The "Two Way Journey" of Mountains and Seas - A 20 Year Chronicle of Zhejiang's "Mountain Sea Cooperation"

The coexistence of mountains and seas, and the splashing of green and blue ink - nature has endowed the river with the beauty of mottled and scattered land, but the development gap caused by location was once significant.

How to reverse the trend of widening urban-rural gap? How to treat urban and rural development as a whole, scientifically plan and coordinate promotion? How to form a development pattern of urban leading rural areas, promoting urban development through rural areas, and promoting urban-rural interaction?

In 2003, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee fully launched the "88 Strategy", proposing to further leverage the advantages of mountain and sea resources, promote the leapfrog development of underdeveloped areas, and actively implement the "Mountain Sea Cooperation Project". For the past 20 years, the "mountains" and "seas" in Zhejiang have joined hands and continued to increase their support for the central and western regions, playing the "Mountain Sea Concerto" in the new era and new journey.

Mountain Sea Cooperation Helps Coordinated Development of Urban and Rural Areas in the Region

In the early years of Zhejiang, connecting the Qingliangfeng Town in Lin'an, Hangzhou on the map with the Dayu Town in Cangnan, Wenzhou, a line with special significance appeared - the Qingda Line.

This line, from the perspective of regional development, divides the "mountains and seas". On the southwest side of the line, there are continuous mountains and scarce arable land, including the entire area of Lishui and Quzhou, as well as parts of counties and cities such as Jiande and Chun'an in Hangzhou, Cangnan and Taishun in Wenzhou, which are underdeveloped areas in Zhejiang; On the northeast side of the line, the water system is crisscrossed and the soil is fertile, gathering the prosperous areas of Hangzhou, Jiahu, Ningshao Plain, and Yongtaiwen since ancient times. The overall economic and social development is good.

Crossing the "Qingda Line" and reciting the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" has become a necessary answer for Zhejiang to comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society.

In 2003, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee fully launched the "88 Strategy", proposing to actively implement the "Mountain Sea Cooperation Project". The most direct measure is to pair up the "sea" and "mountains" within the province to provide assistance, forming a stronger joint force of land and sea coordination.

The Qiandao Lake Zhibang Building, located in Shuangpu Town, Xihu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, is officially opened as a collaborative "common prosperity enclave" between Xihu and Chun'an Mountains and Seas. Shen Jizhong

A "big water tank" surrounding Zhejiang, Qiandao Lake, and a millennium old West Lake, Chun'an County and West Lake District of Hangzhou have been holding hands for many years through "mountain sea cooperation". Chun'an has built "Science and Technology Innovation enclave" in Xidoumen and "Thin Consumption enclave" in Shuangpu in Xihu District, developing high-end manufacturing, digital economy, headquarters economy and other industries, achieving remote development and local protection.

Over the past 20 years, with the continuous deepening of the "Mountain Sea Cooperation Project", Zhejiang has gradually formed a policy system that is collaborative, comprehensive, multi-level, and constantly organically updated and improved. It has launched "Mountain Sea Cooperation" industrial parks, ecological tourism and cultural industrial parks, and jointly built three types of "enclaves" including industry, science and technology innovation, and poverty alleviation, enhancing the endogenous development momentum of mountainous areas.

Located in Lucheng District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Lutai Headquarters Science and Technology Innovation Park. Shen Jizhong

Taishun County in the mountainous area of southern Zhejiang and Lucheng District of Wenzhou have joined hands to create the first "mountain sea cooperation" enclave platform in Wenzhou - Lutai Headquarters Science and Technology Innovation Park. The park has formulated investment policies and vigorously carried out investment activities, attracting 218 villages in Taishun to invest in the project together. Dividend funds have flown from Lucheng to Taishun, injecting vitality into the two areas for mutual prosperity.

In recent years, the two regions have also explored a new model of "two-way enclave", transforming "blood transfusion" into "blood production", and solving the two major problems of employment for the people and employment for enterprises.

Taishun integrates land, factories, and other resources within the region to jointly build the Lutai "two-way enclave" industrial park. It has successfully attracted 10 projects, including Chint inverter intelligent manufacturing, with a total investment of 2.5 billion yuan, and is expected to solve the employment of 1000 people.

