Jinan set its economic and social development goals for 2023, according to the government work report released during the second session of the 18th People's Congress of Jinan on Dec 26.

In 2023, Jinan plans to speed up the implementation of the Yellow River national strategy, such as the establishment of Quehua Park, a Yellow River ecological landscape zone, and the development of the Jinan Start-up Area for Growth Drivers Transformation.

As a provincial capital city, Jinan is currently making plans to construct a one-hour commuting circle, and is also exploring cross-regional industrial cooperation in 2023 to highlight its leading role on the Shandong Peninsula.

According to the work report, Jinan is bolstering its efforts to develop 500 key projects, such as the central business district, introduce a number of headquarters projects worth 10 billion yuan ($1.43 billion) and supporting projects, add 10 new subsidiaries or branches of State-owned enterprises, and attract new cooperate headquarters and entities of provincial enterprises to settle in the city in 2023.

In addition, Jinan intends to step up efforts to develop scientific and technological innovation by boosting the joint establishment of innovative platforms with the city and schools, and cultivating and introducing high-end talents.

In terms of digitalization, Jinan's digital economy is expected to account for more than 48 percent of the core industry scale of the digital economy and generate 600 billion yuan in 2023. Jinan also plans to further develop the digital government by building a smart service system, a smart public benefiting system, and other digital systems for the public to deal with various application scenarios such as medical insurance mobile payments and school registrations online.

Jinan has set goals for urban development, such as the transit-oriented development model, or TOD, and the preservation and improvement of historical blocks. The city also plans to build eight new study areas to contribute to the development of 15-minute cultural service circles in 2023.

An aerial photo of Jinan, Shandong province. [Photo/Jinan Times]