Revitalizing revolutionary base areas requires the participation of multiple stakeholders.

Recently, GuChuan United signed an industrial consulting cooperation agreement with Xinxian County, Xinyang City, Henan Province.

▲ This revolutionary stronghold, known as the “County of Generals,” has produced a total of 43 founding generals who made significant contributions to the birth of New China.

Leveraging 14 years of practical experience in investment promotion, Guchuan United will offer strategic advice to support Xinxian’s county-level economic development, helping this “Pearl of the Dabie Mountains” shine with renewed brilliance.

01 Opportunities for “Revitalization” in Revolutionary Base Areas

Located in the heart of the Dabie Mountains, Xinxian is the southernmost county in Henan Province and is known as the “Southern Gateway to the Central Plains.”

As the former capital of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui-Jiangsu Soviet Area, Xinxian County connects regional hubs such as Wuhan, Zhengzhou, and Hefei, boasting undeniable geographical advantages.

Over the past decade, Xinxian’s GDP has surged significantly, with an average annual growth rate of 9.5%, and fixed-asset investment has grown by an average of 17.3% annually—marking a remarkable transformation in this historic revolutionary base area.

Behind these impressive figures lies Xinxian’s solid foundation of industrial transformation driving the revitalization and development of this historic revolutionary base area.

At the same time, Xinxian has also embraced numerous new opportunities.

For example, leveraging the listed company Lingrui Pharmaceutical, the county is extending its industrial chain toward high-value-added sectors to build a province-leading pharmaceutical manufacturing cluster.

For instance, by integrating authentic medicinal herbs, processing and manufacturing enterprises with revolutionary cultural tourism resources, the county is creating a new cultural tourism brand centered on traditional Chinese medicine, transforming customers into tourists and tourists into customers.

There are many similar development opportunities.

However, only by planning development based on the county’s actual conditions can we turn opportunities into concrete actions and transform ideas into reality.

The first step is to clarify “what we have and what we need.”

In recent years, Changshan County—which leveraged “Hu Yuzu” to pave a path toward shared prosperity in mountainous areas—has done just that, as has Shanghang County, which rose from a nationally designated impoverished county to one of the top 100 counties.

The 2023 Henan Provincial Government Work Report mentioned significant support for Xinyang:

1. Improve the policy framework for Nanyang’s development as a sub-provincial center and strengthen collaboration with Xinyang and Zhumadian;

2. Support the revitalization and development of revolutionary base areas such as the Dabie Mountains and the Taihang Mountains, and advance the paired cooperation between Suzhou and Xinyang.

As a pioneer in the revitalization and development of the Dabie Mountains revolutionary base area, Xinxian County urgently needs to assess its current situation and clarify its strategy to take the initiative in the city’s collaboration with Nanyang and Suzhou.

Should we leverage Suzhou to open up consumer markets for red tourism and distinctive traditional Chinese medicine products? Or should we invite Xinyang-born entrepreneurs in Suzhou to return home to invest and start businesses? Or should both sides collaborate to build industrial parks and develop an “enclave economy”?

Each approach has its merits, but no definitive conclusion can be reached until a detailed industrial study is completed.

These are precisely the issues that Guchuan Lianxing’s industrial consulting services can address.

We will serve as Xinxian’s “external brain,” using scientific methods—including on-site research and data analysis—to help the county identify its unique competitive advantages and integrate into the broader regional economic landscape.

Of course, we also hope to use this opportunity to deepen our cooperation with Xinxian County. Leveraging our 14 years of hands-on experience in investment promotion and a database of over 870,000 project resources, we aim to facilitate the successful implementation of industrial projects.

02 Government and Business Join Forces to Seize a “Brand-New Track”

Over the past 20 years, China’s primary mission has been urbanization.

In the next 20 years, however, China’s primary mission will shift to industrial upgrading.

Small counties that once struggled to keep pace amid the rapid urbanization wave are now facing new development opportunities.

Take Xinxian County, for example. Although its population is less than 300,000, it has given rise to the listed company Lingrui Pharmaceutical, as well as “specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative” enterprises such as Weisheng Technology, Huarong Electronics, and Chunquan Zhiyuan.

Take Lingrui Pharmaceutical as an example: the company started with a 238,000 yuan poverty alleviation loan and became Xinxian’s first listed company.

In 2018, following the national push to intensify the battle against pollution, Lingrui Pharmaceutical replaced its coal-fired boilers, dismantled all production lines with outdated capacity, and established a fully integrated supply chain spanning from raw material cultivation and processing to sales.

Today, Lingrui Pharmaceutical has been selected as a 2022 Smart Manufacturing Demonstration Factory, and in the first three quarters of last year, it achieved total operating revenue of 2.277 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.91%.

Turning to Changyuan Group, Chairman Wu Qiquan is a native of Xinxian and a pioneer in returning to his hometown to start a business and give back to his community.

In 2015, Changyuan Group invested 500 million yuan to build a smart manufacturing industrial park in Xinxian. In 2019, the group relocated its entire Changyuan CNC Sewing Equipment project to Xinxian.

Currently, three production lines—for automatic fabric spreading machines, intelligent hanging systems, and CNC cutting machines—have all commenced operations. The Changyuan Large-Scale Manufacturing Industrial Park, covering nearly 300 mu (approximately 20 hectares) and with an annual output value expected to exceed 3 billion yuan, has also entered the preparatory phase.

Weisheng Technology, a “Specialized, Refined, Unique, and Innovative” (SRUI) “Little Giant” enterprise from Zhengzhou, has also invested in and established a smart sensor production line project in Xinxian County. In the future, it plans to build a green eco-industrial park integrating production, R&D, training, and academic exchange.

The arrival of outstanding enterprises in Xinxian is no coincidence.

In recent years, Xinxian County has consistently strengthened its service-oriented mindset, improved its work style, and made every effort to create the best business environment, fostering fertile ground for enterprise growth.

As of the end of December 2022, the total number of market entities in Xinxian County reached 24,135, representing a year-on-year net increase of 26%.

On January 28, Henan launched the seventh phase of its “Three Batches” project construction initiative. Among these, Xinxian broke ground on 64 projects with a total investment of 14.3 billion yuan, striving to achieve a strong start to the year.

As a close partner of Xinxian County, Guchuan United has every reason to believe that Xinxian will deliver “impressive results” and lead the revitalization and development of revolutionary base areas nationwide.

We sincerely hope that investors and entrepreneurs will pay attention to Xinxian, invest in Xinxian, and put down roots here to share in the opportunities of county-level economic development and work together to create a brighter future!