The Zhoushan's eighth Congress of the Communist Party of China commences in the city on Feb 23. [Photo/WeChat account: zjzsrbs]

Zhoushan's eighth Congress of the Communist Party of China commenced in the city on Feb 23, local media reported.

A total of 296 CPC members from all walks of life in the city listened as He Zhongwei, executive chairman of the congress and Party secretary of Zhoushan, delivered a report on behalf of the seventh CPC Zhoushan Municipal Committee, highlighting several significant achievements that have been made over the past five years and the city's targets over the next five years.

From 2017 to 2021, Zhoushan's GDP exceeded 170 billion yuan ($26.91 billion) with average annual increase rate of 8.9 percent and its per capita GDP reached 140,000 yuan, ranking 16th in the country.

The city also witnessed stable development in the fishing industry, with the output of the distant-water fishing sector accounting for 22 percent of the national total.

The Zhoushan port area has become the sixth largest bunkering port in the world and the largest in China, and its annual cargo throughput has exceeded 600 million metric tons.

Over the past five years, Zhoushan created 152,400 jobs and the per capita income ratio of urban to rural residents was reduced to 1.61. Zhoushan is now among the cities with the smallest urban-rural gaps in China.

Over the next five years, Zhoushan's GDP is expected to total 270 billion yuan, allowing it to be ranked among the top 10 Chinese cities in per capita GDP.

In addition, annual foreign trade volume is expected to reach 350 billion yuan. The per capita disposable income of local residents would total 85,000 yuan and the per capita disposable income of low-income fishermen would exceed 31,000 yuan within the next five years.