On April 10, the State Council Information Office held a news conference on promoting high-quality development on the topic of "Shandong practice in Chinese modernization: green, low-carbon and high-quality development."

[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhou Naixiang, deputy secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and governor of Shandong province, gave a detailed introduction on the topic and introduced Shandong's achievements over the past three years.

According to Zhou, Shandong's GDP has grown by an average of over 6 percent per year in the past three years, reaching 9.2 trillion yuan ($1.27 trillion) in 2023. The number of cities with a GDP exceeding one trillion yuan has reached three, and the number of market entities has reached 14.74 million.

Shandong province has also made remarkable achievements in scientific and technological innovation. The province's R&D investment has maintained an annual growth rate of over 12 percent over the past three years, and the number of invention patents granted reached 240,000 in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 26.5 percent. The world's first 600 km/h high-speed maglev transportation system was successfully developed there, and 57 satellites have been launched into space from the Oriental Aerospace Port in Haiyang, Shandong province.

The pace of industrial upgrading has accelerated. The number of enterprises recognized as single-product champions in manufacturing has exceeded 200, the number of specialized and sophisticated "little giant" enterprises has hit 1,032, and the number of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises has exceeded 450,000. There are 47 national-level industrial internet platforms, and the industrial digitalization index ranks among the top in China.

Shandong has made breakthroughs in infrastructure construction as well. The operating mileage of high-speed railways has reached 2,810 kilometers. The mileage of expressways has exceeded 8,400 kilometers. The construction of modern water networks has been vigorously promoted. More than 200,000 5G base stations have been opened.

The natural environment in Shandong has continuously improved. Energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP has decreased by a cumulative total of 15.8 percent in the past three years. The installed capacity of new energy and renewable energy power generation has exceeded 97 million kilowatts, and the average concentration of PM2.5 has decreased by 19 percent in the past three years.

People's well-being in Shandong has also improved. The proportion of fiscal expenditures on people's livelihoods has remained stable at around 80 percent. The number of new urban jobs has exceeded 1.2 million every year, and the quality of public services and social security has continuously improved.