Better quality of life

Editor’s note: In 2014, Nantong in Jiangsu province made new progress in social and economic arenas. Nantong Report will introduce the achievements and update the changes regularly. In this edition, we look at the city’s efforts to improve people’s lives:

Resettlement houses, totaling more than 2.6 million square meters, have been built in the urban area of Nantong last year. [Xu Congjun/Nantong Daily]

• Resettlement houses, totaling more than 2.6 million square meters, were built in the urban area and about 13,000 households were resettled last year.

The city received 97.32 million yuan ($15.7 million) in funds from the central government for the resettlement of communities. About 3,000 apartments were delivered to resettled residents last year.

In 2014, Nantong completed 10 reconstruction projects for old and dilapidated buildings and in-city villages. And another 12 projects have been launched.

Eight older communities in the city have been upgraded. Nantong has also provided free upgrading of electricity meters for 192,000 households in 287 residential communities.

• On March 1, 2014, the city expanded its medical insurance system for major diseases to its rural residents.

All rural citizens who have joined the new rural cooperative system receive reimbursement for the majority of their treatment costs should they suffer from a serious disease.

According to the new system, the reimbursement rate for the total costs of treatment for serious diseases has reached 85.2 percent for those in employment, 72.2 percent for urban residents that are not employed and 76.6 percent for rural residents that are not employed.

In 2014, the city provided more than 4,000 newborn babies with free genetic checks for hereditary deafness, about 178,000 women from rural areas received free checks for breast cancer and cervical cancer, and 3,606 patients considered key recipients were provided free rehabilitation equipment.

The city has also added two more emergency centers, one in its development zone and one in the east of the city center.

• Nantong has formed an elderly care system covering both urban and rural residents.

According to the system, 90 percent of the local elderly rely on home-based care, 7 percent on community services, and 3 percent on institutions offering care for the aged.

In 2014, the city upgraded 13 nursing homes for elderly people, adding 4,200 beds and training 586 nursing staff.

About 30 day-care centers and cafeterias were built for the elderly in the city last year.

Now Nantong has 230 nursing homes for the aged, with 56,000 beds altogether. About 29 beds are available for every 1,000 elderly people in Nantong.

These measures have basically solved the problem of care for the elderly in the city and greatly improved the lives of older residents.

• A series of important projects to improve resident’s lives such as the Nantong Hospital for Maternal and Child Health Care and the Middle School Affiliated to Nantong University, were completed in 2014.

Last year, about 57.2 percent of the city’s budget went into projects related to improving residents’ quality of life.

The investment in education, health, water projects, environmental projects and public facilities increased by 46 percent compared with 2013.

Eight new branch roads were put into use last year. And about 1,200 new parking lots, 30 new public toilets and 100 public bicycle parks were added.

Also projects to expand a welfare center for children and the construction on the main part of the city’s rehabilitation center for the disabled have been completed.

• The city has formed a “double source” water supply system, with the Yangtze River as its main urban water source along with reservoirs and deep wells as emergency water sources.

The system effectively ensures water security for residents and industries.

The city government has paid great attention to developing emergency water sources and held several special meetings to address the issue.

Now all the clean water pipes of water plants in the urban area have been connected.

The construction on the Old Honggang Emergency Water Reservoir, which can provide water for the Honggang Water Plant and Chonghai Water Plant in an emergency, has been completed.

In addition, the construction of Changqingsha Reservoir is almost finished, and the dredging of the Kuanghe River in Haimen of Nantong city and the construction of Jiangong Lake have been completed. These projects will work together to ensure the safety of Nantong’s water.

• New progress has been made in the Shopping Basket Project, a program initiated by the city government to improve supplies of agricultural products in the market.

Following the opening of a trading market for vegetables, fruits and aquatic products in 2013, a wholesale market for meat was opened at the Nantong Logistics Center for Agricultural and Sideline Products in February 2014.The center houses more than 2,000 shops and the value of transactions was more than 7 billion yuan last year.

Also about 20 new direct-distribution shops for farm products were opened in downtown Nantong last year. The prices of farm products at the shops are generally 10 to 20 percent lower than average.

More than 40 types of vegetables are grown all year round at the four vegetable bases in the city’s urban area, which cover 336 hectares in total.

The distribution and traceability system for meat and vegetables has also improved continuously.

The city has basically formed an inspection network of four levels: city, counties, towns, plus enterprises and growing bases.

The Shopping Basket Project has brought local residents greater convenience, ensured a bountiful market supply, stabilized food prices and enhanced food safety.