Jimu Jiangcheng Wanxiang New - Wuhan Observation from the Perspective of Humanities and Economy

This is a city that thrives on water. The confluence of the Yangtze River and the Han River, with its geographical advantage of being accessible to all directions and an open and inclusive cultural character, makes "live goods to Hankou" a prominent symbol.

This is a city that strives to expand and innovate. Developing China's first optical fiber and establishing the country's first technology market... The spirit of "daring to be the first in the world" permeates urban development.

This is a "future new city" with unlimited potential. From a city of hundreds of lakes to a city of wetlands, the scene of "harmonious coexistence between humans and nature" can be seen everywhere, and ecological endowments are increasingly transforming into new advantages for green rise.

Embracing the Tide and Cultivating Business Opportunities

During the white dew season, the autumn scenery in Wuhan, Jiangcheng, gradually intensifies. In front of the Dragon King Temple Park, which used to be a flood control hazard, the largest tributary of the Yangtze River, the Han River, surged nearly 1600 kilometers from the Qinba Mountains and crossed with the Yangtze River at the northern foot of Mount Gui.

Two Rivers and Four Banks in Wuhan, filmed on June 14th. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Zhizun

Wuhan, which thrives on water and is renowned for its commerce, always stands at the forefront and leads the trend at important historical junctures——

In the late 1970s, the wave of reform and opening up surged. At the intersection of the two rivers, 103 young people became the first batch of self-employed individuals in China with certificates on Hanzheng Street. The timid shouting and selling became a vivid scene of China's commodity circulation system reform.

In just a few years, the products of Hanzheng Street have spread to more than 20 provinces across the country, and the transaction volume of products has ranked first in the country for many years.

"A needle for a penny can sell 100 million pieces a year; a flint for a dime can sell 2 tons a year. If unsold goods are piled up, they can be revitalized." The 83 year old Zheng Juxuan never imagined that he, who had weak vision since childhood, would one day sit in the Great Hall of the People and receive recognition as a "reform pioneer".

Zheng Juxuan's legendary experience is enough to glimpse the temperament and adventure of this city.

Nowadays, as we step into the Yunshang Wuhan International Fashion Center located on Hanzheng Street, the voices of anchors promoting products keep coming and going. In just one office building, there are nearly 400 upstream and downstream enterprises and merchants in the live streaming industry ecosystem, with a live streaming room area of over 20000 square meters.

From offline to online, from "buying nationwide and selling nationwide" to "buying globally and selling globally", Hanzheng Street, as a synonym for "small commodity wholesale market", is a thing of the past. However, the "entrepreneurial spirit of hard work, innovative spirit of daring to take the lead, and commercial spirit of seizing opportunities" have always continued in Wuhan.

Dare to venture and fight, equally daring to overcome difficulties——

When the COVID-19 hit, in the severe fight against the epidemic, the people of Wuhan understood the general situation, took the overall situation into consideration, braved hardships and dangers, remained indomitable, consciously obeyed the needs of the overall situation of epidemic prevention and control, took the initiative to participate in the fight against the epidemic, made significant contributions, and let the whole country and the world see the tenacity and integrity of the people of Wuhan.

Starting from difficulties and recovering from pains, Wuhan, the city of heroes, has made every effort to promote economic and social development, returning to the "main track" and running out of "acceleration". In the first half of 2023, the gross domestic product of Wuhan City was 950.333 billion yuan, an increase of 5% compared to the same period last year.

"The vast nine schools of thought flow through China, and the sinking line runs through the north and south," said Fu Caiwu, Dean of the National Institute of Cultural Development at Wuhan University. Geographical space profoundly affects the cultural and psychological structure of regional society, shaping Wuhan's urban character of being adaptable and unrestrained, and creative and inclusive.

On the early morning of January 7th, the high-speed train stopped at the storage line of the Wuhan high-speed train depot for maintenance and insulation work. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Zhizun

Wuhan has the advantage of a central location outside and an open and inclusive cultural heritage inside. With a leap forward attitude, a determination to tackle challenges, and a sense of responsibility, Wuhan is accelerating the construction of a "hub and link city"——

In 2022, as the largest inland river port, the throughput of Wuhan Yangluo Port has reached 2.02 million TEUs, with an average annual growth of 10%; In May of this year, the 10000 ton sea liner "Changyue 1", which entered Wuhan for the first time since its opening to the outside world, arrived in Wuhan from Busan Port, South Korea; In June 2023, the World Transportation Conference opened in Wuhan. As the only provincial capital city approved for the construction of a strong transportation country, Wuhan once again stepped onto the world stage

The first phase dock of Yangluo Port in Wuhan, filmed on July 5th. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Zhizun

"The West of Jianghan comes from this meeting, and there is no need to divide the east." Now, Wuhan is accelerating from the "rear team" of coastal opening up to the "front team" of inland development in the new era.

