A bird's eye view of Tongzhou district. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Tongzhou district, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province has recently made solid strides in the development of its economy, commerce and industry and people's livelihoods.

In the first half of this year, Tongzhou reported GDP of 81.71 billion yuan ($11.55 billion), a year-on-year increase of 0.5 percent. The revenue in the general public budgets reached 4.44 billion yuan, beating the set target by 3.8 percentage points.

To promote the development of local businesses, it has reduced taxes levied on enterprises by 3.9 billion yuan in the current year. By end-April, all companies above a designated size in the district - those with 20 million or more in annual revenue - had resumed work.

In the first half of this year, the output value of high-tech industries in Tongzhou accounted for 44.5 percent of the total, an increase of 0.9 percentage points.

In addition, Tongzhou has launched a mechanism of talent introduction, introducing 53 high-profile talents and introducing 34 new science and technology projects.

In the first half, financial expenditure on improving people's livelihoods accounted for 75.4 percent of the total in the district.

Moreover, Tongzhou has been advancing its construction of schools, to ensure the education balance between urban and rural areas. Its medical services have also witnessed an improvement with the construction of hospitals and nursing homes.

The staging of cultural events and activities, the construction of urban and rural bookstores and the renovation of cultural sites is said to have boosted cultural development there. 

In August, a jobs fair was held in Tongzhou, providing 1,312 jobs to people with employment difficulties. At the event, employers signed letters of intent with 60 jobs seekers, official statistics showed.