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Red boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. [Photo by Sheng Jiansheng]

Jiaxing, in East China's Zhejiang province, is the birthplace of the Communist Party of China and the "Red Boat Spirit", the origin of China's revolutionary spirit. In 1921, the first CPC National Congress was successfully held on a small boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, signifying the birth of the CPC.

The city faces the sea in the east, runs along the Qiantang River in the south, and bears on Taihu Lake in the north. The Grand Canal crosses the region. With Shanghai to the east, Suzhou to the north, Huzhou to the west and Hangzhou to the south, Jiaxing enjoys a favorable geographical position because it is less than 100 kilometers to any of these cities. Its network of highways, rail lines and waterways radiates in every direction.

Jiaxing is a typical water town in the south of the Yangtze River. [Photo by Xu Huajun]

Jiaxing was the cradle of the Majiabang Culture of the Neolithic Age. During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), its general area was called Changshui, as well as Zuili, and was where the two states Wu and Yue contended for hegemony. During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), it was included in the Chu State. It established Youquan county and Haiyan county in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), both subordinate to Kuaiji county. It had become famous for salt and grains by the times of the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties (206 BC-220). During the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), when the Wu State ruled in the eastern part of the Yangtze River, the southern part of Youquan county and the western part of Haiyan county were separately merged into Yanguan county. In 231, Sun Quan, the emperor of the Wu State renamed Youquan as Hexing, literarily meaning flourishing crops, and it was renamed Jiaxing, meaning auspicious and flourishing, in 242. During the period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960), the Wu State set up Kaiyuan city, governing the three counties of Jiaxing, Haiyan, and Huating, with Jiaxing to be designated a city-level regime for the first time.

Jiaxing has a profound culture. It has a history of 7,000 years of human civilization and 2,500 years of written records, and has been a city since 1780. Celebrities and talents have flown out like a flood. Since the Qin and Han dynasties (221-8 BC), history books of all dynasties recorded the achievements of Jiaxing people. There are more than 80 people from Jiaxing listed in the Encyclopedia of China, such as poets Liu Yuxi and Xu Zhimo, painter Wu Zhen, mathematicians Li Shanlan and Shiing Shen Chern, translator Zhu Shenghao and writer Mao Dun.

Jiaxing has jurisdiction over 4,275.05 square kilometers. Under its jurisdiction are two districts Nanhu and Xiuzhou, three county-level cities Pinghu, Haining and Tongxiang, and the two counties of Jiashan and Haiyan.

The permanent population of Jiaxing was 5.608 million at the end of 2024.

Jiaxing in Zhejiang province reported robust economic performance in 2024, with its GDP reaching 756.95 billion yuan ($104.41 billion), 5.6 percent more than the previous year.

Jiaxing's industrial production experienced robust growth momentum. In 2024, the city's industrial added value, surpassing a designated threshold, reached 292.01 billion yuan, a 7.1-percent increase over the previous year.

Among the 33 major industrial categories, 24 saw growth in added value.

The service industry has witnessed a significant rebound and enhancement. In the same year, the added value of the city's tertiary industry amounted to 366.91 billion yuan, a 5.4-percent increase from the previous year.

Furthermore, the city's total retail sales of consumer goods in 2024 amounted to 264.74 billion yuan, a 5.3-percent increase from the previous year and securing the city the third position in the province.

In 2024, the city's retail sales of new energy vehicles stood at 10.83 billion yuan, a 33.5-percent increase. Additionally, retail sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment surged by 55.3 percent.

The per capita disposable income for residents reached 69,232 yuan, a 4.3 percent increase from 2023. Specifically, urban residents saw 3.6-percent growth, with their per capita disposable income reaching 78,641 yuan, while the per capita disposable income of rural residents in Jiaxing reached 52,249 yuan, a 5.2-percent increase and the highest in the province for the 21st year in a row. The income ratio of urban to rural residents stood at 1.51, the smallest gap in the province for the sixth year in a row.

Investments in essential areas continued to grow, with infrastructure investment and public service investment increasing by 24.8 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively.