China Economic Sample Observation: County-level Sample | Traditional Industries? Take a look at Fujian's Jinjiang, home to multiple listed companies!

"Traditional industries are sunset industries" "Developing new quality productive forces is about creating new industries and choosing new tracks" ... When some people misunderstand and waver about traditional industries, Jinjiang, Fujian, refutes such views with "hardcore" strength.

This year, against the backdrop of sluggish recovery in domestic and international markets and significant economic downward pressure, Jinjiang has surged ahead, with a growth rate of .% in the first half of the year, ranking first among the top ten counties in the country. Notably, the industrial added value growth rate of several pillar industries—textiles, footwear and apparel, food, and building materials—has reached .%.

This county located along the southeastern coast has gathered a number of listed companies, most of which are engaged in traditional industries, forming the "Jinjiang Sector" with a total market value close to 100 billion yuan.

From focusing on scale to emphasizing quality, from prioritizing marketing spending to steadfastly maintaining brand integrity and investing in technological innovation, Jinjiang's "turnaround story" reflects the common struggles and perseverance, introspection, and elevation in the modern transformation of traditional industries.

The quality of development rises against the trend under pressure

In Chidian Town, Jinjiang City, the construction of the Anta Jinjiang Smart Industrial Park, covering an area of acres and with an investment of billions of yuan, is progressing at a rapid pace. "Since the groundbreaking in [month], we have been in a busy phase," said the project manager. The industrial park integrates dozens of smart production lines and multiple innovative R&D infrastructures, including the Global Sports Science Laboratory, the Global R&D Innovation Center, and the Professional Sports Shoe R&D Center.

ANTA Group's Museum and Digital Smart Sports Complex—ANTA Creation Space (photographed on a certain date). Leveraging technologies such as digitization, intelligence, and visualization, it has become a comprehensive space integrating "technology + experience + sports." Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Peiquan.

In the first half of the year, Anta Sports Products Co., Ltd. achieved revenue of RMB . billion, a year-on-year increase of .%, marking the best interim performance in its history. Since 2015, Anta has surpassed international brands such as Nike and Adidas, consistently maintaining a leading market share in the domestic sports footwear and apparel market.

Technicians work at the Anta Group Sports Science Laboratory (Photo taken on [insert date]). Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Peiquan.

In Jinjiang, Anta is not alone; innovation is becoming a thriving trend across the city's traditional industries.

"R&D investment of scale-above enterprises in Jinjiang has been growing by over % for consecutive years, with over enterprises collaborating with universities and research institutes to establish R&D institutions here. The number of national high-tech enterprises has been growing at an average annual rate of over %, with the current total reaching . Jinjiang boasts provincial-level specialized and innovative enterprises, and listed companies, the majority of which are from traditional industries, with innovation becoming the greatest incremental force for high-quality development," said Wang Mingyuan, Mayor of Jinjiang City.

In interviews, several company leaders expressed similar views: "Traditional industries are not sunset industries; technological empowerment drives high-end, intelligent, and green transformation, opening up vast markets and revitalizing enterprises with new vitality."

ANTA Group's Museum and Digital Smart Sports Complex—ANTA Creation Space (photographed on a certain date). Leveraging technologies such as digitization, intelligence, and visualization, it has become a comprehensive space integrating "technology + experience + sports." Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Peiquan.

In this month, the Shenzhou 18 manned spacecraft was successfully launched, and the aerospace suit zipper independently developed by Xunxing Group from Jinjiang made its way into space. Since the Shenzhou 11 mission, Xunxing zippers have accompanied Chinese astronauts on multiple space journeys.

"It may seem like just a small zipper, but it actually involves a primary discipline, secondary disciplines, materials, structure, equipment, functions, and hundreds of processes, each step is an innovation." Gao Xiuzhong, Director of the Technical R&D Center of Fujian Xunxing Zipper Technology Co., Ltd., told reporters that the company has established a Science and Technology Resources Department and cooperates with multiple domestic universities, marking just the beginning of their innovation journey.

