Zhoushan set to create 26 Beautiful Towns by 2035

Bar Street in Liuheng town in Zhoushan city, East China's Zhejiang province, these days features uniquely designed bars and the public service center of the town comes equipped with intelligent facilities, including robots and self-service terminals.

That hasn't happened by chance, but is the result of a coordinated effort that is set to be replicated elsewhere across Zhoushan city, according to local officials.

"Liuheng has launched 31 projects with a total investment of 619 million yuan ($89.31 million) this year to turn itself into a Beautiful Town," said a senior official from the Liuheng management committee.

Zhejiang launched its Beautiful Town program in 2019, which focused on improving things especially in six areas – the environment, the daily lives of local residents, industry, culture, governance and urban-rural integration.

Officials said Liuheng is the epitome of the Beautiful Town concept in Zhoushan, which saw the city start the creation of 26 Beautiful Towns this year.

According to the overall plan, the city will establish 10 provincial models for Beautiful Towns and another 16 towns will meet the basic requirements to qualify as a Beautiful Town in Zhejiang by 2022.

By 2035, all 26 towns in Zhoushan will have satisfied the highest standards of the program set forward by the province.

Officials said that this year, Zhoushan will focus on the construction of four provincial models of Beautiful Towns and an additional three towns will meet the basic requirements.

Construction of a total of 135 projects worth 774 million yuan has begun in the seven towns, while there are a total of 457 projects currently on the drawing boards for Zhoushan's Beautiful Town construction program, with a combined investment of 3.81 billion yuan.