Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province [Photo/VCG]

Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, is ramping up efforts to promote high-quality development and become a provincial powerhouse.

The city has witnessed tremendous economic progress over the years. According to statistics, the city's GDP grew ninefold from 2001 to 2020.

By the end of 2020, Jinan's GDP surpassed 1 trillion yuan ($154.4 billion) and total fiscal revenue exceeded 90 billion yuan. The city's scale has also expanded, with the permanent population exceeding 9 million last year.

To promote ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, Jinan is accelerating coordinated development with cities in the Shandong provincial economic circle.

More efforts have been made to promote environmental protection, industrial cooperation and cultural development along the Yellow River.

For industrial development, the city is fostering new growth drivers by developing emerging industries and the digital economy.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), the scale of each of the city's two leading industries - big data and new generation information technology, and intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment – reached 400 billion yuan.

Jinan will seize the opportunities from the three national strategies – ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, the Jinan Start-up Area of Growth Drivers Shift, and the Jinan Area of the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone – to become a regional powerhouse in China.