Staying Focused on the Core Business, Seeking Opportunities Amidst Challenges

The current economic downturn cycle continues, with the transformation of new and old development drivers, profound adjustments in international division of labor and interests, and many entrepreneurs admit that they will face even greater pressure in the coming period. How can Jinjiang maintain its competitive edge?

Inheriting the "Jinjiang Experience" and adhering to the main business, maintaining the determination to "hold onto the real economy without letting go," is the foundation of Jinjiang's development.

——The enterprise does not speculate, does not waver.

Over the years, we have had many opportunities to expand our profit growth models, such as sports events, sports towns, sports real estate, including financial investments, but the Anta management has steadfastly adhered to the 'single focus' strategy and never wavered. Li Ling, Vice President of Anta Group, said that no matter how large the enterprise grows, it always prioritizes producing a good piece of clothing and a good pair of shoes as its core business.

This is the lightest "space running shoe" on display at the Anta Group Museum (photographed on a certain date). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Peiquan.

Finding opportunities in crises, preparing for the future, and investing against the economic cycle—these are the profound impressions left on the journalist during their visit to Jinjiang.

In the Jinjiang Economic Development Zone's Yinglin Park and Wuli Park, cranes tower over the landscape, engineering vehicles shuttle back and forth, and rows of factories rise from the ground. Among the enterprises expanding and increasing investment, there are both those engaged in traditional industries such as textile footwear and apparel, machinery manufacturing, as well as those involved in high-tech industries including semiconductor new materials, packaging and testing, and biomedicine.

Workers are producing aluminum nitride ceramic heating sheets at the workshop of Fujian Huaqing Electronic Materials Technology Co., Ltd. in the Wuli Industrial Park, Jinjiang City (photographed on a certain date). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Kehong.

In recent years, Fujian Huaqing Electronic Materials Technology Co., Ltd. has seen its annual production capacity grow by %, with revenue doubling year by year. The company has been recognized as a "Little Giant" enterprise in the special and precise innovation sector, as well as a single champion enterprise in the manufacturing industry. Since 2018, the company has successively overcome the "bottleneck" technologies of aluminum nitride ceramic substrates and high-performance ceramic powders, becoming a key material supplier for many leading companies in the domestic photovoltaic energy storage, packaging, electric vehicles, and power electronics industries. Meanwhile, the company is continuously enriching its industrial chain, expanding its application scenarios, and seeing sustained growth in orders.

Before achieving profitability through breakthrough core technologies, the company incurred losses for years. However, we consistently adhered to our original intention of "making good materials" and persisted in independent research and development, ultimately turning the tide. This was told to the reporter by the company's chairman, Shi Chunsi.

The government adheres to long-termism and seeks truth from facts.

In recent years, facing waves of real estate investment fervor, the Jinjiang Party Committee and government have not blindly followed the trend, but have consistently strengthened the real economy. For example, in Jinjiang, the added value of the real estate industry accounted for .% of the regional GDP and .% of the tertiary industry, while the secondary industry accounted for as much as .%.

Stabilize expectations, strengthen confidence, and unleash greater vitality in the private economy. In the first months of this year, the total fixed asset investment in Jinjiang increased by .%, and private investment increased by .%.

The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Promoting the Development and Growth of Private Economy" was released in July. "Continuously innovating and developing the 'Jinjiang Experience'" was incorporated into the central document; on July 20th of this year, the "Draft of the Private Economy Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China (for public comment)" was announced, with provisions such as "adhering to two unwavering principles," equal treatment, and protection of rights and interests included in the draft law.

In the interviews, multiple entrepreneurs stated that these signals have given private enterprises a sense of reassurance, allowing them to shed their burdens and dare to strive, whether in favorable or adverse circumstances.

The Party Committee and government of Jinjiang have made efforts to optimize the business environment, striving to nurture and inspire entrepreneurial spirit. The role of grassroots civil servants is to always act as the guide, supporter, and service provider for enterprises, adhering to the principle of "not disturbing unless called upon, responding promptly when called, providing thoughtful service, and fulfilling promises," thereby earning the recognition of entrepreneurs.

