Xinzhou's rich resources key to its transformation

Xinzhou city in Shanxi province is striving to promote high-quality development and deepen comprehensive transformation, with the rapid rise of the central region and ecological protection as well as the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin regarded as major development opportunities, Mayor Liu Yuan said in a recent interview with China Daily.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, Xinzhou aims to adapt its development strategy to local conditions and pursue precise positioning, with a clear focus on building "four bases and one city".

"We will build the city as an important comprehensive energy base, a Shanxi characteristic equipment and new materials base, a well-known domestic and international cultural tourism and health destination, an organic dry-farming special agriculture demonstration base, as well as a vibrant boutique city," he said.

"We are striving to find a path of transformational development with Xinzhou characteristics."

With its rich cultural heritage and tourism resources, Xinzhou plans to strengthen the role of Wutai Mountain, Yanmen Pass and Luya Mountain as key attraction sites.

"We have implemented an upgrade action for tourism services at Wutai Mountain, promoted the activation of Great Wall frontier culture and the integration of the city and Yanmen Pass, and accelerated the development of the 'Greater Luya Mountain' area," Liu said.

Xinzhou is the only prefecture-level city in Shanxi that boasts the three major tourism resources of the Yellow River, the Great Wall and the Taihang Mountains.

Wutai Mountain, ranked top among the four famous Buddhist mountains in China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Yanmen Pass, which is regarded as a key section of the Great Wall, as well as the historic Foguang Temple and Nanchan Temple, all bolster the city's tourism allure.

"We sincerely invite tourists to travel along the more than 2,300 kilometers of the three No 1 tourism highways — the Yellow River, the Great Wall and the Taihang Mountains — connecting 50 A-level scenic spots across the city," Liu said.

"People can enjoy the profound historical and cultural beauty, the natural ecological beauty of mountains and rivers, and the pastoral poetry of village life in Xinzhou."

"We want to further enhance the city's brand, promote its cultural and tourism industry from scale growth to a qualitative leap, and accelerate the transformation of resource advantages into industrial advantages," he added.

Xinzhou is also looking to capitalize on the opportunities that will come with the opening of the Xiong'an-Xinzhou High-speed Railway in 2027, aiming to position itself as a preferred summer vacation destination for tourists from nearby Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei province and other parts of the country.

In developing its health and wellness industry, Xinzhou is looking at its unique resources such as rare hot springs, authentic Chinese medicinal materials and high-quality grains to help develop a full-chain health and wellness industry cluster.

The city is focusing on cultivating five major product systems: hot spring therapy, forest healing, traditional Chinese medicine health preservation, grain-based diets and sports health to create a new pattern of health and wellness industry development featuring diverse formats, distinctive characteristics and high-quality experiences.

As the Yellow River's gateway into Shanxi, Xinzhou plans to strengthen its ecological security barrier.

"We will adhere to the principle of focusing on protection and emphasizing governance, coordinate industrial transformation and cultural inheritance, and promote carbon and pollution reduction, making beautiful Xinzhou more visible, tangible and accessible," Liu said.

In its ecological governance efforts, Xinzhou is deeply engaged in a campaign to improve the zigzag watercourse of the Yellow River and is vigorously advancing the protection of the source of the Fenhe River.

"We are consolidating and enhancing the achievements of ecological protection," he said.

"At the same time, we are accelerating the ecological restoration of abandoned mines and implementing integrated governance of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sand to comprehensively improve the quality of the regional ecological environment."

Xinzhou plans to further promote Yellow River culture by building a Yellow River cultural research and learning base, which will focus on strengthening the effective protection and living inheritance of historical and cultural cities, blocks, towns, villages and historic buildings.

The city is also accelerating construction of the Xinzhou section of the Yellow River National Cultural Park to achieve dual empowerment and integrated development of ecological protection and cultural inheritance.

Xinzhou is also looking to make use of technological and industrial innovations to drive growth.

"We will deeply promote education as the foundation, science and technology empowerment and build a talent-strong city," Liu said.

Contact the writers at zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn