Wuxi races ahead in industry growth

While China has laid more emphasis on high-quality development in the real economy, Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province has come up with the right path to achieve that goal, which was demonstrated by its outstanding industrial output figures last year.

According to Wuxi's government, the city's total industrial output made by companies with an annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) each was 2.1 trillion yuan in 2021, a record high and up 19 percent year-on-year.

Wuxi's 16 key industries－including internet of things, integrated circuits and high-end equipment－had buoyed the city's industrial output with their combined turnover in 2021 jumping 21 percent year-on-year to reach 1.76 trillion yuan.

Wuxi's huge progress showed that industries are the "foundation" of high-quality economic growth, and this was also was in line with the central government's emphasis on the development of the real economy, said Wu Yan, director of the city's bureau of industry and information technology.

Shen Kaiyan, head of the Institute of Economics at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the surge in Wuxi's industrial output was especially encouraging at a time when there was industrial decline in some Chinese cities due to economic restructuring. Last year's growth helped Wuxi become one of the leaders in the Yangtze River Delta region－along with Shanghai and Suzhou－in terms of industrial development, she said.

Zhang Lixin, chairman of Wuxi-based IC design company Chipown Micro-electronics Limited, said that industry leaders should shoulder more responsibility by creating coordinated development and attracting the right talent to Wuxi so that a more market-based environment can be built there.