Province invests in social care, alleviation of poverty, education, agriculture and ecology

An aerial view of Lanzhou Beilin Museum, a tourist attraction that collects and displays calligraphy and cultures of the Yellow River and the Silk Road. [Photo/China Daily]

With constant efforts to promote high-quality development, Northwest China's Gansu province achieved economic growth breakthroughs in 2021.

Official data show that Gansu's GDP reached 1.02 trillion yuan ($161.47 billion) and the general public budget revenue exceeded 100 billion yuan last year, representing historic achievements in the province's social and economic development.

Gansu has fulfilled its social economic tasks and realized a good start to the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), according to local officials.

In 2021, the added value from enterprises with an annual operating revenue of at least 20 million yuan increased by 8.9 percent and fixed-asset investment increased by 11.1 percent. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached 36,190 yuan and 11,400 yuan respectively. Meanwhile, the total grain output reached 12.32 million metric tons, an increase of 2.43 percent, outperforming the established target.

Last year, the expenditure on people's livelihoods reached 320.61 billion yuan, accounting for 80 percent of the total general public budget, as part of the efforts to improve people's well-being. The province created 332,500 job opportunities and held vocational training for more than 1 million people. It helped 5.28 million laborers acquire jobs in downtown areas, with 1.99 million of them escaping poverty.

The minimum living standard cost of urban and rural residents reached 7,476 yuan and 4,788 yuan per capita respectively. The province constructed a total of 100 service centers for elder care and revamped 2,126 communities, benefiting 177,000 households.