This bridge in Sanmen county, Taizhou, is part of the coastal expressway connecting Taizhou, Ningbo and Wenzhou in Zhejiang province. [Photo/IC]

As one of the birthplaces of China's private economy, Taizhou boasts a flourishing private sector. Private companies last year accounted for 99.5 percent of the city's total enterprises,  contributing 92 percent and 77.5 percent of the city's tax revenue and GDP respectively -- 42 percentage points and 17 percentage points higher than the national averages.

Taizhou has become a world-leading hub for advanced manufacturing through seven decades of tireless efforts, forming a complete industrial ecosystem covering sea, air and land services -- with seven pillar industries developed in the fields of automobiles, medicine, space, plastics, pumps, smart toilets and sewing equipment.

Taizhou is the only pilot zone in Zhejiang for economic development based on bay areas, thanks to the geological advantage enjoyed by its three bays, and it has been committed to integrating the bay areas with other parts of the city to boost overall development.

Its central urban area has expanded from 35 square kilometers in 1993 to more than 140 sq km now, with its permanent resident population quadrupling in the same period to over 1.5 million and the urbanization rate soaring from 23.6 percent to 60.3 percent.

The income per capita of urban and rural residents reached 55,705 yuan and 27,631 yuan respectively last year. The city has also been recognized as one of China's happiest cities three times and ranks among the top 10 cities in China for air quality.

Egrets fly above a river in Taizhou. The birds have returned in strength, after renovation work undertaken by local authorities since 2001 made the river clean again. [Photo/IC]

For the future, Taizhou plans to continue to boost the high-quality development of its private economy, said Taizhou Mayor Zhang Xiaoqiang. 

Zhang said they will strengthen efforts to cut costs and risks for companies, increase funding, improve infrastructure and the business climate, expand markets and promote their industrial upgrading.