Qiu Dongyao (center), on behalf of the Ningbo government, reports the city's achievements over the past 70 years at the news conference in Hangzhou on July 23. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

The city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province reported its achievements over the past 70 years at a news conference in Hangzhou on July 23.

Qiu Dongyao, mayor of the city, made a keynote speech showcasing Ningbo's achievements over the past 70 years to nearly 60 journalists from more than 40 media outlets from all over the world.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Ningbo has taken advantage of its strong port industry, reform and opening-up policies and abundant private enterprise to build the city into a modern port city offering a moderately prosperous livelihood.

According to official data, Ningbo's GDP jumped from 220 million yuan ($32 million) in 1949 to 1.07 trillion yuan in 2018, with a nominal annual growth rate of 13.1 percent, making it the 15th city in the Chinese mainland to achieve a GDP of over 1 trillion yuan. The city's GDP per capita for permanent residents increased to 133,000 yuan in 2018, reaching the level of high-income countries ($12,376 or more).

In addition, the disposable income of urban and rural residents has jumped to 60,000 and 34,000 yuan respectively.

Besides the economic growth and improved living conditions, port development has seen rapid progress in the city. The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, a small inland port which previously had a throughput of just 40,000 metric tons, has become a world-class port with a throughput of 1.08 billion tons in 2018, ranking first in the world for the last 10 years.

Qiu also pointed out that Ningbo has steadfastly heeded national strategies and is dedicated to developing modern industries, which helped turn the city into a model of reform and opening-up in Zhejiang and all of China.