A park with a unique water system in Zhangdian district, Zibo, Shandong province [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Zibo is an important transportation hub in Shandong province, and is crisscrossed by railways and expressways, such as the Qingdao-Jinan Railway and Qingdao-Lanzhou Expressway. The city is the telecommunication and mail processing center for central Shandong. The internet and modern communications have been developing rapidly in the area.
In 2021, its built-up area was 362 square kilometers, with an urban population of 3.39 million. The urbanization ratio is currently 74.27 percent. The city's districts and counties are about 20 km apart, with interlaced urban and rural areas, leaving plenty of space for development.
Xiaofu River Wetland Park in Zibo, Shandong province [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Zibo is striving to build a modern cluster-type city that is pragmatic, open, vibrant, and ecofriendly. It has accelerated the construction of parks, urban expressways, the eco-tourism belt of the Xiaofu River, and the Zibo International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Zibo was among the first batch of ecological civilization demonstration areas in China. And it has been awarded the "China Human Settlement Environment Exemplary Award" for five consecutive years. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the ambient air quality index and the average PM10 concentration improved by 39.2 percent and 42.9 percent respectively. The harmless treatment rate of municipal solid waste hit 100 percent, and the treatment rate of urban sewage reached 98.42 percent.
