By the end of 2008, there had been 738 schools (nursery schools included) at different levels, among which 9 were higher educational institutions. There had been 662,600 school enrollments, among which over 63,000 were university or college students. And there had been 9 state-owned independent research and development institutes at and above county level, and the total talent resources reached 578,400, a rise of 14.7 % over the previous year.

In 2008, city-level standard cultural centers (or rooms) were available to all villages, for which Jiaxing was entitled as a national demonstration city of cultural information resources sharing project. The application work started for the national Famous Historical and Cultural City. And five projects, including Jiashan Field Songs and Haiyan Rolling Lanterns, were on the list of state-level intangible cultural heritage. By the end of 2008, there had been 1 mass art museum, 7 culture museums, 74 culture stations, and 8 public libraries with 3.03 million books. Cable television network covered all the administrative villages, and 100% of the population had access to radio and television.

Efforts were made to promote urban and rural medical service and public health system as well as the community health service network. By the end of 2008, there had been 1,365 health-care institutions, with a total of 12,929 beds and 22,510 health workers, among whom 6,957 were doctors and 6,396 were registered nurses. There were 2.06 doctors and 3.82 beds for every thousand people. 92 community health service centers and 826 community health service stations had been established. Cooperative medical insurance had covered all villages and towns in Jiaxing. The basic insurance rate in villages and towns was 100%. 98.72% of the rural population in Jiaxing was able to use tap water.