Zhongshan Honored as
One of the “Happiest Cities of China” 

"Which is the city easiest to get a sense of happiness?" Zhongshan, together with other 9 cities have been picked out from the 35 candidate cities and honored as the country’s “Happiest Cities”. On the night of Nov. 6th, 2007, these cities have been granted the awards in Hangzhou, The organizing committee believed that the Zhongshan people’s tenet of fraternity, innovation, tolerance and harmony exemplified the happiness and glory of the city. Tang Ying, the vice mayor of Zhongshan, Li Haiying, the celebrated musician, and Jiang Jialiang, the former table tennis champion of the world, have attended the awards ceremony on behalf of Zhongshan. 

On the ceremony, Li declared that Zhongshan had been listed among the happiest cities while Jiang presented the vice mayor with the “Happiest Cities” plaque. “Having won this most humane praise with the success of administration and construction of Zhongshan, we feel more than glorious”. In the acceptance speech, Tang said: Zhongshan has always upheld the ideal that the ultimate goal of city construction constitutes the happy life of the citizens; Zhongshan will continue to work hard to construct itself into a harmonious city suitable for living and business. 

The other nine “Happiest Cities” were Hangzhou, Chengdu, Ningbo, Shenyang, Qingdao, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Beijing, Shanghai and Taizhou. This was the first time that such activities have been held in China. The candidate cities are elected according to internationally recognized indices, like employment, income, social security, housing, medicare, environment and education as well as the intensity of work pressure and relations between individuals and individual and society.
From April to October, the organizing committee conducted a comprehensive poll. Based on the statistics and votes, the committee has selected the country’s ten "Happiest Cities".

Happy Zhongshan
Encoding One of the Happiest Cities of China

For the Twentieth Birthday of the Prefecture-Level Zhongshan: III

In 2007, Zhongshan was honored as “Happiest Cities of China” together with 9 other cities. In order to facilitate the understanding of this happy city, please look at the following figures: the city has witnessed an increase of 9 times in the average wage of urban workers and an increase of 5 times in the annual income of agriculture population in 20 years. The basic medical insurance has covered 55.8% of the Zhongshan people and is expected to cover 100% of them by the end of this year. The old-age pension has covered 66.8% of the rural residents of Zhongshan and is expected to cover all of them by the end of the next year. 57% of the annual fiscal revenue has been spent on public service and 30 billion yuan has been invested in the construction of the 10 great projects for people’s livelihood. 

From the economy to the security of people’s livelihood, and from the finance to the projects for people’s livelihood, the people’s livelihood has always on the agenda of the city for 20 years. The fruits of reform and opening-up are shared by the citizens and Zhongshan is indeed a happy city.

From the Economy to the Security of the People’s Livelihood

Zhongshan’s happiness lies in the richness of the citizens. “The two great hopes of the people are the richness and stableness of life”, Chen Genkai, the secretary of the Zhongshan Municipal Party Committee, explains his understanding of the sense of happiness. In order to make the fruits of economic development shared by all the Zhongshan people, the municipal government has adhered to the principle that “benefits should be shared by the common people”, delegating power to the districts and towns, promoting the development of private economy. The gross output value of the private industry above designated size reaches 112.73 billion yuan, which is 38.4% of the gross output value of industry above designated size in the city. Meanwhile, in 2002, a new approach to balancing urban and rural employment has been proposed in Zhongshan, the first of its kind in Guangdong Province. Surplus rural labors and members of zero employment families are offered training of skills while 1.5 billion yuan has been invested to develop vocational education. The private economy has promoted the income of citizens and offered lots of employment chances. Zhongshan has succeeded in sharing the fruits of development among people. 

The happiness of Zhongshan also lies in the city-wide security campaign. This campaign tries to make sure that every citizen has a job and that every citizen has access to medical insurance. In 2007, the basic medical insurance covered 55.8% of the city’s urban and rural residents and is expected to cover all of them by the end of 2007. The campaign also tries to make sure that every farmer has the retirement pension, which has covered 66.8% of the rural residents of Zhongshan and is expected to cover all of them by the end of 2008. “There are two things that the common people fear most, that is, illness and old age. Once the government has settled the two issues, the people are relieved of their worries.” Li Qihong, the mayor of Zhongshan and deputy secretary of the Zhongshan Municipal Party Committee explains the significance of safeguarding people’s livelihood. 

Zhongshan’s happiness lies in safety as well. “The actualization of the grand safety is indeed the best for people’s livelihood. “Since he has been sworn in, Chen Genkai, the secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, has spared no efforts to build the “grand safety”, trying to ensure the stability of the sociopolitical situation, the sound development of economy, the good public security, the safe production and the peace and contentment of people in their life and work. Since 1993, Zhongshan has been praised for her efforts to keep public order through comprehensive measures by the provincial and state governments. 

From the Finance to the Projects for the Livelihood of the People

The happiness of Zhongshan rests on sharing interests among the people. For years, the fiscal revenue of the city has been used to improve people’s livelihood, providing more public service. During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, Zhongshan has seen an annual increase of 18.7% of the expenditure on education, an annual increase of 53.8% on social security, 16% rise on agriculture and 57.9% rise on infrastructure. In 2007, the public spending for public service and welfare was 53% of the budget and it will be 57% in 2008. The policy of the finance for people’s livelihood entitles all the citizens of Zhongshan to the fruits of development. 

The happiness of Zhongshan also rests on the combination of the people’s livelihood with the recruit of investment. In addition to increasing the financial input, Zhongshan has succeeded in recruiting investment to improve people’s livelihood. In 2007, the “Ten Great Projects for People’s Livelihood” was launched with an investment of nearly 30 billion yuan, covering the following ten areas: transportation, public security, social security, hygiene, housing, environment, vocational education, cultural development, disaster prevention and urban renewal. 

