On September 20, the Research Team of China’s Small and Medium-Sized Cities Development Index and Guoxin Small and Medium Cities Index Research Institute released the “2024 China Small and Medium-Sized Cities High-Quality Development Index Report”. Kunshan has once again secured first place in five categories: Comprehensive Strength, Green Development, Investment Potential, Sci-tech Innovation, and Quality of New-Type Urbanization. This marks the 20th consecutive year that Kunshan has ranked No.1 among China’s top 100 counties and county-level cities.

County-level modernization is a crucial part of Chinese modernization and the necessary path to achieving it. Kunshan, which has transformed from the least-developed agricultural county under Suzhou’s administration, has embarked on a high-quality development path driven by the principles of new development, powered by reform and opening-up, shared prosperity, and the spirit of “daring to try, being pragmatic, striving for progress, and pursuing innovation and excellence”. Over the past 20 years, Kunshan’s regional GDP has leapt five major thresholds, reaching RMB 514 billion. The city’s general public budget revenue has grown elevenfold, and the total output value of its  industries above designated size has achieved a historic breakthrough from RMB 100 billion to RMB 1 trillion. Additionally, the city’s import and export volume has surpassed USD 100 billion, accounting for one-seventh of Jiangsu province’s total.

Kunshan has continuously worked head to provide people with access to sound childcare, qualified education, well-paid jobs, first-class medical services, comprehensive elderly care, adequate housing and extensive social assistance, ensuring that both local residents and newcomers can live happily in Kunshan, where their first or second hometowns are dream-fulfilling places of entrepreneurship. Over the years, Kunshan has adhered to a people-centered development approach, consistently allocating over 80% of its fiscal expenditure to public welfare. The city has established a healthcare system comprising two Grade A Tertiary hospitals, nine district and township hospitals, 18 community health centers, and 110 community health stations. The number of schools has increased to 325, with 402,000 students enrolled. In 2023, the average collective disposable income of Kunshan’s 164 administrative villages reached RMB 12.62 million, while the urban-rural income ratio narrowed to 1.78:1.

“The key to Kunshan’s 20 years of leading success lies in its proactive and enterprising spirit,” said Lyu Yonggang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Economics at Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences. He attributes Kunshan’s success to the vitality and effectiveness of Chinese modernization. Kunshan has been at the forefront of exploring new models and taking responsibility within the national and provincial contexts, skillfully balancing subjectivity and innovation, independence and openness, and local and overall interests. It has thus become a model for driving national development. “Kunshan has lived up to expectations in becoming a model county for Chinese modernization!”

To objectively evaluate the level of high-quality development in small and medium-sized cities, summarize the general development patterns of cities, and explore high-quality development paths for small and medium-sized cities, the Research Team of China’s Small and Medium-Sized Cities Development Index and Guoxin Small and Medium Cities Index Research Institute have worked tirelessly to construct a research system for this index. They have conducted in-depth and systematic research on the development index of small and medium-sized cities for the past 20 years.