Green economy thrives throughout Guiyang

From left: A new energy vehicle passes through the production line of Guizhou Geely Automobile Manufacturing in Guiyang, Guizhou province. A view of Guanshan Lake Park in Guiyang. Visitors pick tea leaves at Guizhou Shenque, a tea plantation.

Metropolis balances development with environmental protection across an array of industries.

After more than a decade of endeavors in practicing green development, Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province has taken strides in advancing the green economy.

"The car I drive is the world's first methanol hybrid vehicle, which was launched in Guiyang on June 30 last year. It helps reduce energy consumption by around 40 percent and costs less than 0.3 yuan ($0.04) per kilometer," said Li Na, a resident of Guiyang.

"That is a new calling card of Guizhou's green development," Li said.

The methanol hybrid car Li drives is manufactured by carmaker Guizhou Geely Automobile Manufacturing, located in Guanshanhu district. Now the company has the capability of rolling out more than 200 new energy vehicles every day.

"The higher productivity comes from our cooperation with NEV supporting businesses locally such as CATL," said An Ziying, director of the manufacturing department at the company.

Guiyang and its nearby Guian New Area have seen an improved industrial chain of NEVs, which has facilitated cooperation between carmakers and auto parts businesses, An said.

To promote green development, Guanshanhu district has welcomed a batch of eco-friendly businesses including carmaker Geely, and major online retailers JD and Suning. Moreover, it has introduced supporting businesses to cultivate a modern industrial chain of car production featuring low energy consumption, low emission and high efficiency.

As a shining example at the modern manufacturing industrial park in the district, Geely launched its automobile project in November 2015 with a total investment of 10.2 billion yuan.

According to the district, the Geely project has adopted advanced production and pollution treatment technologies in its construction process in a bid to build a smart factory for clean production. So far, the project has been put into operation, with an annual manufacturing capacity of 300,000 vehicles.

Next, Geely's Guizhou branch will step up NEV transformation and increase the sales of NEV products, An said.

Currently, supporting businesses such as BYD, CATL, Geely, Chery & Wanda Guizhou Bus, and Enneagon Energy have settled in Guiyang and Guian, which have formed a complete industrial chain covering auto parts, car manufacturing and marketing service.

Revolving around industry giants such as CATL and BYD, Guiyang and Guian have increased efforts to attract businesses of industrial supporting sectors such as copper foil, diaphragms, electrolytes and cells. By 2025, the output value of the NEV and materials industries in Guiyang and Guian is expected to reach 100 billion yuan.

Local authorities called for adherence to the principle of ecological priority in the city's development, accelerating the establishment of a green, low-carbon, and circular economic system, and carrying out reform and development on an annual and project basis.

Efforts should be made to focus on green production, develop eco-friendly, efficient and low-carbon industries, increase the supply of ecological products, accelerate the cultivation of emerging industries, build green factories and parks, and promote the industrialization and green transformation of the ecological industry, according to local officials.

Jiaxiu Pavilion is a landmark on the Nanming River, which runs through Guiyang.

Apart from industries, the agriculture sector in Guiyang and Guian has seen great progress in boosting rural vitalization through green practices.

Guizhou Shenque, a tea plantation located in Gaozhai village in Guanshanhu district, is a high mountain ecological organic white tea demonstration base of Guizhou. It is also a modern efficient agriculture and tea demonstration park and a fine ecological tea plantation in Guiyang.

"Over the years, we have adhered to ecological planting, to maintain an interactive symbiotic system between animals and plants, and used natural organic fertilizers and biological pest control technologies to cultivate white tea," said Liu Tengfei, head of the plantation.

Maintaining pure green and high-quality standards has been a consistent focus for the plantation in the product offerings, Liu said.

Established in 2005, the tea plantation, with a total investment of 117 million yuan, has a planned cultivation area of more than 133.33 hectares for white tea. It adopts non-polluting production methods and adheres to international standards for operation, from variety selection and cultivation to planting and irrigation.

"The white tea is only harvested once a year during the peak season before Qingming Festival and that attracts about 1,500 visitors here to pick tea during the busy harvest season every year," Liu said.

"The weeding and maintenance work has created job opportunities for dozens of villagers, who earn around 150 yuan per day," Liu added.

With nearly 20 years of development, the tea plantation has developed a product portfolio including organic ecological tea, green tea and black tea, which have been sold overseas. Under the guidance of the local government, the tea plantation has helped build a factory that produces white tea noodles and an experience hall for visitors to make and taste white tea noodles in Gaozhai village, all of which have helped boost the local economy.

Boasting a sound environment and natural scenery, the tea plantation now has become a tourist attraction.

The plantation will actively join the countryside construction and continue to build the brand and develop high-quality products, Liu said.

Official data showed, in 2021, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in Guanshanhu district reached 22,000 yuan.

In recent years, Guiyang and Guian have placed a priority on ecological considerations in their green development strategies and have achieved a good balance between environmental protection and socioeconomic benefits.

Leveraging the resources of forests, tourism and culture, Guiyang and Guian have integrated the development of agriculture, culture and tourism. That move has promoted the high-quality development of eco-friendly agriculture, which specializes in fruits, vegetables, tea, edible mushrooms, and flowers, as well as the under-forest economy and forest specialty industries such as mushrooms, medicines and bees.

Moreover, by utilizing the cultural heritage and rural tourism resources, Guiyang has innovated its tourism formats by integrating tourism with sectors including culture, health, agriculture and education and has implemented projects for wellness and tourism to revitalize some tourism projects, and thus accelerated the construction of a national and all-around tourism demonstration zone.

In 2023, Guiyang will focus on green transformation and continue to consolidate the achievements in the ecological civilization construction, according to the Guiyang city government report.

This year, the city's green economy is expected to account for 49 percent of its GDP, as the city will continue the move toward developing into a pilot demonstration of ecological civilization.

According to the report, Guiyang and Guian will strive to develop green industries, aiming to add one green park, 10 green factories, four types of green products and one business for the green supply chain.

Guiyang will build more than 1,500 electric vehicle charging stations, as part of its effort to advocate green consumption. It will also build five green logistics parks. In addition, the proportion of newly built green buildings in urban areas will reach 75 percent while the green travel in the central urban area will reach 68 percent.

Promoting the green economy to accelerate development is essential for the city to promote harmony between humanity and nature. It is also an inevitable choice for advancing high-quality development and building Guiyang as a prosperous provincial capital, a local official said.

Guiyang and Guian should make concerted efforts to promote green transformation with a focus on the digital and green economy and to further enhance competitiveness in development, the official said.