The city of Ordos in Inner Mongolia is recognized as one of the healthiest cities in China, according to an announcement at a ceremony hosted by Xinhua News Agency and Shanghai Normal University, in Beijing, Oct 18. [Photo/WeChat account of Ordos Daily]

The city of Ordos in Inner Mongolia autonomous region was recognized as one of the healthiest cities in China, according to an announcement at a ceremony hosted by Xinhua News Agency and Shanghai Normal University, in Beijing, on Oct 18.

Yu Renjie, vice-mayor of Ordos, attended the ceremony.

The winners of the contest are decided based on data released by the official websites of national ministry-level departments, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Health Commission, 2018 government reports of each participating city, reports of each participating city’s national economy and social development in 2017, the yearbook released by the National Bureau of Statistics as well as news reports from People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television Station, Guangming Daily and Health News.

Candidate cities are judged in four areas: health service, health environment, health guarantee and health promotion. Any city that ranked in the last 10 places on the air quality list released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment last year will not be considered for selection. 

A total of 31 cities made it into the final round of contest. 

After online voting and rounds of examination from more than 10 departments and universities, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering and Peking University, Ordos was one of the 10 cities to stand out. 

The other cities in the top 10 are Yinchuan, Fuzhou, Shenzhen, Qingdao and Chengdu, Nantong, Yan’an, Ordos, Ji’an, Weihai and Suzhou. 

Officials at the ceremony also announced the 2017 Health City Comprehensive Index, which was a score evaluating how healthy a city was. Ordos’ score was 28.85 points higher than the average score of 98 cities.

Representatives of wining cities receive awards. [Photo/WeChat account of Ordos Daily]

Yu Renjie (R), vice-mayor of Ordos, receives the award. [Photo/WeChat account of Ordos Daily]

The names of winning cities appear on a screen at the award ceremony. [Photo/WeChat account of Ordos Daily]