Chengdu's Wenjiang district making great strides in economy, environment

Wenjiang district of Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, was awarded the title of "beautiful and livable city" during the 2019 China Happy City Forum held in Guangzhou on Nov 25.

Wenjiang, covering 277 square kilometers, is the site of the ancient Yufu Kingdom more than 4,000 years ago.

In recent years, Wenjiang authorities have accelerated the development of the medical industry, promoted innovation and opening-up and built a more convenient transportation system. The authorities are also aiming to build a more ecological, harmonious and happy city, local officials said.

Developing healthcare

Wenjiang is integrating medical science, medicine and medical care to create an all-in-one healthcare industry. It has rolled out some of the country's leading industrial policies to build a collaborative reform area of the China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

At present, Wenjiang district has gathered more than 300 leading biomedical enterprises and medical research institutions, such as WuXi AppTech and Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical.

Insurers such as China Life and Taikang have also invested in the district.

To ensure Wenjiang has the right professionals to develop its healthcare industry, authorities held a job fair in early November in Chongqing.

A total of 23 medical and pharmaceutical enterprises from Wenjiang participated in the fair, with 167 key positions on offer. More than 500 high-end medical and health talents attended, with 108 of them reaching preliminary employment intention.

The district has launched a series of plans and projects to attract professionals, with no less than 100 million yuan ($14.2 million) in funds allocated every year for talent introduction and to support innovation and entrepreneurship. Thanks to the new incentives, a total of 76 high-level professionals have started their business in the city, including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering.

So far, more than 12,000 young professionals with high academic qualifications have settled in Wenjiang.

"Wenjiang provides our company's experts with a total of 1 million yuan in incentive funds and a 120-square-meter apartment. Such actions allow talent to work and live comfortably in Wenjiang," said Pan Dongmei, HR manager of Chengdu CapitalBio Medlab.

Wenjiang has 19 universities, 85 key R&D institutions and over 200,000 professionals in technological innovation, according to the government. They have established cooperation with world-renowned universities, such as Harvard University, McGill University in Canada, Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University.

A good place to live

Wenjiang has a comfortable and livable environment, with a comprehensive transportation system covering its whole area. Next year, the opening of Chengdu Metro Line 4 and Line 17 will allow people to travel to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport within half an hour, and to Tianfu International Airport in one hour.

Wenjiang has a number of excellent schools, three of them are listed in the country's top 100. It has five 3A-grade general hospitals. Seven special medical institutions are under construction.

This year, the district developed new projects to boost consumption, such as the construction of new commercial streets and consumption related to traditional Chinese medicine.

Green garden city

With its outstanding ecological resources, Wenjiang is a well-known international garden city, that is, a place deemed ecologically friendly by Chinese government. It is a national ecological civilization construction demonstration area with an urban greening rate of 47 percent.

Its greenway runs from the south to the north of the district, connecting 133 square kilometers of flowers and trees and more than 2,000 forest linpan.

Linpan is a special settlement which consists of farm house with woods, an irrigation system, farm land and is the basic unit of a village within scattered locations.

The south of the district has developed into a 10-sq-km modern ecologically friendly region, which has water and green vegetation. It is considered a livable place.

The north is a 167-sq-km ecological park, which is full of vitality. Its ecological greenway are part of the Chengdu Modern Agricultural High-Tech Industrial Park.

The agricultural industrial park is an important part of the Chengdu urban modern agricultural ecosystem. It focuses on the integrated development of urban agriculture, medical and healthcare industries, culture, innovation and tourism.

The Jiufang homestay, a typical project integrating agriculture and tourism, was opened to the public in July last year. So far, it has attracted thousands of tourists.

A number of major projects integrating culture, tourism and ecology are underway.

"I am satisfied with the environment here because the gardens and river are nice. I like running beside the river," said Francisco Rubio Morales, a Spanish expatriate who has worked in China for eight years.

"The environment is modern, and every day you can see the improvement in services and new commercial areas," he said.

"In another way the transformation of Wenjiang to a modern region is very special for me. To see a lot of young families and young people revitalize the new Wenjiang is exciting and gives me confidence for the future. Definitely Wenjiang is the best place to live for me."