A bird's eye view of Longgang city in East China's Zhejiang province [Photo/IC]

Longgang in Zhejiang province has gained approval from the State Council to establish a municipal government, according to a press briefing from Zhejiang province on Aug 29.

The new county-level city will be under the direct jurisdiction of Zhejiang province and administrated by Wenzhou city, with its municipal government located at 195 Zhenqian Road. 

Longgang boasts a history of bold and innovative reforms in its piloting of urbanization development. In 1983, the 5.2-square-kilometer county rolled out China's first land use and census register policies for farmers in rural areas.

By 1987, the county registered over 6,300 houses of immigrant farmers. The new residents expanded Longgang's urban area by 1,020,000 square meters and became the main driving force behind its urban development, making Longgang famous across the country as "the first city built by farmers". 

Longgang currently has an administration area of 183.99 square kilometers and a permanent population of 378,700, as well as an urbanization rate of 63.2 percent. In 2018, the regional GDP of Longgang totaled 29.95 billion yuan ($4.17 billion). The GDP per capita was recorded as 78,600 yuan, ranking 17th among all counties in China.

Restablished as a county-level city, Longgang is expected to pick up new development momentum by simplifying government organs, improving administration modes and streamlining public services.