Lianjiang was rated 185th among the top 400 domestic counties in terms of economic competitiveness in 2018, 35 spots higher than the previous year, according to the Analysis and Evaluation of the Economic Development of Counties in China.

The report was compiled by the National Academy of Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. It selected 400 out of a selection of 2,000 counties from across the country based on GDP, public fiscal revenue, and industrial enterprises above a designated size.

The release ceremony for the Analysis and Evaluation of the Economic Development of Counties in China is held in Beijing. [Photo by Liu Shimeng/chinatimes.net.cn]

According to Guo Hongyu, an associate professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, there is a clear development disparity between coastal and inland areas. Nearly two thirds of the top 100 counties were from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces, while no counties from Shanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Guangxi, Chongqing, Qinghai or Xinjiang made the top 100 list.

Lianjiang was the only Zhanjiang county to make the top 400. In 2018, it made efforts to foster new business models and optimize its economic structure, which spawned steady economic growth. The county's GDP increased by an estimated 7 percent year-on-year to 56.2 billion yuan ($8.3 billion) in 2018.