County grows into industrial 'treasure trove'

Business-friendly policies, well-trained workforce lead to rapid development

A cargo ship arriving from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, unloads iron ore at Luoyu Port in Putian, Fujian last month. ZHU XINGXIN/CHINA DAILY

When asked why she had chosen to establish a ski equipment and apparel company in Fujian, a southern province of China, Liu Yushan explained half-jokingly: "People from Harbin, the capital of snowy Heilongjiang province, like to buy houses in Sanya, Hainan province, and enjoy vacations in the tropical climate. Similarly, people from southern regions who haven't had much exposure to snow have a strong longing for it."

Liu's company, Vector, consistently ranks in the top two in the ski-and-surf equipment category of online shopping platform Tmall and is the leading domestic brand in the field.

After gaining her master's degree in economics and management at the University of the Arts London, Liu returned home to start a business in 2015 in Minhou county, Fuzhou, Fujian province.

"Minhou may be small and not close to major urban areas," she said on her choice of location. "However, its core competitive advantage lies in its supply chain and industrial chain. Here, we have gathered numerous companies that were once engaged in original equipment manufacturing for well-known outdoor brands. All of my products rely heavily on the foundation provided by this industrial chain."

Liu said recruiting talent to work in Minhou was easy.

"During recruitment we saw an increasing number of outstanding graduates," she said.

"The policies Minhou has promoted, such as encouraging individuals to settle here, have greatly helped our entire recruitment process. They include subsidies for talent-development funds.

"Personally, I was honored with the '100 Talents of Fujian' title and associated benefits in 2020," she added.

In the 1990s, President Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Communist Party of China Fuzhou Municipal Committee, emphasized the need for Minhou to create new advantages and strive for greater achievements. "Minhou county has many obvious real advantages and significant potential advantages," he said.

Minhou has made great strides in development in recent years. Its GDP surpassed 100 billion yuan ($13.81 billion) in 2022, making it one of only 52 counties in the country to achieve the milestone.

The county's economic strength has improved significantly over the past 12 years, moving from 100th in the national ranking of counties' economic performance in 2011 to 38th in 2022.

The change in fortunes is thanks mainly to the cultivation of six industrial clusters: automobiles; electromechanical engineering; building materials; food products; home decoration; apparel and textiles, each with a production value exceeding 10 billion yuan.

In 1992, Xi emphasized during a discussion with village cadres in Qingkou, Minhou, the need to establish an image of people who provide excellent services and who are also able to cooperate.

"If we have the right talents and efficiency, who wouldn't love Minhou and come here? Then this place will become a treasure trove, accelerating its development," he said.

At China Southeast Auto City Park — a modern industrial park that integrates automobile development research, production, and sales — the local government has taken the lead in providing services to make enterprises' operations easier.

Minhou Qingkou Automotive Industrial Park Government Service Hall houses 15 departments, 34 service windows and provides 560 services.

"The hall is located in the center of the industrial park, and most companies in the park are within a 10-minute drive, allowing for quick completion of tasks within half an hour without affecting normal work," said Wu Pengzheng, deputy director of the management committee of the industrial park.

"If there are relevant tasks that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the departments, requests can be submitted here (at the hall) for unified processing by staff at the county level," he said, adding that automated and intelligent services are also provided.

"The hall is equipped with self-service machines for certain transaction services, allowing clients to complete tasks without queuing at the windows," Wu said.