"In the past, the sages reorganized the world and created many of them from the Jianghan period. Today, with the transportation and cultural rail, we can't help but feel the distance between Asia and Europe." Zhang Zhidong's unfulfilled wish in the Qing Dynasty has now become a reality a hundred years later.

The World Transportation Conference opened in Wuhan. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min

Advancing to forge a new city

"To make plans for the future of Wuhan, it is necessary to set a scale, slightly like the size of New York and London." More than a hundred years ago, Mr. Sun Yat sen drew a blueprint for Wuhan in his "National Strategy".

Wuhan, with a 3500 year history of urban construction, has always had the dream of becoming a "big city". At the beginning of the 20th century, the trade volume of goods in Hankou surpassed that of Tianjin and ranked behind Shanghai, becoming China's second largest foreign trade port and one of the four major financial centers.

Driving through Jinmen and catching up with Shanghai has become a shining moment in Jiangcheng; The praise of "Eastern Chicago" highlights the former prosperity of Wuhan.

What sustains the prosperity of a city is the heroic spirit of the people of Wuhan, who dare to be the first in the world, and their relentless pursuit of novelty, change, and progress.

From the ancestors of the Chu state who braved hardships and opened up mountains and forests, to the late Qing Dynasty when Zhang Zhidong vigorously promoted the establishment of new schools; From the sound of gunfire at the city head of Wuchang, which marked the beginning of the Xinhai Uprising, to the invitation of the first "foreign factory director" of New China after the reform and opening up; From encouraging "Saturday engineers" to establishing the first technology market in the country... The spirit of "striving for innovation, striving for innovation, and striving for innovation" has permeated the development process of cities.

Innovate to be the first, forge ahead, and stimulate surging momentum——

The first domestically produced CNC laser cutting machine, the first high-performance fiber laser, and the first semiconductor laser chip... arrived at Huagong Technology Industry Co., Ltd., one by one "China's firsts" attracted attention.

Employees of Wuhan Huagong Laser Engineering Co., Ltd. work in the production workshop. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min

As one of the representative enterprises in the optoelectronic information industry of Wuhan Optics Valley, Huagong Technology has led the formulation of China's first international standard for the laser industry, won three national science and technology progress awards, and achieved core technological breakthroughs in high-end optical chips, high-performance fibers, ultrafast lasers, and other fields. From a school run enterprise with an annual revenue of less than 80 million yuan, it has grown into a revenue of billions of yuan.

"At present, Huagong Technology is carrying out collaborative innovation around new infrastructure, new materials, new energy, new four modernizations of automobiles, and industrial digitization, enriching the product chain, improving the industrial chain, and deeply expanding the high-end market." said Ma Xinqiang, Chairman of Huagong Technology.

The city map of Wuhan, the location of Huagong Technology in Optics Valley, was once referred to as the "forgotten two centimeters on the map of Wuhan" many years ago.

The Wuhan Optics Valley Plaza Complex, filmed on June 14th. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Zhizun

From suburban areas to the "World Valley of Light", it originates from the path of technological self-reliance and self-improvement illuminated by a beam of light.

In 1976, China's first quartz optical fiber was born in a rudimentary laboratory next to Wuhan Institute of Posts and Telecommunications. By relying on independent innovation, China has achieved zero breakthroughs in the development of fiber optic communication technology and industry.

Striving forward with the pursuit of "light" and building dreams with "light", Wuhan city focuses on promoting the construction of the Optics Valley with the optoelectronic information industry as the key, driving the rapid development of related enterprises and clustering into chains.

Optics Valley has gradually become one of the first national high-tech zones, approved as a national optoelectronic information industry base, and has become the world's largest fiber optic cable research and development base, China's largest optical device research and production base, small and medium-sized display panel base, and one of China's largest laser industry bases.

As of 2022, the total annual revenue of Optics Valley's optoelectronic information industry cluster has exceeded 500 billion yuan. The "City of Science" and "City of Chasing Light" are increasingly becoming "cities of longing".

Optics Valley is a microcosm of Wuhan's innovation and courage to break through.

