A bird's view of Jianggan district in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

The information office of the Hangzhou municipal government held a news conference in Jianggan district, Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Dec 20 to showcase the development of the district over recent decades.

When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the district was only a large rural area without decent buildings, roads and other facilities.

After 70 years of development, the district has been built into a modern central business district in Hangzhou, according to the news conference.

In 2018, the gross domestic product of the district reached 67.5 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) and the per capita disposable income of its urban residents surpassed 60,000 yuan.

To date, Jianggan has 12 listed companies and 13 advanced commercial buildings. Each building contributes more than 100 million yuan in taxes to the district annually.

The district has been cooperating with Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou Normal University and the Zhejiang Research Institute of Education Science in a bid to drive educational development.

So far, the district has built 10 schools and has promoted the construction of 66 schools to form a modern education system.

The district has won a number of national and provincial titles for its achievements in the areas of disease control and healthcare. It currently has three provincial top 100 community healthcare centers, ranking it first in counties and districts in Zhejiang province.

The district has also been attaching great importance to the development of local cultural industries, has held a series of cultural festivals and has promoted cultural exchanges with more than 120 countries and regions over the past three years.

In 2018, the general added value of the district's cultural and innovative industries exceeded 10 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.7 percent, ranking it first in Hangzhou.