Customers shop at a brick and mortar store of a cross-border e-commerce firm in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/Xinhua]

The sixth session of the 14th Yiwu Municipal People's Congress commenced in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province, on Jan 7.

Lin Yi, secretary of the Yiwu Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, looked back on the past year with a government work report. Wang Jian, mayor of Yiwu, hosted the conference.

According to Lin, the city's GDP is expected to maintain a stable growth of about 7.5 percent year-on-year. The public budget revenue increased 6.3 percent to a record high of 10.12 billion yuan ($1.46 billion). The fixed-asset investment grew 18 percent to 48.5 billion yuan. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents were 77,260 yuan and 39,644 yuan, respectively, up 8.5 percent and 9 percent year-on-year.

The city's annual exports and imports in 2019 were valued at about 280 billion yuan and 10 billion yuan, respectively, up 12 percent and 160 percent year-on-year.

The conference also outlined 10 specific goals for Yiwu to develop into "the world's capital of small commodities", including deepening international trade reforms, formulating talent introduction policies, upgrading fundamental infrastructures, and streamlining administration procedures.

The government will also launch reforms in social governance, legal system, and cultural environment to make Yiwu a better home for international communities.