Zhangjiagang. [Photo/WeChat account: zhangjiagangfabu365]
Zhangjiagang has been included in Jiangsu province's first batch of counties selected for cultivation as national healthy counties. It is the only county-level city from Suzhou to make the list and one of seven county-level cities selected across the province.
The national "Healthy City and County" designation is the highest national honor for cities and counties in health development and public health within the Healthy China initiative.
Zhangjiagang was one of the first county-level cities in China to be recognized as a National Health City in 1994. In 2004, it led Jiangsu province by achieving full coverage of national health city and town designations, along with provincial-level health village designations. In 2005, it became one of the earliest county-level cities in China to join the World Health Organization's (WHO) Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC) in the Western Pacific Region.
At the 11th AFHC Global Conference in 2026, Zhangjiagang received the AFHC Award for Health City with Good Infrastructure, becoming the only county-level city in China to receive a comprehensive award at the conference. To date, it has won 14 international healthy city awards from the WHO, the highest total among counties in China.
In recent years, Zhangjiagang has allocated over 80 percent of its annual fiscal expenditure to public health, medical services, and other areas that contribute to the well-being of its residents. As a result, the city's major health indicators rank among the highest in Jiangsu province.