Over the past 20 years, 26 counties in the mountainous areas of Zhejiang Province have accumulated nearly 100 billion yuan in funding through paired city and county assistance, land indicator external transfers, and other channels through "mountain sea cooperation"; Promote 12438 industrial cooperation projects for "mountain sea cooperation", with a total investment of 730.5 billion yuan; Economically strong counties have helped 26 mountainous counties establish more than 20 "mountain sea cooperation" training bases, training nearly 1.5 million laborers in total.

Through the "mountain sea cooperation" mechanism, effectively promote the coordinated development level of Zhejiang region to be at the forefront of the country. Gu Yikang, Chief Expert of Zhejiang Rural Revitalization Research Institute, stated that "mountain sea cooperation" accurately grasps the regularity of promoting urban-rural integration and regional mutual development, and implements innovative measures. The process of overcoming shortcomings is also a process of creating new advantages.

A mother and daughter watched a video showcasing the achievements of Zhejiang's construction at the large-scale theme exhibition of the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the "88 Strategy" held in Hangzhou. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

After 20 years of hard work, Zhejiang has become one of the provinces with the most balanced regional development in China. Nowadays, the ratio of disposable income between urban and rural residents in Zhejiang has narrowed to 1.9, and the difference between the highest and lowest incomes of regional residents has narrowed to 1.58. The per capita disposable income of rural residents has been ranked first in various provinces and regions for 38 consecutive years.

Mountain and sea travel together to achieve benign complementarity

For many years, Zhejiang has regarded the regional differences between mountains and seas as development opportunities, identified underdeveloped areas as new economic growth points, and promoted mutual assistance and benign complementarity between mountains and seas.

Located in the mountainous areas of southwestern Zhejiang, Lishui innovatively utilizes the "golden key" of "borrowing strength from the sea" in opening up the transformation channel from "green waters and green mountains" to "golden mountains and silver mountains".

In the first half of this year, the key project of "Mountain Sea Cooperation" in Zhejiang Province, Liandu Building, rose from the ground in Jinhua and Yiwu. "R&D and sales are located in Yiwu, and production and manufacturing are located in Liandu District, Lishui." The person in charge of the Liandu Building project said that enterprises that settle in the Liandu Building can not only enjoy benefits such as taxation, finance, and talent in the two regions, but also enjoy special policies such as free trade pilot zones and "mountain sea cooperation" enclaves.

Recently, the "Jingning 600" alpine cold water bamboo shoots in Jingning She Autonomous County, Lishui City, welcomed a bountiful harvest. Cloud based procurement and cold chain logistics, over 20000 kilograms of water bamboo are sold every day from Jingnan Township and Daji Township in Jingning to paired counties such as Shangyu in Shaoxing and Wenling in Taizhou.

At the Jiaobai Trading Market in Daji Village, Daji Township, Jingning She Autonomous County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, villagers pack and refrigerate newly harvested Jiaobai.

In Shangyu, located on the coast of the East China Sea, multiple enterprises have signed strategic cooperation agreements with Jingnan Township, reaching intentions for production and sales cooperation. "Mountain goods" ride the "sea breeze" to enter the mid to high end market, and the agricultural brand "Lishui Shangeng" is becoming increasingly well-known in big cities, which has also driven tens of thousands of farmers in ethnic areas to increase their income and become prosperous.

Dong Xuebing, Deputy Director of the Research Center for Regional Coordinated Development at Zhejiang University, stated that "mountain sea cooperation" aims to synergistically leverage the dual roles of the government and the market, and achieve complementary regional advantages and coordinated development through the flow and integration of resources, talents, technology and other elements between the two regions.

Through the "one county, one policy" approach and leveraging the resource endowments and local characteristics of each county, Zhejiang continuously expands the transformation channels of "green mountains and clear waters are invaluable assets", cultivates and strengthens industries that enrich the people, and gradually forms eight industries with an output value exceeding 10 billion yuan, including Chun'an water beverage, Longyou special paper, Jinyun mechanical equipment, and Qingtian stainless steel.

A bottled water production line photographed by a water beverage company in Chun'an Economic Development Zone, Zhejiang. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Yu

Nowadays, the "mountain sea" channels are even wider.

