Plush toys sew new urbanites' prosperous life

Wu, who has been coordinating the relocation of the toy-making industry from Changzhou to Hengkou, would not allow the hope of enriching the newly-settled poor in their urban homes to be dashed. His team went around to explore potential partnerships to lower the transportation cost.

The persistence was fruitful. In May 2020, the dry port set up by the Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd. began operation in Ankang. It turned the city into an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by rail to the Shanghai port, where plush toys are shipped to global consumers.

Later the year, the city saw the departure of its first dedicated freight train heading to Europe by way of Xi'an, another route connecting it with the international market.

To make the industry more competitive, Ankang extended the industrial chain by introducing a production line making polypropylene cotton for stuffing the plush toys.

"The annual output has surpassed 20,000 tonnes, providing far more than sufficient supplies to local toy-making businesses," said Wu.

Ankang has bigger plans for the industry and is poised to make plush toys enable even better lives for Li Yinzhi and her fellow urbanites.

"In the next three years, we will work to boost creative industries inspired by the toy-related culture and make them one of the pillars of the local economy," said Zhao Junmin.