A group of reporters from media outlets across China embarks on a tour to Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province on March 21 to explore its high-quality economic growth model. [Photo/chinadaily.cm.cn]

Wuxi has attached great significance to ecological conservation while driving its economy in the developmental fast lane.

A group of reporters from multiple media outlets including Xinhua News Agency, China Daily and CCTV across China embarked on a tour of Wuxi, a city in East China's Jiangsu province, on March 21 to explore its high-quality economic growth model.

Official data show that Wuxi's GDP surpassed 1.1 trillion yuan ($160 billion) in 2018, a year-on-year rise of 7.4 percent, ranking it in third place in Jiangsu province. The city joined the "GDP trillion club" in 2017.

The fast economic growth is concurrent with the city's improving ecological environment. In 2018, Wuxi was the only city in Jiangsu province to meet national standards in terms of average PM 2.5 density and the number of days year round with good air quality.

The result is largely attributable to the local authorities' efforts in ecological conservation. One such example is Jiangyin, a county-level city in Wuxi and the first stop of the tour.

Nestled along the downstream stretches of the Yangtze River, Jiangyin has taken a slew of measures to tackle water pollution, including phasing out backward production capacity and promoting ecological restoration.

Statistics show that as of August, 2018, the city had shut down more than 400 factories with backward production capacity. Since 2012, 214 chemical factories have been closed.