Zhangjiagang

Zhangjiagang (), formerly Shazhou County (), is a county-level city under the administration of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China and one of the many ports along the Yangtze river.

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 metropolitan region. It borders the prefecture-level cities of Taizhou and Nantong across the Yangtze River, as well as Wuxi 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 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, 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¥254.726 billion, with an increase of 6.1% at comparable prices. Calculated by the registered population, the per capita GDP is CN¥273,900, which is equivalent to US$39,700 at the average exchange rate. Based on the permanent population, the per capita GDP is CN¥201,800, which is equivalent to US$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 CN¥2.882 billion, with a decrease of 2.0%; the added value of the secondary industry is CN¥130.848 billion, with an increase of 5.3%; the added value of the tertiary industry 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 CN¥19.7 billion. Among them, foreign exchange income from tourism is US$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

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Cities in Jiangsu
Administrative divisions of Suzhou
County-level divisions of Jiangsu