Rugao () is a county-level city under the administration of Nantong, Jiangsu province, China, located in the Yangtze River Delta on the northern (left) bank of the Yangtze River.
History
In 411, the western part of then Hailing (Taizhou) was separated from the county to create Rugao county, which named after a coastal village. During the
Sui dynasty, the county was merged into Ninghai county. Restored in 952, the county was transferred to
Nantong in 1724.
Around the 1930s, Rugao was the most populous county in then Jiangsu province.
Two county governments of the New Fourth Army were established in the then county: Ruxi (literally Western Rugao) and Rugao (1940–5, was renamed as
Rudong County by the CPC in November 1945), while the Tongzhou-Yangzhou Canal marked the boundary between the two regions, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Ruxi succeed to the designation Rugao in 1945, the reshuffling of territory came true only in January 1949, when the CPC totally controlled the area. On 1 June 1990, with approval of the State Council, Rugao was turned into a county-level city, which went into effect in 1991.
Administrative divisions
At present, Rugao City has one subdistrict and 19 towns.
- 1 subdistrict
- 19 towns
| |valign="top" |
-
Changjiang (长江镇)
-
Wuyao (吴窑镇)
-
Jiang'an (江安镇)
-
Gaoming (高明镇)
-
Changqing (常青镇)
-
Banjing (搬经镇)
-
Motou (磨头镇)
-
Taoyuan (桃园镇)
-
Yuanqiao (袁桥镇)
|
Climate
Economy
In 2017, Rugao formed a joint venture with
Steve Saleen and his business partner
Charlie Wang (Xiaolin Wang, in Chinese), creating a company named "Jiangsu Saleen Automotive Technology" (Chinese: 赛麟汽车) in Rugao, with Charlie Wang as Chairman, CEO, and majority owner of the company.
[Ryan Erik King (May 8, 2022). "Seized Saleen Factory in China Slated for Auction; The Chinese government took control of the production facility amid a corruption scandal," Jalopnik.][Saleen, Steve (July 31, 2020). " How Chinese Officials Hijacked My Company", The Wall Street Journal,][Shashank Bengali (August 13, 2020). "Car legend Steve Saleens China Venture Collapses," The Los Angeles Times.][Ryan Erik King (May 8, 2022). "Seized Saleen Factory in China Slated for Auction; The Chinese government took control of the production facility amid a corruption scandal," Jalopnik.] Charlie Wang had been CEO of GreenTech Automotive, before it went bankrupt.[Leo Breevoort (July 10, 2022). "The Big Read – Saleen – A sports car for everyone," Car News China.] Only Nantong Jiahe, a state-owned shareholder, invested in the joint venture–it invested CNY3.4 billion (US$481.3 million) and owned 34% of the company; the other four shareholders of the company were shell companies controlled by Wang.[Tang Liuyang (July 3, 2020). "Saleen China Chair Protests His Innocence as State-Backer Takes Auto JV to Court," YiCia Global.] The company was to produce and distribute vehicles in China for the Chinese market.[Viknesh Vijayenthiran (December 1, 2017). "Saleen reveals S1 sports car, plans Chinese production," Motor Authority, December 1, 2017.]
The company's only mass-produced model that it sold was the low-end pure electric microcar called the "MaiMai", with a maximum speed of 100 km/h, which was introduced in 2019.[Xu Dawei, Su Jiede (October 1, 2020). "Electric Shock; As local authorities jumped on the new energy vehicle bandwagon, many found that lack of regulation and low barriers to entry are seeing a greater drive toward bankruptcy than profits," News China.] However, only 31 had been sold as of May 2022.[ It had been built at a cost of CNY 5 billion (US$751 million).][ In February 2020, the company's Rugao factory was closed.][
]
The Chinese government said that Charlie Wang embezzled nearly $1 billion in state funds.[ Wang then absconded to the United States.][Chengyu Yang (May 9, 2022). "Scandal-Ridden Auto Brand Saleen to Go Under the Hammer; An international scam worth CNY 6.6 billion comes to an end, with the formal launch of the judicial auction of assets owned by Saleen Automobile. Its CEO is suspected of embezzling state-owned capital," Equal Ocean.]
Education
-
Baipu Middle school (1950)
Tourism
Notable people
External links