The Zhoushan Cross Sea Bridge has been completed, connecting the Zhoushan Island with the inland area; Lishui Waterless Port leverages the advantages of Ningbo Zhoushan Port to create a "green channel" for Lishui's goods to enter and exit Ningbo Port; The completion of the Jintai Railway has opened up a new channel of "mountain sea cooperation" between the Zhongshan District of Zhejiang Province and the coastal areas of eastern Zhejiang Province... After 20 years of development, a large number of land and sea infrastructure has been built in Zhejiang Province, which has opened up the development barrier between mountains and sea, becoming a new engine for integrating into the Yangtze River Delta integration and jointly building the "the Belt and Road".

Cross regional Writing of "Deep Mountains and Seas"

Across the mountains and seas, cadres at all levels in Zhejiang have demonstrated their responsibility in providing targeted assistance to the central and western regions. Over the past 20 years, Zhejiang has further extended the collaborative concept of "mountain sea cooperation" to participate in and serve the overall situation of the country, striving to open up new spaces for regional coordinated development.

Zhongzhai Town, Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County, Tongren City, Guizhou Province, specifically named a road in the town "Anji Road". The story behind this road has also brought the friendship between the mountains and the sea beyond the province.

In recent years, nearly 35.35 million high-quality white tea seedlings from Huangdu Village, Anji County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province have planted deep roots in many places such as Guizhou, Sichuan, and Hunan, gradually entering the high-yield period.

The "Industry Brain" of Anji White Tea in Zhejiang Province shows the distribution of tea seedlings donated and planted by Huangdu Village in 5 counties, including Guizhou, Hunan, and Sichuan provinces. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi

A golden leaf has laid the foundation for the prosperity of Huangdu Village. "Our days are getting better and better, and we should also have the ability to help others," said Sheng Awei, Secretary of the Huangdu Village Party Branch.

In 2018, Huangdu Village proposed to donate 15 million tea seedlings to help impoverished areas lift themselves out of poverty. Subsequently, Anji dispatched inspection teams to Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan and other places to provide guidance on site selection, planting, picking, and sales.

Not only that, where tea seedlings are donated, tea processing, brand promotion, and product sales from Zhejiang follow suit, solving the worries of tea farmers who receive donations and truly turning "poverty alleviation seedlings" into "prosperous leaves".

In Naqu, Xizang, Zhejiang aid cadres combined the four major advantages of Zhejiang market, technology, talents and Zhejiang merchants with the resource advantages of Naqu. Changrong Naxiu Clothing Intelligent Manufacturing Factory has become the first large-scale enterprise in the non mining and non construction industry in Nagqu. A large number of investment projects, such as ecological boutique hotels and photovoltaic+energy storage new energy power projects, have become iconic projects for the development of Nagqu.

"Mountain sea cooperation" not only provides assistance for industrial projects, but also focuses on filling the gaps in people's livelihoods.

After renovation and expansion, the first division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Alar City No.1 Middle School, has teaching buildings, art buildings, and experimental buildings shining brightly in the sunlight. Taizhou, Zhejiang Province invested more than 80 million yuan in aid to Xinjiang and built this nine-year consistent high school that can accommodate 45 teaching classes and 2100 students, alleviating the overcrowding of local degree classes.

Emphasize economic revitalization and prioritize the same development concept. "One mu of land can earn up to 1000 yuan if potatoes were planted before, and 10000 yuan if grapes are planted now." He Guanxiu, head of the Sweet Golden Shed Wine Grape "Common Wealth Workshop" in Raolai Village, Heihe Town, Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area, Sichuan, said that farmers' income has been rising steadily as the workshop develops order farming.

The train is traveling on the Yong'an Creek Grand Bridge in Xianju County, Jintai Railway. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi

"Gongfu Workshop" is a typical experience of Zhejiang's high-quality development and construction of a demonstration zone for common prosperity. The workshop is jointly built by party organizations such as villages and enterprises in pairs, guiding enterprises to layout suitable production and processing links in rural areas by delivering projects to villages, employment to households, and skills to people. Nowadays, relying on the cooperation between the East and the West, "Gongfu Workshop" has taken root in many parts of the central and western regions.

Dong Xuebing stated that the "two-way travel" of "mountains" and "seas" fully leverages the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. On the basis of following market laws and sustainable development, a new path of mutual benefit and coordinated development has been explored for the first developed and underdeveloped regions.

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