Looking at Jiangcheng, Wuhan Economic Development Zone has gathered 9 automobile enterprises, 13 automobile factories, and more than 500 well-known parts enterprises, with an annual production of one million vehicles and an industrial output value of over 320 billion yuan. It is fully committed to building the "China Automobile Valley";

At the Lotus Global Intelligent Factory located in Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone, workers work on the assembly line. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Min

Wuhan Dongxihu District is taking the construction of a national cybersecurity talent and innovation base as an opportunity to build an influential "China Internet Valley" with high standards

According to statistics from the Wuhan Science and Technology Bureau, in 2022, the added value of Wuhan's high-tech industries above designated size was 524.54 billion yuan, accounting for 44.84% of Hubei Province.

Sailing with enthusiasm, the wind is strong, and the tide is full of new energy. Looking ahead to the future, Wuhan's prospects are promising——

As the intersection of the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the rise of the central region, Wuhan, with 90 universities and nearly 1.3 million college students, has built 149 national innovation platforms and a total of 3.0429 million talents. It has been approved to build a "science and technology innovation center with national influence".

Wuhan Mayor Cheng Yongwen stated that in 2023, Wuhan has set new goals: breaking through 13000 high-tech enterprises and increasing the added value of high-tech industries by more than 11.5%

A new chapter in the spectrum of green rise

The Yangtze River and Han River pass through the city, with 166 lakes and 277 reservoirs scattered throughout the city. The total water area accounts for about a quarter of the city's land area, and the per capita water resources are about 40 times the national average

Wuhan thrived on water, but was once trapped by it.

"Wild trees cover the geese far away, and fishing boats reflect the flying crows." In the works of Yuan Shuoyou, a poet from the Song Dynasty, the elegant and dynamic East Lake over 800 years ago is depicted. But more than a decade ago, due to industrialization and urbanization, the rapid deterioration of water quality in East Lake caused the first "civilian lake chief" of East Lake, Ke Zhiqiang, to be unable to sleep at night.

Entering the new century, the horn for water environment governance in Wuhan is sounding. A battle for lake pollution control has been launched, including external interception and control, internal cleaning, water system connectivity, ecological restoration, and intelligent supervision.

"Nowadays, the water quality of Donghu has steadily entered the 'Class III era'." Ke Zhiqiang said that Donghu, with a water area of over 33 square kilometers, has reappeared the magnificent scenery of '60 miles of smoke and waves around'.

Wuhan East Lake captured on July 23rd. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Zhizun

10 major lakes, over 120 islands, and nearly 20000 acres of lush mountains and forests... Riding along the East Lake Greenway, the scenery varies throughout the four seasons. The scattered bookstores, art galleries and other urban public spaces have added a strong humanistic sentiment and romantic artistic atmosphere.

"The mountains and rivers are intertwined, the cities and lakes blend together, and the culture reflects each other. This place is becoming a 'poetry and distance' in the hearts of more tourists," said Liu Tingtang, Secretary of the Donghu Ecological Tourism Scenic Area Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee.

During this year's May Day holiday, Wuhan was listed as one of the top ten popular tourist cities in China. The Yangtze River Bridge, Lingbo Gate, Jiangtan... a series of waterfront platforms have become popular attractions, blowing the river breeze and admiring the lake scenery. People can climb high and see far, step down to the water, and feel the charm of the river city where people and water coexist.

The Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, filmed on June 14th. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Zhizun

The Nine Schools of Clouds and Horizontals are connected by the rivers, and the lake shines brightly. With the improvement of the ecological environment, the reshaping of urban geographical space around a pool of clear water has quietly begun.

In February of this year, the Planning of Wuhan New Town was officially released, and a new town aiming at "world-class science and technology innovation policy source highland and Chinese path to modernization livable wetland city model" was ready to emerge.

This new city, which breaks traditional administrative divisions and spans Wuhan and Ezhou cities, has a planned area of approximately 1689 square kilometers. Currently, it has gathered 205 key projects worth over 100 million yuan, with a total investment of 437.644 billion yuan, encompassing lakes and wetlands such as Liangzi Lake and Yanxi Lake.

"Beautiful scenery is also a beautiful economy, and important innovative areas in the world often have elements of water." Professor Zhao Shouliang from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Huazhong University of Science and Technology said that the landscape pattern provides a foundation for the unique urban style, and the rich public spaces can better gather innovative talents.

Behind the transformation of urban development logic, from "conflicts between people and water, confrontation between cities and rivers" to "interdependence between people and water, and the emergence of water", from "happiness driven by living" to "happiness driven by living", lies the comprehensive progress of development concepts.

"Sprinkle the wine on the water, and your heart will rise with the waves." Facing the future, Wuhan is writing a new chapter on the integration and development of humanities, technology, ecology, and economy with vitality and vigor.

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