Education, medicine, living security, employment, entrepreneurship, housing, and senior care are the most pressing livelihood issues in Zhuhai this year, as voted for by local residents on Feb 10, which is why they have been included in Zhuhai's Top 10 Livelihood Projects for 2023.

Officials of the Zhuhai Health Bureau noted that the city will build three medical service centers in communities and towns which will adhere to recommended standards, and an additional four medical service centers will be built at national standards. 

The standardized construction of clinics in towns and villages will be moved forward and 90 percent of them will meet up with the national basic standards. Health education in major areas and for targeted populations such as children, teenagers, women, and the elderly will also be carried out. 

Forty-eight schools will be built or renovated throughout the city in 2023, namely two high schools, six middle schools, 15 primary schools, and 25 kindergartens. The city will provide more than 32,000 public study opportunities to further ease the contradiction between supply and demand in public education. 

Linghang Primary School in Jinwan District will begin operation in September, 2023 [Photo courtesy WeChat account: zhuhaifabu]

More than 10 congested road sections or nodes will be renovated in 2023, and the current 23 chartered bus routes for students and 99 charted routes for workers will be further improved to bring more convenience to commuters. Additionally, more than 10 such routes will be opened this year, and the intervals of more than 20 routes during peak hours will be shortened. 

More than 12 pedestrian overpasses will be built this year, such as the one at the Gangyi-Yuehai roads intersection. A total of 19,000 public parking spots will be added, while parking spaces on 19 municipal roads that affect safe and smooth traffic operation will be canceled.

In the first quarter of 2023, the city will carry out a survey on the number, health condition, and anamnesis of seniors aged at or above 65. Further inspections and checks will be carried out in the following quarters as well, to urge family doctors to do regular follow-up visits. 

A caring service mechanism will be established to better serve the elderly with special difficulties. Home visits and minor home renovations will be arranged for seniors in need.

Zhuhai started construction on 26 comprehensive renovation projects for old residential communities and finished transformations for 25 others at a cost of over 250 million yuan ($37 million), benefiting more than 10,000 households.

Old residential communities citywide, covering over 22,000 households and more than 2.1 million square meters (519 acres), will be renovated in 2023 with an estimated investment of over 470 million yuan ($69 million).

The establishment of an industrial backbone cultivation system in Zhuhai will be accelerated, and the supply capacity for high-skilled talents involved in public practical training will be improved to cover four major industries, namely next-generation information technology, new energy, integrated circuits, biomedicine and health. The three advantageous industries, intelligent household appliances, equipment manufacturing, and fine chemicals, will also be developed in 2023.

Moreover, measures such as offering rewards and subsidies will be implemented to help enterprises attract high-quality talents.

A special fund of more than 350 million yuan ($51 million) will go to the grassroots "micro projects" in 2023, while social capital from enterprises, charity organizations, and good-hearted individuals are encouraged to participate in the construction and operation of these projects.

The grassroots "micro projects" in 2023 will mainly focus on urban infrastructure and the improvement of people's livelihood. Priority will be given to projects in old residential communities that currently fail to meet up with overall renovation requirements yet. 

Zhuhai aims to have more than a half of public kindergartens offering after-school caring service at reasonable prices in 2023. This will be done through investigations of local kindergartens and policies in nearby cities in the first quarter, and the release of relevant documents in the second quarter. 

A total of 20,000 government-subsidized housing units will be prepared for not only local residents with relatively low incomes, but also industrial workers, young people, and newcomers to the city. 

The city will start construction on 18,000 apartments and build 10 million sqm (2,471 acres) of industry 5.0 space projects to meet up with the demands of local enterprises. Supporting facilities such as reading rooms, gyms, laundromats, and commercial areas will also be available. 

More than 150 special activities for public employment services will be organized in 2023, providing more than 75,000 job opportunities for job seekers both online and on-site. Thirty-three communities and villages will be built into demonstrations with a 100-percent employment rate, while other areas in Zhuhai are required to have an employment rate of over 85 percent.