In northwestern Fujian Province nestles the city of Sanming, one that ranks average in economic aggregate among 330 cities in China but reportedly has one of the country’s happiest peoples.
Sanming’s economic aggregate last year was 260 billion yuan, way behind some other coastal cities.
The rest of Sanming’s report card leaves a better impression: Last year saw all registered poverty-stricken Sanming residents lifted out of extreme poverty to a net income per capita of 12,441 yuan.
Green space is a top priority in the urban planning of Shaxian County, one of nine counties, two districts and a county-level city administered by the prefecture-level city of Sanming in East China’s Fujian Province. (Photo: cpanet.cn)
A profit-generating specialty industry has bloomed in every county. Woodland reform increased Sanming’s forest coverage to one of the highest in China. Reforms to Sanming’s healthcare system have drawn national attention.
Twenty years ago, Xi Jinping was working as Communist Party of China (CPC) Secretary of Fujian Provincial Committee.
He made 11 visits to Sanming and gave 16 instructions on developing the former revolutionary base area.
The East China city embodies China’s “new development concept” with a particular focus on poverty alleviation based on specialty industries, environmental protection and eco-tourism.
It was at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in 2015 that the “new development concept” was put forward calling for innovative, coordinated, green, open and inclusive development and the goal of building a beautiful China.
Tourists take a boat along the upper reaches of the Jinhu River in Shangqingxi Scenic Area, Taining County. The global geopark Taining Golden Lake is a state-level site of scenic beauty. (Photo: People’s Daily)
Specialized focus
Sanming sits in a mountainous area. Deep in the mountains, Xiahe Village of Caoyuan Town, Yong’an County has fared well.
Its collective annual income has exceeded 180,000 yuan since 1996, illustrated by a few upmarket family homes dotted around the village.
Xi was glad to see the new houses in this little mountain village, according to Li Jinshui, CPC Secretary of Xiahe Village Committee, who accompanied Xi on May 26, 1996.
Li remembered what Xi said to the villagers: They needed to play to their strengths in the mountain area and pave their own way to prosperity.
Birds flock to Jiangle County, where the Jinxi riverbank is heavily forested. Sanming has four national parks. (Photo: cpanet.cn)
Sanming’s Taining County found its strength in mountains and waters. Rich in natural beauty, Taining positioned itself as a tourist attraction in the 1990s.
Since then, one-fifth of its people have profited from tourism and Taining has expanded from tourism into health and wellness services.
Jianning County achieved prosperity through its specialty product, rice seeds.
Short of fertile land, Jianning farmers switched from growing crops to seeds, and now one in 10 hybrid rice seeds produced in China originates in Jianning.
Shaxian County is home to a 50-billion-yuan catering business known as Shaxian Xiaochi, or Shaxian snacks.
About seven out of 10 company staff come from Shaxian. Shaxian Xiaochi is expanding its chain to become a national brand.
Xi’s encouragement and instructions have supported Sanming’s thriving specialty industries.
As Sanming people remember, when Xi was working in Fujian, everywhere he went he would discuss ways to increase income and promote industry.
Valued at 155 billion yuan in 2019, Sanming’s modern specialty industries have found different expressions in each and every county. They are undoubtedly important to developing this mountain area.
Chopstick challenge
Xi has said, “Lucid water and lush mountains are invaluable assets.”
When he worked in Fujian, Xi repeatedly urged cadres and the masses in Sanming to attach great importance to the protection of the ecological environment during his inspection tours of the city.
Zhang Linshun, CPC chief of Changkou Village in Jiangle County of Sanming, told a story about the forest on the other side of the river near the village.
Twenty years earlier, a chopstick factory offered 200,000 yuan for the forest, a large amount of money at that time.
The offer provoked a heated debate among villagers.
"At that time, the village collective earned about 30,000 yuan a year, which was not enough to spend," Zhang said.
“However, the village finally resisted the temptation and did not sell it.”
Zhang recalled they made the decision as they remembered Xi’s words during his inspection of Changkou.
In April 1997, Xi visited the village and told the residents, "Green mountains and clear waters are priceless treasures. People in mountain areas should protect their mountains and waters and make good use of them.”
Today Changkou depends on its clear streams and green hills to develop its rural tourism and planting industry. Villagers' incomes have increased. There are many villages like Changkou in Sanming.
Sanming government has reportedly insisted on protecting green mountains and clear waters. The city has countless trees, good air and excellent water.
The city last year received 39.18 million cultural and healthcare tourists, earning 75 billion yuan. The total output of its forestry industry reached 114.6 billion yuan.
This Jiaohu Lake town nestles in the bosom of the Ninghua County mountains. (Photo: cpanet.cn)
Industrial upgrades
Sanming’s heavy industry was launched in 1960, three years after 100,000 people from all over the country went there to assist with the construction of a steel plant.
As an old industrial base situated in a mountainous area, Sanming faced serious challenges to upgrade and remain competitive.
Xi has worked hard at solving these problems since he was governor of Fujian and deputy secretary of CPC Fujian Provincial Committee.
During an inspection of Fujian Sangang Group on August 10, 2000, Xi put forward specific requirements for technological innovation, industrial restrictions and sustainable development.
Sangang, formerly Sanming Iron and Steel Mill, is the largest integrated steel producer in Fujian.
“Sangang should play an exemplary role in promoting the ecological environment and achieving sustainable development,” Xi said.
Li Lizhang, CPC secretary and chairman of Sangang, recalled Xi’s inspection.
Li was assistant to the general manager and plant director at Sangang when Xi inspected in 2000.
“The inspection took Xi a whole day in the height of summer, and his clothes were soaked with sweat due to the higher temperature at the steel plant,” Li said.
“We have always kept his trust in mind and made efforts to achieve it.”
Over the last 20 years, Sangang has pursued innovation-driven development, structural transformation and refined management.
Sangang has joined the ranks of super-large steel companies – those producing more than 10 million tons of steel – with its production soaring from 1.17 million tons in 2000 to 12.4 million tons in 2019.
Children run around Chongji Village square in the town of Shangqing, Sanming’s Taining County. (Photo: People’s Daily)
Today the old industrial base of Sanming produces 25 percent of the province’s steel and 20 percent of its trucks.
In 2019, the steel and equipment manufacturing industry achieved an output value of 126.35 billion yuan ($2.75 billion), an 8.2 percent increase.
Meanwhile, new material industries are developing fast, yielding an output value of 17.95 billion yuan.
Significant breakthroughs are continually made: Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing, sometimes known as China’s Silicon Valley, established a branch in Sanming on December 6.
Lin Xinglu, CPC Secretary of Sanming Municipal Committee, attributed the social and economic progress of Sanming to the implementation of Xi’s instructions to make full preparation in all aspects and unswerving commitment to the new development concept.
“Xi called for efforts to build a new Fujian with flexible institutions, upgraded industrial structure, a prosperous society and a beautiful ecological environment. We have rolled up our sleeves and worked with added energy toward the goal,” Lin said.
(Translated by Wang Chunxiao, Jia Lijuan and Qiu Qingyi; Edited by Zhang Jian)