Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong, Jiangsu province, ranked 25th on the CCID’s Top 100 County-level Economies (2018) list on June 28, rising from last year’s 31st place.

CCID Consulting Co Ltd, under the direct jurisdiction of the China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, was the first listed consulting company in China. It has been committed to researching China’s county-level economies, regional development and emerging industries for years. Its County-level Economy Research Center, with five development visions and abiding by a scientific, systematic, objective, and workable principled approach, has established an evaluation index system for county-level economic development, including four first-class indexes, eight second-class indexes and twenty third-class indexes.

The evaluation index system indicates that the top 100 county-level economies in China have stuck to the underlying principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, focused on high-quality development and upheld a people-centered development vision, embodying new development principles. The system evaluates national county-level economic development from the four different aspects of economic strength, growth potential, wealth levels and green development. All counties (or cities) of Nantong were among the top 50 on the list.

Qidong achieved a regional GDP of 22.9 billion yuan ($3.42 billion) in the first quarter, an increase of 7.3 percent. The per capita disposable incomes of urban and rural residents were 13,084 yuan and 8,479 yuan, an annual rise of 8.2 percent and nine percent respectively. Revenue in the general public budgets reached up to 3.02 billion yuan, with tax accounting for 88.7 percent. Qidong ranked first among five counties and cities of Nantong. Two contests, including the top 100 Corporations Selection activity and the Striving for Advanced Level activity, have been developed to stimulate Qidong’s key industrial enterprises. Advanced Chinese equipment, the Tian Kun Hao hinge suction dredger made in Qidong, was selected as one of the ten scientific and technological innovation milestones of China in 2017. The reform of the administrative approval system has been constantly deepened, ranking sixth best provincially for administrative streamlining and power delegation as well as for innovation and entrepreneurship. In the first five months, the compliance rate of the Air Quality Index reached 80.8 percent, the top rate in Jiangsu province. Qidong has been nominated as a National Civilized City and continues to be on the list of National Hygienic Cities. It ranks 41st among the Top 100 County-level Cities in the All-round Well-off Index of China.