Qingzhen nominated to be National Civilized City

The county-level city of Qingzhen in Southwest China's Guizhou province was recently selected as a nominee for the National Civilized City award for the 2021 to 2023 period, according to the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress.

In China, a national civilized city refers to a metropolis officially recognized for its high level of urban infrastructure and whose residents enjoy a high quality of life. The title of National Civilized City is the highest honor granted by the Office of the National Steering Committee for Ethical and Cultural Progress, which reflects the overall level of development of cities in China.

It's the only county-level city administered by Guizhou's capital -- Guiyang to be shortlisted for the latest round of nominations and it's the second time that Qingzhen was nominated for the title since 2015.

In recent years, Qingzhen has been establishing and improving its working mechanisms, long-term learning and training mechanisms, supervision and scheduling mechanisms and accountability mechanisms, to promote its development as a civilized city.

Since 2018, Qingzhen has initiated a number of venue construction projects. To date, construction of gymnasiums, memorial halls, museums, art galleries and cultural centers has been completed.

Moreover, Qingzhen has invested 400 million yuan ($62 million) in improving urban infrastructure, upgrading and renovating 26 main and secondary roads in the urban area, as well as 225 back streets and alleys.

The city has also comprehensively cleaned and refreshed more than 100,000 square meters of old and dirty walls, added 10 green landscapes and six supermarkets, renovated seven garbage transfer stations, newly built and upgraded 57 public toilets and achieved an urban domestic waste treatment rate of 100 percent.

Qingzhen has made full use of various media -- such as LED screens, outdoor billboards and bus station signage -- to publish and broadcast public service advertisements. Meanwhile, it has built core value themed blocks, theme parks and squares to promote general awareness about the goal of creating a civilized city.

The city has carried out over 7,100 voluntary service activities, distributed more than 500,000 related publicity materials and engaged in 50,000-plus consultations, benefiting more than 300,000 people.

Che Weiwei contributed to this story.