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Impressive achievements in Xiamen thanks to opening-up

By YUAN SHENGGAO | China Daily | Updated: 2021-12-21

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Gulangyu Island in Siming district of Xiamen has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. [Photo by Huang Rong/For China Daily]

Coastal city in Fujian province transformed into wealthy metropolis over past 40 years

After more than 40 years' reform and opening-up, Xiamen has transformed into an international modern metropolis with a robust economy and balanced urban development, vitality and openness, said local officials.

In the past 40 years, the key coastal city and special economic zone in East China's Fujian province has seen its economic aggregate leap from 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in 2006 to 638.40 billion yuan in 2020.

The economic structure has the "tertiary industry as the leading and the secondary industry as the support", with thriving growth in such areas as advanced manufacturing, modern services and agriculture.

The total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries increased from 205 million yuan in 1980 to 2.89 billion yuan in 2020. The planned total industrial output value increased from 7.66 billion yuan in 1990 to 686.12 billion yuan in 2020.

At the end of 2020, there were 206,300 legal entities and 9,637 enterprises in the city.

They include 2,282 high-tech enterprises, 58 listed companies, three Fortune Global 500 companies, and five Fortune 500 companies in China.

Urban development

Over the past 40 years, Xiamen's urban development plan has undergone major changes.

The scope of the city has been expanded to 1,700.61 square kilometers, forming a spatial pattern of "one island, one belt and multiple centers".

In 2020, the population of Xiamen reached 5.18 million, with an average age of 36.8 years old, which is the youngest in the province.

The urbanization rate of its permanent residents has reached 89.4 percent.

Xiamen accounts for 1.4 percent of the province's land area; and creates 14.5 percent of the province's GDP, 26.2 percent of fiscal revenue, and nearly 50 percent of foreign trade imports and exports, which demonstrates the "Xiamen speed "of the development of the special economic zone.

Reform and innovation

Xiamen has made major breakthroughs and reforms in a free trade zone and enterprises.

It took the lead in exploring the reform of State-owned enterprises by establishing a modern system, innovating financial systems and making incentive policies such as "one license, one code", "delegation of regulation and service", "single window" and "multiple regulations in one" in international trade.

The city is also making every effort to advance the pilot free trade zone and implement an innovation-driven development strategy.

Since its establishment, the free trade zone has launched a total of 448 innovative measures, of which 100 were nationally initiated, 30 were promoted nationwide, and five were selected as best cases.

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