Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, ramped up efforts to promote high-quality development and achieved fruitful results in 2020 despite the pandemic.

According to official data, the city's GDP in the first three quarters of 2020 increased 3.1 percent year-on-year to 724.84 billion yuan ($112.25 billion), ranking among the top 20 cities in China.

To cope with the impact of the pandemic, the local government issued 17 measures to alleviate the financial burdens of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, ramp up support for technological innovation, and optimize government services.

The city's manufacturing industry made significant progress last year. The new assembly plant by Sinotruk that was put into operation in Laiwu district in November, 2020 is expected to produce up to 100,000 heavy-duty trucks annually.

Sinotruk also launched its new generation high-end logistics traction heavy truck "Yellow River" on Sept 16, 2020.

Meanwhile, Jinan-based AtomHorizon Electric (Jinan) Corp became the only company in the country to master the technology behind nuclear-grade flowmeters.

For scientific innovation, the city's comprehensive science and technology innovation index has ranked first in the province for two consecutive years. In 2020, three new provincial key laboratories were opened in the city. Jinan is now home to the highest number of such labs in Shandong.

In addition, Jinan received the title of National Civilized City for the third year running.

In terms of livelihood improvement, 1,006 poverty-stricken villages in the city were lifted out of poverty. A total of 26.99 billion yuan was spent on environmental protection efforts and 23 projects related to people's livelihood were completed.