China's Fujian makes strides in economic, social development

FUZHOU -- East China's Fujian Province has fully implemented the country's new development philosophy and made progress in economic and social development, according to a press briefing on Tuesday.

Fujian's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 4.88 trillion yuan (about 709.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, with an average annual growth of 8.1 percent in the past ten years, said Yin Li, secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The per capita disposable income of residents reached 40,659 yuan in 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 8.5 percent in the past decade.

The province has accelerated the establishment of a modern economic system by sticking to the innovation-driven strategy, with its research and development spending rising 2.1 times in the period.

Fujian has achieved a more balanced development between its urban and rural regions, with its urbanization rate reaching 69.7 percent.

The province also accelerated the construction of a pilot free trade zone and a core area of the maritime Silk Road and strived to build it into a key channel for the "dual circulation" of domestic and international markets.

Its foreign trade totaled 1.84 trillion yuan in 2021, up 87.4 percent from the figure in 2012. Its trade with the countries and regions along the Belt and Road grew at an average annual rate of 8.4 percent during the period.

Fujian has stuck to the green development strategy and continuously improved its ecology, said Zhao Long, governor of Fujian, adding that its energy consumption per unit of GDP decreased 30.8 percent in the past decade.