Logging ban clears future path
2019-08-23 11:03:43 China Daily Mo Hong'e
Workers assemble a freight train at a workshop of CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang province. Provided to China Daily
Once economically reliant on commercial forestry and heavy industry, the province is now focusing on greener ways to generate prosperity
Editor's note: As the People's Republic of China prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary on Oct 1, China Daily is featuring a series of stories on the role regions have played in the country's development and where they are today.
Liu Yangshun was one of the more than 70,000 forestry workers laid off in 2013 when his hometown of Yichun, Heilongjiang province, decided to opt for green development and banned commercial logging.
"My family earned more than 120,000 yuan ($17,042) last year, which we would not have imagined years ago," said Liu, who now runs a restaurant specializing in rustic food, such as wild fungus and free-range chickens raised in forests.
Located in the northeastern part of the province and separated from Russia by the Heilong River, known in Russia as the Amur River, Yichun was once known as the center of China's forestry industry.
But nowadays it is overwhelmed by tourists, many of whom come to forest retreats to escape the summer heat in other parts of the country. Yichun serves as a prototype for Heilongjiang's shift to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable economic model.
Han Ku, mayor of Yichun, said there are now more than 260 centers for planting and growing agricultural products, such as blueberries, black fungus and free-range chickens and pigs.
The city has also designed industrial zones to encourage small and medium-sized businesses that specialize in processing agricultural products. One enterprise has managed to extract anthocyanin, a flavonoid with antioxidant qualities, from blueberries. At the same time, a series of ongoing reforms is helping revitalize State-owned enterprises in the province.
At a panel discussion during the National People's Congress in March, Zhang Qingwei, Party secretary of Heilongjiang, said the province will strive for breakthroughs in its business environment and improvements in the work style of officials.
In recent years, Heilongjiang has been focusing on supply-side structural reforms, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, promoting the development of emerging industries, and maintaining stable economic operations.
The governor of Heilongjiang, Wang Wentao, highlighted the province's abundant tourism resources, including forests, wetlands and snow-covered terrain. "We received 182 million tourists last year, an increase of 10.9 percent," he told the panel discussion. "Tourism revenue reached 224.4 billion yuan, up 17.6 percent year on year."
"From the data, we can clearly see a promising future and we believe we can turn our ecological resources into an economic advantage," he added.
Heilongjiang's new industries range from ecotourism and organic food to medicinal products and wood art, according to a government report.
Since 2016, Qiqihar, an old industrial base, has been promoting reform of State-owned enterprises and accelerating modernization efforts. Major State-owned enterprises, including China First Heavy Industries and CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock, have taken steps forward.
During a visit to the city in September, President Xi Jinping said equipment manufacturing is a pillar of the nation, as well as a significant component of the real economy.
He encouraged manufacturing companies to make greater efforts to step up innovation, develop new technologies and products and further explore global markets.
China First Heavy Industries said it recorded an excellent financial performance last year, with turnover of 10.51 billion yuan, an increase of 2.53 percent on 2017, and profit of 128.71 million yuan, a 52.89 percent increase.
Liu Mingzhong, chairman of the company, said they had reduced deficits during the year as the company's turnover hit a record high.
In 2016, the company put in place new production and operating methods and placed a greater focus on marketing.
It also restructured its staff with an emphasis on cutting the management level.
"Once there were nearly 10,000 staff members in the company, with various types of managers accounting for as much as 14.6 percent of the staff (members)," Liu said. "The rigid management system resulted in low efficiency and a low passion for work."
The company reduced the number of management departments from 19 to 13, and canceled 69 lower-level departments.
A total of 140 of 320 mid-level managers was encouraged to take early retirement, change jobs or move on.
Zhou Jinbo, a former assistant to the company's finance director, was one of those forced to take a lesser position. He now works in the finance department of a subordinate company, but understands China First Heavy Industries had to make changes.
He said the competition for positions "was open and fair and followed a strict process".
CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock, a freight train producer has achieved success by exploring global markets and better serving the Belt and Road Initiative.
The company was set up last year through a restructuring of the former transportation equipment arm of CRRC based in Qiqihar, and four wholly-owned locomotive and wind power branches in Liaoning, Hebei and Shandong provinces, and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
The restructured company has registered capital of 6.7 billion yuan and employs 20,300 people.
Its core business is the production of freight trains, which are exported to more than 30 countries including Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Brazil.
Besides the train production, CRRC Qiqihar has exported more than 50,000 heavy-duty mining vehicles. It also produces machinery for container transportation, environmental protection and intelligent machines.
Tourists visit the Volga Manor theme park, a popular tourist attraction in Harbin, Heilongjiang. CHENG QIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY
Tourism focus
The capital city of Harbin has turned itself into a tourist destination by taking advantage of its culture, history and clean environment.
Last year, for the first time, the number of inbound and outbound passengers at Harbin Taiping International Airport exceeded 20 million, the most of any Northeastern China airport.
The city received 85.67 million domestic and foreign tourists throughout the year, with tourism revenue hitting 137.6 billion yuan, a 16.9 percent year-on-year increase.
Huang Zuxiang, chairman of Dongjian Group, started his business in 1988 and created a well-known brand of tower cranes that has become popular in countries such as Russia.
He has also invested in the Volga Manor theme park in Harbin which has Russian-style architecture. It is a tribute to his fondness for Harbin's culture and history and one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.
"During the past decade, we were confronted with different difficulties, including policies, shortage of funds and professionals, but I never gave up," he said. "I have a firm determination to achieve better development in the tourism and culture industry."
Huang added that favorable policies, such as financial support and building of infrastructure, will help in the rapid development of the tourism industry.
