A symposium reveals Jiaxing's achievements in balancing urban and rural development. [Photo by Sheng Jiansheng/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Jiaxing in East China's Zhejiang province held a symposium on balanced urban and rural development and modernization on Nov 12, which was attended by officials, experts, scholars and representatives of social associations and companies.

Guests shared their experiences and achievements in integrating urban and rural development, and expressed confidence about the future modernization of rural areas as well as the agricultural industry.

According to Zhang Bing, Party secretary of the CPC Jiaxing committee, Jiaxing has pioneered a new development model by integrating urbanization with rural and agricultural modernization, balancing industrial development with improving the living environment, and allowing rural and urban areas to share in the benefits of opening-up.

Earlier this month, Jiaxing's five counties and two districts were all listed among China's top 100 counties and cities in 2020 in terms of balancing urban and rural development.

By optimizing its industrial structure, Jiaxing has contributed one-sixth of Zhejiang's grain yields, despite being home to less than one-tenth of the province's cultivated land area.

The income of rural residents in Jiaxing has ranked first in Zhejiang for 16 continuous years, and the income ratio of urban to rural residents is 1.66:1, making it the number one city in the country in terms of urban-rural income equality.

Jiaxing is also one of the first areas in China to connect all its villages by bus, balance education across all counties, and provide pension insurance to all urban and rural residents.

Currently, Jiaxing has five national and provincial level agricultural sci-tech parks and 96 agricultural research institutions and R&D centers, providing the city with the technology necessary to boost agricultural development.

By 2025, the per capita disposable income of farmers in Jiaxing is expected to reach 60,000 yuan ($9,057.15), the income ratio of urban to rural residents is expected to be reduced to less than 1.6:1, and the combined regular income per village is expected to exceed 5 million yuan.