[Photo/Zhong Jinye]

Birthplace of Wu culture carries on tradition of innovation, pragmatism

Xinwu district in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, has made headway in its pursuit of high-quality development.

A pearl among local economies around Taihu Lake at the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, Xinwu has developed in concert with surrounding major cities including Shanghai, Nanjing and Suzhou, and has played an active role in the regional integrated development of the delta.

As the birthplace of the Wu culture, the district has a history that can be traced back 3,200 years.

At the end of the 11th century BC, prince Taibo together with one of his brothers went to Meili, or today's Meicun town in Xinwu district, and founded the Wu stale, developing the economy and culture to the south of the Yangtze River.

Thus Taibo was named the architect of the Wu culture. For the following thousands of years, the Wu culture, which values morality, literature, pragmatism and innovation and has been passed down by generations, has brought prosperity to the region.

The 220-square-kilometer district has a permanent population of some 570,700, who live in six subdistricts.

Xinwu, also known as the Wuxi National Hi-Tech District, has established a reputation for its sound industrial structure and robust economic growth.

Its GDP stood at 184.55 billion yuan ($27.53 billion) in 2019, up 6.3 percent year-on-year. The district's paid-in foreign capital reached $1.32 billion last year and foreign trade volume hit $50.57 billion, accounting for 54.4 percent of Wind's total.