Guangxi holds a press conference on Yulin's economic and social development on July 19. [Photo by Chen Weiping/yulin.gov.cn]

A press conference to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on July 19, showcasing the economic and social development of Yulin over the past 70 years.

Yulin is a city with a history of more than 2,000 years, and is also the largest hometown of overseas Chinese in Guangxi. In the past 70 years, the economic scale of Yulin has increased from 103 million yuan ($15 million) in 1949 to more than 160 billion yuan in 2018, an increase of more than 1,500 times. Total fiscal revenue increased from 70 million in 1950 to 17.13 billion in 2018, an increase of 2,493 times.

Yulin Party Secretary Huang Haikun speaks at the press conference. [Photo by Chen Weiping/yulin.gov.cn]

In recent years, Yulin has focused on accelerating its integration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Land-Sea Trade Corridor in the west. The city has promoted the three major events of building high-speed rail, airports, and wharfs, striving to build itself as an important channel and regional hub in the Eastern Integration Strategy.

The Nanning-Yulin-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Railway and the Zhangjiajie-Guilin-Yulin-Haikou Railway will greatly shorten the time and distance between Yulin and the Greater Bay Area. After completion, Yulin will become an important transportation hub for Guangxi to connect the Greater Bay Area and the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, as well as an important node and the most convenient access point to the Hainan Free Trade Zone. In addition, Yulin Fujin Airport and Tieshan Port Wharf are also under construction.

Wei Tao, mayor of Yulin, gives an introduction to Yulin's economic development. [Photo by Chen Weiping/yulin.gov.cn]

At present, the built-up area of urban Yulin has reached 75 square kilometers, and the urbanization rate has reached 49.3 percent. In addition, the city had a total of 267,000 market entities by the end of 2018, contributing 54 percent of the tax revenue, 70 percent of the fixed asset investment, 80 percent of the regional GDP, 90 percent of the urban labor employment, as well as 91 percent of the industrial enterprises above designated size.

Since 2012, Yulin has introduced 2,859 projects, with a total project construction amount of 440.7 billion yuan and a total of 430.2 billion yuan in place. Yulin has also increased its financial investment in people's livelihoods. In 2018, the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents was 33,960 yuan and 14,984 yuan respectively, which was 1.53 times and 2.06 times that of 2012.