The 'Breakthrough Development' strategy boosts the region's growth

Back in 2002, Lin Guodong found himself shifted overnight from the coal heap to the scrapheap when the mine he had worked in for more than 10 years was suddenly shut down. At just 34 years old, he found himself out of work and with little prospect of future employment.

Now 40 years old, he is a successful mushroom farmer with an annual income of over 20,000 yuan a year. The story of Lin's re-invention is just one of the many that tell the tale of the re-invention of a whole city in northeastern China.

The city is Fuxin, set in the northeastern province of Liaoning, it is currently home to some 1.93 million people. Back in 2002, the majority of its population worked in the mining industry, excavating the vital mineral resources that were fuelling China's rapidly-growing economy. As these resources began to be exhausted, so too did the career prospects for its nearly two million workers.