Zhangjiagang in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province was included in the list of China's top 10 economic counties in terms of GDP in 2020. [Photo by Pan Zhihuachinadaily.com.cn]

Zhangjiagang in Suzhou, East Chinas Jiangsu province was included in the list of China's top 10 economic counties in terms of GDP in 2020, Yicai reported on April 14.

The GDP of Zhangjiagang reached 268.66 billion yuan ($41.34 billion) in 2020, a year-on-year growth of 3.9 percent, ranking third nationwide. Jiangsu's Kunshan and Jiangyin both surpassed 400 billion yuan in the past year, ranking first and second on the list.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the city pursued high-quality development and made continuous progress in pandemic prevention and control as well as economic and social development. The city also gave priority to stabilizing employment, maintaining good living standards and safeguarding people's wellbeing.

Official data shows that the city's general public budget revenue totaled 25.03 billion yuan, up 1.3 percent year-on-year. The city's actual use of foreign investment expanded 20 percent year-on-year to $600 million, while its total imports and exports volume surged to $33 billion last year.

Zhangjiagang also ramped up efforts to attract investment last year. A number of key projects, such as the Zhangjiagang Data Lake Industrial Park and Spotlight Automotive Ltd., a joint venture invested in by BMW, Great Wall Motors, Tencent and DuPont, were established in the city.

Additionally, the city focused on high-quality development and accelerating the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones, which have helped foster innovation and entrepreneurship. Official data shows that a total of 217 high-tech enterprises entered the city last year, a 95.5 percent year-on-year increase.