Wuxi, Jiangsu province. [Photo/IC]
Wuxi, which sits beside the celebrated Taihu Lake in southeast Jiangsu, made Oriental Outlook magazine's annual ranking of the 10 happiest Chinese cities in 2020, as announced during the Forum of the Happy Cities of China held in Hangzhou on Nov 18.
This is the first time that Wuxi has received the honor in eight years, according to officials.
Hosted by Oriental Outlook magazine and the Liaowang Institute of the Xinhua News Agency, the selection evaluated cities countrywide based on a variety of indexes, including employment, income of residents, natural environment, city appeal, and public safety.
In addition, this year's evaluation also took into account pandemic prevention and control, including general awareness of COVID-19, number of confirmed cases, and progress in resuming work, production and transportation.
In the face of the pandemic, Wuxi has been at the forefront in implementing measures such as concentrated medical observation of close contacts and carrying out nucleic acid testing services.
In the first half of this year, the city's fixed asset investment and industrial investment increased by 4.8 percent and 13.1 percent respectively, 12 and 30.4 percentage points higher than the Jiangsu provincial average.
Wuxi has released a series of measures to improve people's lives, promote employment insurance and attract talent. The per capita disposable income of residents has reached 54,847 yuan ($ 8,356.6), and the city has increased the basic living allowance given to low-income groups to 1,010 yuan per month, ranking first among 137 monitored cities nationwide.
The other nine cities included on the list were Wenzhou and Taizhou in Zhejiang province, Xuzhou and Taizhou in Jiangsu province, Tongchuan in Shaanxi province, Zhuhai and Foshan in Guangdong province, Weihai in Shandong province, and Yingkou in Liaoning province.
