The Zhejiang Bureau of Statistics recently published the 2020 GDP data of the province and its 11 cities at or above prefecture-level.

Zhejiang's GDP in 2020 stood at $936.8 billion, ranking fourth among all Chinese provinces. The province's GDP per capita was $14,600, roughly 1.4 times of the national average in the same year and 1.3 times of the global average in 2019. The figure was well above $12,536, the per capita income threshold for a high-income economy as defined by the World Bank in 2019.

Zhejiang's GDP per capita was only $2000 in 2002 but had already surpassed $10,000 in 2013. The province started to enter the aforementioned threshold for a high-income economy in 2017, with its GDP per capita standing at $12,600 that year.

Among the 11 Zhejiang cities at or above prefecture-level, the most and the least affluent cities are Hangzhou and Lishui respectively. The former's GDP capita in 2020 ($21,121) was roughly 2.2 times of the latter's ($9,556). However, the gap between them has been consistently narrowing for years.

Zhejiang residents' disposable income per capita in 2020 was 52,397 yuan ($8,101), higher than any other provincial-level region except Shanghai and Beijing, as well as 1.6 times of the national average.

The disposable income per capita among Zhejiang's urban residents was 62,699 yuan in 2020, taking the national lead among all provinces for the 20th consecutive year. The corresponding figure among rural residents was 31,930 yuan, topping all provinces for the 36th consecutive year.

On June 10, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, jointly published a guideline supporting Zhejiang taking the lead in building a demonstration zone as an example for promoting common prosperity nationwide.

Zhejiang has been chosen to build the demonstration zone because it has achieved marked progress in resolving the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development, as well as has advantages for that purpose, the document stated.

Visitors flock to a popular tourist attraction in Changxing county, Zhejiang province on May 3. To date, Zhejiang's permanent residential population stands at 64.56 million, an increase of 10.14 million from 2010, the second largest growth among all Chinese provinces. [Photo/IC]