Zhangjiagang (), formerly Shazhou County (), is a

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a Administrative divisions of China#County level (3rd), county-level administrative divi ...

under the administration of

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

, China and one of the many

ports A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

along the

Yangtze river The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

. With 1,246,762 inhabitants as of the 2010 census, the city is now part of Jiangyin-Zhangjiagang-Jingjiang built-up or metropolitan area with 3,526,260 inhabitants. Continued growth will encompass the

Yangtze River Delta The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD, or simply ) is a triangle-shaped megalopolis generally comprising the Wu Chinese-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. The area lies in the heart of the Jiangnan reg ...

metropolitan region. It borders the

prefecture-level cities A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...

of Taizhou and

Nantong Nantong (; alternate names: Nan-t'ung, Nantung, Tongzhou, or Tungchow; Qihai dialect: ) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province of China, province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. ...

across the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

, as well as

Wuxi Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city ar ...

to the west. Its total area is 986.53 square kilometers, including a land area of 791.05 kilometers. In the top 100 country-level city list in China, Zhangjiagang ranks the third in 2019, and 2020. Zhangjiagang is named a national civilized city in China in 2020, and this is the sixth time that the city achieves this honor.

History

Toponym

Zhangjiagang is derived from a port in the city, while the port is named after a tributary, Zhangjia. All of them are written as "" in Chinese.

Overview

The area of the city was under jurisdiction of Jiyang township, Piling county during the Han dynasty. It was transferred to Jiyang (then Liangfeng) county which established in 281, while the eastern part of Jiyang was separated as Nansha county in 335. Nansha was merged into Changshu and likewise Liangfeng was merged into Jiangyin. The two counties were demarcated formally by three rivers whose names were Chuan Gang, Jiejing He and South Gudu Gang since 1667. In 1874, a canal called Chang-Tong gang demarcating then Changshu and Nantong was built. The shoals formed by alluvial deposits in varying of shape and size border the Yangtze River were called shazhou in Chinese. Thus, when the CPC established a new county which located in then Northern Changshu, it was designated as Shazhou. The county was disestablished after the

Double Tenth Agreement The Double Tenth Agreement, formally known as the Summary of Conversations Between the Government and Representatives of the Communist Party of China, was an agreement between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that was ...

was signed. In 1962, Changshu and Jiangyin separated their owned parts to establish a county bearing Shazhou. When the county was turn into a county-level city in 1986, it was renamed Zhangjiagang.

Geography

Located 140 kilometers from

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, Zhangjiagang is located along the southern banks of the Yangtze River. The land surrounding Zhangjiagang is extremely fertile, with large spans of rice paddies. In addition, many fish farms are located around the city. Many tributaries of the Yangtze have been contaminated from the construction and operation of chemical factories in the suburb areas.

Climate

Administration divisions

Zhangjiagang is a special industrial zone. The conceptualization of the port originated with urban city planner Wang Weifeng, PhD (王维锋], in 1986. Till 1993, it was a small village with no more than fields, fish farms and a small fishing port. In 1993, the area was declared an experimental industrial zone and opened up to international trade. It is divided into 8 towns: Besides, Changyinsha Modern Agriculture Demonstration Zone (), Shuangshandao Island Tourist Resort (), (), (), (), (), and () are regarded as township level administrations with actual jurisdictions.

Economy

In 2019, Zhangjiagang’s regional Gross domestic product, GDP reached

CN¥ The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

254.726 billion, with an increase of 6.1% at comparable prices. Calculated by the registered population, the per capita GDP is

273,900, which is equivalent to

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

39,700 at the average exchange rate. Based on the permanent population, the per capita GDP is

201,800, which is equivalent to

29,300 at the average exchange rate.

Sector composition

Among the total GDP of Zhangjiagang in 2019, the added value of the primary industry is

2.882 billion, with a decrease of 2.0%; the added value of the

secondary industry In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructio ...

130.848 billion, with an increase of 5.3%; the added value of the

tertiary industry The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

is CN¥120.996 billion, with an increase of 7.2%. The proportion of the three industries is 1.1:51.4:47.5.

Education

* Ivy Experimental High School

Transportation

In 2019, there are 783 buses operating in Zhangjiagang, with 47.93 million bus passengers and 65 bus routes. At the end of the year, the city has 443,300 motor vehicles. By the end of the year, the number of privately-licensed cars in the city reaches 358,100. The city is involved in the Shanghai-Nantong Railway, the Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing Intercity Railway and the Southern Jiangsu Riverside Intercity Railway.

Tourism

In 2019, the total tourism revenue of Zhangjiagang is

19.7 billion. Among them, foreign exchange income from tourism is

76,017,500. The number of domestic tourists received throughout the year is 9,355,900; the number of foreign tourists received is 46,100. The city has 4 national AAAA-level tourist attractions, 3 national AAA-level tourist attractions, and 1 provincial-level tourist resort. The city is claimed to be one of 100 Chinese countries or country-level cities with the biggest potential to develop tourism in 2020 by organizations including the China Economic Herald newspaper and the China Information Industry Association.

References

External links

Zhangjiagang City English Guide
{{authority control Cities in Jiangsu Administrative divisions of Suzhou County-level divisions of Jiangsu