Jieyang has made eye-catching headway in the past decade and a senior official considers the city's infrastructure improvement as its proudest achievement.
Jieyang was upgraded to city status in 1992 and it is authorized to govern the counties of Jiedong, Huilai, Jiexi and the county-level city of Puning.
In the past 10 years, the city has invested 52.29 billion yuan (US$6.32 billion) in fixed assets, enabling a large batch of infrastructure projects to be set up, said Lin Musheng, secretary of the Jieyang Municipal Party Committee.
Lin offered an exclusive interview with China Daily shortly before the 10th anniversary of the city's foundation, which falls tomorrow.
Infrastructure projects completed during the past decade range from a network of expressways, railways and national roads to expanded power and water supply systems. The telecommunications system and facilities have been upgraded while the urban area has undergone a thorough face-lift.
"Jieyang's achievements in economic development are equally eye-catching and have strongly bolstered the rapid development of infrastructure," he said.
Jieyang's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 41.15 billion yuan (US$4.97 billion) last year - five times more than in 1991.
Gross industrial production output value was 70.47 billion yuan (US$8.51 billion) last year, 13.6 times more than in 1991. Gross agricultural production output value was 6.79 billion yuan (US$820 million) in 2001, up 7.52 per cent on a year-on-year basis from 1981.
Lin attributed the city's economic success to its strategies of adjusting and optimizing the industrial structure, as well as using foreign capital, especially that of overseas Chinese whose roots are in Jieyang.
The city has attached much importance to developing advanced light industry and trade.
Air-conditioning equipment, automobile components, medical apparatus, garment and textiles, foodstuff and beverage, plastics, stainless steel utensils and clocks have all become the city's pillar industries.
There are 105 enterprises capable of generating 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) annually and several trademarks have become famous beacons for Guangdong Province.
He said the city has paid particular attention to fostering high and new-tech industries and transferring some of these technologies to traditional industries.
And the city's strategy of beefing up trade builds on its tradition as a commercial hub in the eastern region of Guangdong Province.
He said Jieyang has developed its agriculture by focusing more on the growth of cash crops, high-yield, high-quality and high-efficiency agriculture, as well as the processing of agricultural products.
Jieyang's green plums, mandarin oranges, bamboo and olives are well-known nationwide.
"The sound development in the past decade has laid a solid foundation for the city's second-phase development," he said. "Jieyang will invest more heavily for even better infrastructure and make greater attempts to optimize its industrial structure," Lin said.
Editor: Weiwei
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