Tongzhou district in Nantong ranks 89th among China's top 100 districts in terms of happiness. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Tongzhou district in Nantong city – in East China's Jiangsu province – rates as one of the country's top districts in terms of happiness, local media reported on May 24.

That's according to the publicity department of the Tongzhou district Party committee. It announced that the list of China's top 100 districts in terms of happiness in 2021 was compiled and recently released by the urban economic research center run by CCID Consulting, with the survey revealing that Tongzhou ranked 89th on the list.

Focusing on such areas as public works and happiness, the CCID Consulting research center set up six primary indexes and 19 secondary ones, to comprehensively evaluate the contentment of people in 898 municipal districts based on data from 2020.

Income was included as an important indicator of people's happiness. In 2020, the per capita disposable income in Tongzhou reached 43,087 yuan ($6,722.7), up 5.9 percent compared with 2019.

Meanwhile, the district's general public budget revenue and gross domestic product last year came in at 6.67 billion yuan and 146.25 billion yuan, respectively up 3.5 percent and 4.6 percent.

Tongzhou is also continuing to extend reforms of its medical and healthcare systems, improving its service capacity. At present, there are 6,972 beds in medical institutions for every 1,000 people in the district, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year.

Education is a top priority in Tongzhou and there are currently 148 schools of all kinds in the district, accommodating 115,000 students and 8,733 full-time teachers. As a result of its high education levels, it has been awarded many national and provincial education honors.

Large areas of green and easy access to parks were also seen in the survey as being a significant indicator for happiness. Adhering to its green development plans, Tongzhou has built 50 parks and squares for fitness and recreation in recent years. Residents in the district can now access a park within a 10-minute walk.