with her sales revenue. Zhang Chanbin / for China Daily

The district government has worked to expand afforested urban areas. Provided To China Daily

(China Daily 10/14/2010 page6)