Ruzhou, a city in Henan province, received the honor of "China’s Model City for a Cyclic Economy" from the "China Cyclic Economy Development Forum" on the 15th China Beijing International HIGH-TECH Expo held on May 26, according to the city’s Bureau of Industry and Information Technology.

In recent years, Ruzhou has launched over 100 cyclic projects and built 12 industry chains to recycle resources, including a coal-electricity chain, coal-electricity-aluminum chain, and more. Taking products from the coal mines for example, mine run coals are sent to coke-oven plants and power plants to produce coke, gas and electricity; coal slags from power plants are sent to large cement companies as important raw materials; gas is delivered to the local community for daily use; and the massive coal gangue produced during coal mining is used to produce new construction materials such as gangue sintered hollow brick.

Following the principles of "concentrated industry and enterprises, intensive resources and functions, and urban-oriented population transference", Ruzhou has proactively developed intensive industrial areas in an effort to improve its urban layout. For instance, the southern part of Ruzhou harbors 10 specialized industrial zones and over 60 enterprises, covering 18 km2 and forming a province-level cyclic industrial agglomeration area.

Taking technological innovation as a key driving force of its cyclic economy, Ruzhou has encouraged industrial restructuring and high-tech implementation. The city now is home to 10 province-level research centers and 12 provincially outstanding products, two of which received the national honor of the "Famous Trade Mark".

Ruzhou also takes advantage of eco-agricultural technologies to develop its suburban area. The city has successfully integrated livestock cultivating, straw utilizing, and forestry developing in an effort to improve productivity and people’s income. Taking the use of methane tank for example, the city has built 36,000 household methane tanks, covering 80% of villages, and 11 medium or large scale tanks, saving 1,100 tons of coal and increasing people’s total income by 50 million RMB each year.

The development of the cyclic economy has promoted the city’s social, scientific and economic development. According to a national ranking of county-level economies, Ruzhou ranks 140 out of the 2001 counties nationwide, 15 out of the 140 counties in central China, and 6 out of the 108 counties in Henan province. It has also win honors such as a national innovative city, national low-carbon city, national eco-city, and excellent city for tourism.