5 places in Ningbo included in nation's top 100 list for rural digital development

Five places from Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province made the 2020 list of top 100 counties (districts) in China in terms of digital development of rural areas, according to a report recently released by the New Rural Development Institute of Peking University and the AliResearch Institute at Alibaba Group.

A total of 2,481 counties (districts) were evaluated based on factors including digital infrastructure, digital economy, digital governance and digital life in rural areas.

Huzhou's Deqing county topped the ranking with a score of 122.1 points, far higher than the national average of 55.7 points.

Yuyao and Cixi, two county-level cities in Ningbo, were ranked fourth (106.6 points) and eighth (104.2 points) respectively. Its districts of Haishu, Zhenhai and Beilun were ranked 30th, 34th and 75th respectively.

Digital development in rural areas is widely considered as an effective means to narrow the urban-rural development gap, according to experts.

Thirty-two places from Zhejiang province made the top 100 list. Furthermore, eight of the top 10 places are from Zhejiang.