Yangquan sees improved living environment from 2016 to 2020. [Photo/Yangquan Evening News]

The city of Yangquan in North China's Shanxi province finished building a comprehensively well-off society over the past five years.

From 2016 to 2020, the city's GDP, added value of industrial enterprises above designated size, total retail sales of consumer goods, and foreign trade value have grown at an average annual rate of 4.9 percent, 4.4 percent, 3.5 percent, and 3.4 percent, respectively. 

The industrial structure has been optimized as well. The industrial added value of emerging industries in 2020 was 1.4 times that of 2015, with an average annual growth rate of 7.3 percent. The added value of industries such as new materials, new-generation information technology, new energy, and new modern services grew at an average annual rate of 12.8 percent, 11.7 percent, 16.7 percent, and 7 percent, respectively. 

No 7 Shanxi Smart City in Yangquan city [Photo/Yangquan Evening News]

Reform and innovation were also strengthened in the city. 

The energy revolution has steadily advanced and the reform of State-owned assets and State-owned enterprises has achieved historic breakthroughs. The city has also completed city-wide reform in the rural collective property rights system. The construction of a national innovative city has been accelerated as well, and the quality and quantity of various innovation and entrepreneurship platforms ranked first in the province. 

The city has taken on a new look and was approved as a national sanitary city. The Yangquan-Dazhai Railway and a comprehensive passenger transportation hub were completed and began operating. A more complete road network has been expanded in urban and rural Yangquan. 

The battles against poverty, environmental pollution, and major risks have achieved a phased victory. 

By the end of 2020, impoverished residents of Yangquan were all lifted out of poverty. The average PM2.5 concentration dropped to 46 micrograms per cubic meter, water environment governance improved, and the safe utilization rate of contaminated farmland and contaminated plots reached 100 percent in 2020. The risks of Yangquan City Commercial Bank were successfully resolved, and all three local rural credit cooperatives were restructured into rural commercial banks.

A renovated community in Yangquan city [Photo/Yangquan Evening News]

Significant progress has been made in people's livelihood and social undertakings as well.

More than 80 percent of fiscal expenditures were used as inputs to improve people's livelihoods. In the past five years, 124,000 new urban jobs were created, and the per capita income of urban and rural residents increased by 8,604 yuan ($1,334.31) and 5,016 yuan, respectively.

Education and health services have improved, and subsidies for pensions, medical insurance, and subsistence allowances have been raised year by year. A total of 41,000 sets of shanty houses were renovated. 

Soft power was also greatly improved and the public cultural service system was enhanced. The brand of "The First City Created by the Communist Party of China" has been extremely successful. The archery competition of the second National Youth Games was successfully hosted in the city. The Niangzi Pass was recognized as a national 4A-level tourist attraction.