Everyone has moments of panic as they navigate the ups and downs of life.

It’s like you don’t want to fall asleep so quickly and face another day, yet you’re afraid that staying up late too often will make tomorrow disappear altogether.

Beyond this constant internal struggle, the many voices from the outside world can also leave you feeling flustered—much like a sheepdog using its gaze to intimidate a lamb trying to stray from the designated path.

For instance, seeing your county overtaken by a neighbor in the Top 100 Counties ranking—just as you’ve finished signing a major project and were about to relax—suddenly leaves you in a state of turmoil.

Or, when companies scheduled to visit the county for an inspection cancel their trips one after another due to the pandemic, leaving billions of yuan in fixed-asset investment projects unable to get off the ground, the weight on your mind remains suspended in the air.

In 2022, “county town” has become a term that causes people to “worry themselves sick.”

A search for “county” on Baidu Index reveals a steadily rising trend line, with three distinct peaks appearing between 2020 and 2022.

With a population of 250 million and a GDP of nearly 40 trillion yuan, counties occupy a vital position in China’s social and economic landscape.

According to the “Opinions on Promoting Urbanization with County Towns as Key Carriers,” county towns are becoming the protagonists of urbanization.

However, fiscal pressures and the burden of pandemic control have left most county towns feeling overwhelmed, and disparities between counties are beginning to emerge.

In 2021, the number of counties with annual GDP exceeding 100 billion yuan rose to 43, but this still represents only a small fraction of the county-level economy.

Under these circumstances, the difficulty of vigorously attracting investment and advancing rural revitalization is self-evident. Standing out in fierce regional competition is indeed no easy feat.

Consequently, many county towns have begun to emulate large cities.

This “benchmarking” approach—focused on “scale and speed”—has indeed brought about a local “breath of fresh air,” yet it has also caused these diverse county towns to lose their unique characteristics, becoming uniform and indistinguishable.

Distinctiveness should be the fundamental driving force of county-level economies, and the greatest call of our time is precisely to “be true to oneself.”

Yet “finding one’s identity” is, in itself, an adventure fraught with uncertainty.

“Being true to oneself” is truly no easy feat.

Shaanxi: Making a U-Turn in an Industrial Sector

As is well known, every county has established industrial plans.

Yet in Shaanxi, all 76 counties (and cities) have begun re-evaluating their development strategies and shifting their primary industries.

Shiquan County in Ankang City, renowned for its pristine natural landscapes and golden copper silkworms, has ventured into the prefabricated meal sector;

Jingyang County in Xianyang City, famous nationwide for its Fu tea and vegetables, has set its sights on high-end equipment manufacturing;

Jingbian County in Yulin City, renowned for its oil and gas resources, has set its sights on high-end polyolefins...

“Huangluan” (a local term) refers to disrupting established routines to embrace the unknown, yet the people of Shaanxi treat it as a neutral term—like a spoonful of chili oil splashed onto the distinctive landscape of their county economies.

Changing the leading industry is not about blazing a new trail, but about integrating local conditions to become a unique “self.”

Only by establishing a unique industrial advantage ahead of the rest of the country can a region remain invincible in fierce regional competition.

Henan: Forging a “Golden Key” for Capital Investment Promotion

These small counties, light on their feet, are unafraid to make a comeback on the industrial track; they can also embrace a dual identity, much like the once-trendy “slash youth.”

Since the beginning of this year, multiple cities in Henan have successively achieved full coverage of “deputy county (city/district) heads for finance” on secondment.

Following Anhui’s 2019 initiative to appoint “deputy mayors for finance” with financial sector experience in multiple prefecture-level cities, Henan has set its sights on catching up, extending this measure “down” to the county level.

The results of Anhui’s capital-driven investment promotion efforts are plain for all to see.

The establishment of the BYD Hefei base, the NIO production base, and the AVIC Lithium Battery project was made possible not only by the province’s full-scale support for industrial development but also by the full-scale assistance from the financial sector.

Fertile ground for fostering a new economy cannot thrive without the irrigation of financial resources.

However, most county-level cities have yet to recognize this, and they lack the experience to leverage financial resources to empower enterprise development.

"Financial secondments" can help governments better understand the market logic of the financial system, broadening their approach to investment promotion; enterprises investing and establishing businesses, as well as talent engaged in innovation and entrepreneurship, will also gain access to higher-quality financial services.

Following Anhui’s example does not prevent Henan from “being itself.”

By benchmarking against the best and striving to catch up and surpass them, the moment you begin to bid farewell to your past self, you have already become a brand-new version of yourself.

Zhejiang: Serving as a “Scale of Fairness” for the Business Environment

Panic is the seed sown by anxiety and pressure; it always makes one wonder if they are trapped inside a glass bottle. Even though the surroundings are clearly so bright, one still keeps hitting walls in every direction.

But Zhejiang knows to look up: it turns out the bottle has no lid.

In the first half of the year, among the top ten innovative cases for optimizing the business environment released by Zhejiang, there was surprisingly one from a county-level city—concerning corporate bankruptcy.

It is becoming increasingly easy to register a company; providing registration conveniences is a mandatory indicator for optimizing the business environment, and the rise in the number of market entities is naturally a major achievement.

In contrast, deregistering a business has become a major headache.

Unlike registration, once a business begins operations, it involves numerous government departments. When deregistering, each of these must be addressed individually, and even the slightest oversight can leave hidden risks.

Furthermore, since local governments have invested significant effort in attracting investment, once a company is established, it is difficult for it to relocate—sometimes requiring special committee meetings—and deregistration is even more challenging.

However, driving economic development cannot be a one-sided effort. Just as it is easy for businesses to start up, they must also be allowed to wind down smoothly—this is what constitutes a healthy market environment.

Of course, this is a highly challenging task.

Yet Zhejiang’s decision to rank Yuhuan City’s “One-Stop Business Closure” initiative among its top ten best practices speaks volumes about its commitment.

Building on a vibrant private sector, Zhejiang has infused new vitality into county-level economies through innovation, demonstrating a clever approach that achieves great results with minimal effort on the path of “being true to itself.”

County-level economies are not meant to be cut from the same mold.

Their paths, the pitfalls they’ve encountered, and the futures they envision are all different; naturally, there is no universal formula to solve every problem. Just as you cannot dominate the soccer field with basketball moves, nor can you appreciate whiskey with the mindset of drinking baijiu.

By tailoring approaches to local conditions and addressing enterprise needs with targeted solutions, county towns will ultimately find their own answers.