From the finance to the projects, Zhongshan not only share the fruits of development, but also recruit investment for the improvement of people’s livelihood, leading the country in terms of the harmonious development of economy and society. 

Charity: an Exemplification of Fraternity

The happiness of Zhongshan relies on fraternity. As the dominating spirit of this city, “fraternity” has formed the soul of the city. Charity walk, begun in 1988, well exemplifies fraternity spirit in Zhongshan. During these years, the donation aggregated to 539 million yuan, among which 250 million yuan has been used to help low-income families and 180 million yuan has been used to improve social welfare. 

Charity walk is not only an activity of beneficence, but is also a personification of the kindness of Zhongshan people. It has actually motivated the construction of a harmonious Zhongshan.

Top Priority: People’s Livelihood

Dr. Sun Yat-sen once remarked that “People’s livelihood should be given top priority”. For 20 years, the municipal government has adhered to the principle that “interests should be shared by the common people” and has given top priority to people’s livelihood, as is demonstrated by economy for people’s livelihood, the security for people’s livelihood, the finance for people’s livelihood as well as the projects for people’s livelihood. Consequently, all of the citizens are entitled to the fruits of civilization. This approach requires the emancipation of minds to seek benefits for the people, the harmonious development to pursue interests of the people, and the concern for the vulnerable groups in society. Zhongshan has become a good example in the constructing of a harmonious society.

The Pursuit of a City Suitable for Living and Business
Sep. 30th, 2005 

Having focused on the harmonious development of economy and society, Zhongshan also paid much attention to the greenness of the city. As the life of the urban residents has improved a lot, the farmers and migrant workers have also been entitled to the fruits of development. Problems, like the employment of rural work force, their medicare and social security, the housing of migrant workers and their children’s education, are being solved. At present, Zhongshan is good for living and business, and the city has won the “Habitat Scroll of Honor Awards” and won the honorary title of “National Model City of Environmental Protection”.
Zhongshan has witnessed a rapid development of industry, with 18 national manufacturing bases for hi-tech, medicine, packing, stereo, household electrical appliances, and lighting, etc, respectively. As early as in 1985, the municipal government worked out the planning of the city with the assistance of professionals, effectively preventing the disorder in the construction later. When the real estate industry reached its peak, the government actually disapproved a host of real estate projects; instead, it invested a lot in the construction of ecological parks and green belts and made WuGuishan Mountain area an ecological preservation zone, leaving much room for future development. 

The downtown of Zhongshan is featured by towers as well as by greenness. The green land reaches 1157 hectares, the green coverage rate is 37.54% and the per capita public green land is 9.76 square meters. The air quality here remains good throughout the year and 60% of the domestic sewage has been treated. By the end of 2003, the discharge of pollutants from 178 key enterprises in Zhongshan had met the State’s discharge standard .
With the green trees and towers, Zhongshan is suitable for living and business. Trying to improve the climate for business, the government has withdrawn the public capital from many industries, leaving much room for the development of foreign and private businesses. At present, more than 20 companies on the Global Fortune list have invested or built factories in Zhongshan. With a view to supporting businesses and individuals, the local government has set up various funds. Now, the foreign and private economy amounts to 90% of the economic aggregates in the city. 

In the development, the municipal government has paid special attention to the improvement of people’s life, sparing no efforts to make all the people including migrant workers have access to the fruits of reform and opening-up. Having postponed the construction of office buildings, the local government used the money in “Housing Project for low-income families” in order to solve the problem of housing that haunts the common people. Up to now, more than 7,000 families have benefited from this project and have their own apartments. The per capita floor space for urbanites reaches 30 square meters and that for farmers reaches 34.2 square meters.
There are no counties in Zhongshan, but there are a lot of towns here. The municipal government has adhered to the principle that industry should contribute to agriculture in return and the urban area should support the rural area, paying attention to the distribution of interests among the farmers. In the local government’s requisition of land, good land was left for the village. Some towns even left 10% to 15% of the industrial land for villages, so that the latter could expect future development. Then as far as some underdevelopment villages are concerned, the municipal government offers them tremendous help and support. Besides, public transportation is available in the rural areas, gradually realizing urban rural integration. 

In recent years, the construction of rural communities has been promoted in Zhongshan. Raising funds by various means, the municipal government has built residential areas in the countryside, each one with recreational and sporting facilities, a cultural centre and plazas. The government has advocated culture, hygiene and arts in communities, founding 129 branches of community health service and organizing 156 cultural and artistic troupes. Every year cultural and artistic activities, such as ballet, orchestra and play, etc are held here. 

Having founded a relatively developed urban social security system, Zhongshan also tries to improve social security in the countryside. At present, the medicare covers 96% of the rural residents. The Xiaolan Town worked hard to make sure that everybody has a job, a medicare and social security. The Henglan Town has increased the reimbursement limit of medical expenses from 6,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan, and the medicare covers all the farmers in the town.
The livelihood of the 1,10 million migrant workers in Zhongshan is part and parcel of the overall planning of the city. These workers’ housing and their children’s education are improved. Having arranged a loan, the Sanjiao Town established two living quarters for migrant workers, with apartments, cultural plazas, streets with various shops and recreational facilities. The housing of nearly 20,000 migrant workers is settled. 

The municipal government has prepared a fund of more than 10 million yuan to help the education of students from low-income families or from families of migrant workers who have been working in Zhongshan for more than 5 years. The children of migrant workers also have access to public schools and at present 53.4% of them attend the schools. In addition to the 3 privately-run schools, 7 more will be established with low tuition fees.