Brief introduction of Taizhou city in Jiangsu province

A sweeping view of Taizhou city. [Photo/WeChat ID: tzfabu]

• Geography

Taizhou city is located in the central part of East China's Jiangsu province, bordering the Yangtze River to the south, Yancheng city to the north, Nantong city to the east and Yangzhou city to the west. As such, it is one of the central cities in the Yangtze River Delta region.

• Area

The total area of Taizhou covers 5,787.98 square kilometers, of which the land area accounts for 78.19 percent and the water area occupies 22.81 percent. The urban area stretches out 1,567.75 sq km.

• Administrative divisions

As of December 2023, Taizhou administered the three county-level cities of Jingjiang, Taixing and Xinghua and it also had three districts: Hailing, Gaogang and Jiangyan. It includes 61 towns, two townships, 25 sub-district offices, 1,165 village committees and 543 neighborhood committees.

• History

Taizhou, known as Haiyang in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), Hailing in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and Taizhou during the Southern Tang Dynasty (937-975), has a recorded history of more than 2,100 years.

During the Southern Tang Dynasty, it was upgraded from a county to a state and became known as Taizhou. It is a place where the cultures of the Wu, Yue and Chu states were integrated, and customs in the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River regions combined.

• Economy

Taizhou has seen solid recent economic growth and its gross domestic product or GDP hit 673.17 billion yuan ($93.26 billion) in 2023.

That performance represented a year-on-year increase of 6.8 percent, according to the economic and social development report released by the city's bureau of statistics on March 18.

Throughout the year, the value-added output of industrial enterprises above a designated size – those with an annual revenue from their main business of 20 million yuan or more – increased by 7.1 percent year-on-year.

The agricultural sector in particular demonstrated resilience, with a total output value of 57.4 billion yuan, showing 4.3 percent year-on-year growth. Notably, the grain yield per hectare maintained its leading position in the province for the seventh consecutive year at 7,494 kilograms per hectare.

Fixed asset investment jumped by 9.4 percent compared with the previous year. A total of 433 new projects with an investment of over 100 million yuan each began construction, marking a 7.7 percent increase year-on-year.

Elsewhere, the year-end saw a total of 715,100 market entities registered by the market supervision department, indicating a growth of 5.7 percent, with 81,500 newly registered entities during the year. Of these, 178,700 were private enterprises, recording a growth rate of 6.4 percent.

Urban employment experienced an increase of 63,900 million people, reflecting 5.1 percent growth. Additionally, 22,000 individuals were supported in successful entrepreneurial endeavors.

Retail sales of consumer goods reached 170.97 billion yuan, exhibiting  7.6 percent year-on-year growth.

The biggest star of the year was tourism – with the sector posting a whopping 117 percent increase in the number of domestic tourists, reaching 35.63 million trips.

The total value of imports and exports, meanwhile, rose to 134.44 billion yuan, up 2.8 percent compared with the previous year.

In all, the city welcomed 67 new foreign-invested enterprises and approved 36 new overseas investment projects – including 20 projects involved in the Belt and Road Initiative – marking an increase of 15 projects on the previous year.

The general public budget revenue amounted to 43.97 billion yuan, for a 5.5 percent gain.

Per capita disposable income for residents rose to 49,255 yuan, reflecting a 6.2 percent jump on the previous corresponding period.

• Transportation

Taizhou city in Jiangsu province is an important transportation hub connecting the north and south and is the gateway to central Jiangsu.

It is also an important node city for the Shanghai metropolitan area, the Nanjing metropolitan area and the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou metropolitan area.

The Xinyi-Changxing Railway, Nanjing-Qidong Railway, Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, Nanjing-Nantong Expressway, Yancheng-Jingjiang Expressway and Qidong-Yangzhou Expressway run across the entire city. Five railway lines starting from Taizhou Railway Station connect the city with  hundreds of other cities throughout the country.

Taizhou also boasts the Yangzhou Taizhou International Airport, as well as the Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge and the Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge.

An enchanting view of Taizhou Port at dusk. [Photo provided to etaizhou.gov.cn]

The State-level open port Taizhou Port is an influential logistics facility with an annual throughout capacity of 100 million metric tons. It also has six major riverside port areas.

The superior location and the integrated structure of the roads, railways, water and air underscores the important position of the northern wing of the Yangtze River Delta.