Jiaxing is home to four National Garden Towns. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

A total of four towns in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, were named National Garden Towns, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Dec 30, 2019. The four towns are Youchegang town, Yaozhuang town, Huangwan town, and Zhapu town.

In addition, three towns in the city, namely Wuzhen, Xitang, and Guangcheng, were named Provincial Garden Towns.

In recent years, Jiaxing has stepped up efforts to accelerate the development of an ecological civilization and sustainable management systems with the aim of promoting the development of a "Beautiful Jiaxing".

Zhapu town, Pinghu, a county-level city in Jiaxing, has set a goal of building a modern coastal area with a suitable balance between the environment, the economy, and general living standards. More than 100 million yuan ($14.34 million) has been put into greening and upgrading urban roads, and a new model for green development has taken shape in the town.

The town now has 16 primary and secondary trunk roads with a total length of 38.8 kilometers, including 37 km of afforested roads accessible to 95 percent of areas.

The town has also built some comprehensive gardens and parks near residential communities, offering people a place to enjoy nature, experience historical culture, and relax.

Jiaxing has striven to promote economic, cultural, social, and environmental progress and has made significant progress on multiple sustainable development goals.

In the future, the government will focus on the construction of unique modern parks and pocket parks (small areas of natural, semi-natural, or planted spaces set aside for recreational purposes), with the aim of improving the quality of the city's urban space.