Lishui advances high-quality development during 14th Five-Year Plan

A view of Lishui, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Jia Heng for Tide News]

Lishui achieved remarkable high-quality development during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), with the city's economy aggregate exceeding 200 billion yuan ($28.73 billion), an average annual growth rate of over 6.5 percent.

In 2024, its urban and rural residents' incomes ranked in the top 10 percent among over 300 Chinese prefecture-level cities, with rural income growth leading Zhejiang province for 16 consecutive years.

Industrial upgrading was a key driver, with the city focusing on developing advanced manufacturing clusters, including two 100 billion yuan sectors.

Over the past five years, Lishui has attracted 1,026 projects totaling 489 billion yuan in investment. Its emerging specialty semiconductor industry has attracted 91 projects.

A modern transport network has been constructed, with the Oujiang River sea-river intermodal container route, launched in late 2024, cutting logistics costs by over half.

Lishui Airport, operational since July 2025, handled 146,500 passengers last year, connecting major cities with 12 routes and completing the city's three-dimensional transport system. Major projects, such as the Quzhou-Lishui Railway, are progressing.

From 2021 to May 2025, Lishui attracted 550 projects worth 238.7 billion yuan from the Yangtze River Delta, deepening regional cooperation and building cross-border e-commerce industrial parks.

The city has also nurtured 13 local specialty industrial chains and relocated about 119,500 people from mountainous areas, with 100,000 gaining employment near home.

Looking ahead, Lishui will implement new action plans to achieve further high-quality development.