Love to strive and dare to win, open up new frontiers.

With an area of only square kilometers and a permanent population exceeding one million, located in the lowland between the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, lacking abundant natural resources, large state-owned enterprises, or special policy support, it has nonetheless achieved the remarkable feat of topping Fujian Province's county-level comprehensive economic strength for consecutive years and ranking first in the nation's county-level economic basic competitiveness for consecutive years.

"Entrepreneurs must always have a sense of crisis; without innovation, you're out," echoed several heads of sportswear companies in Jinjiang. In their view, a pair of sports shoes, from the thread, fabric, and sole to the design and molding, involves multiple processes, each offering vast opportunities for innovation.

Workers are rushing to complete export orders on the intelligent sports shoe production line of the Tebu Group (photographed on a specific date). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Peiquan.

Consensus stems from bitter lessons. Around the years before and after, the domestic sports footwear and apparel industry encountered a major crisis. Long driven by marketing, excessive advertising investment led to severe product homogenization, overcapacity, high inventory, and ultimately, a price war. A large number of enterprises saw their capital chains break, and many collapsed.

Survive by Innovating. Anta, Xtep, and other Jinjiang sports footwear and apparel companies have keenly captured the trends of domestic consumption upgrading. They have continuously innovated in aspects such as fabric, design, technology, and process management, making elements like "comfort," "technology," and "fashion" the labels of "new national goods" in sports shoes. This aligns with the diversified consumption needs of the Chinese people, reshapes competitive advantages, and wins market recognition.

This is a production line of the "+Smart Factory" project photographed at the Jinjiang Wuli Garment Base (photographed on a certain date). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Peiquan.

In the textile and footwear industry with a scale exceeding 100 million yuan, Jinjiang has constructed a comprehensive industrial ecosystem from raw material research and development, intelligent manufacturing to a three-dimensional supply chain. Its woven synthetic fabrics and warp knitting processes are globally leading, with several textile enterprises becoming important suppliers to international footwear and apparel brands. Through independent innovation, they have gained strong pricing power and even led downstream product innovation.

In addition to innovating at the production end, in recent years, enterprises in Jinjiang have been actively expanding into the consumer market.

Recently, Ke Yongxiang, Chairman of Kelme Sports Goods Co., Ltd., has been flying more frequently to Europe, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and other regions in search of cooperation. In the first half of this year, the company's overseas market revenue grew by over %. "The Kelme brand has already established sales networks in multiple countries, and there is still significant room for growth in the overseas market."

Workers at the garment production workshop of Jinjiang Kelme Sports Goods Co., Ltd. are rushing to complete orders (photo taken on a specific date). Photo by reporter Zhou Yi, Xinhua News Agency.

In the first half of this year, Jinjiang's imports and exports increased by .%, and exports grew by .%. Unlike the previous focus on OEM production and exports to the European and American markets, more enterprises are now going global with their own brands, with emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa becoming new growth points.

At the second largest international land port in the country—Jinjiang Land Port, reporters saw rows of containers filled with shoe materials, plastic particles, yarn, mesh cloth, accessories, machinery and equipment, etc., ready to be shipped to countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia via sea and air transport.

At the customs supervision yard of the international land port at Jinjiang Land Port, port container cranes are in operation (photographed on [insert date]). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Yi.

"Previously, the exported products were mainly finished shoes and clothing. Now, there is a greater focus on raw and auxiliary materials, semi-finished products, and machinery and equipment exports. Southeast Asian regions have a large number of footwear and apparel manufacturing firms that require upstream industrial support from China," said Li Zixing, General Manager of Fujian Landport Group.

From the early days of reform and opening up, when it started with township enterprises and grew to its current scale, Jinjiang now boasts an industrial base with a scale of tens of billions of yuan. It has textile and footwear industries each exceeding a thousand billion yuan, and food, building materials, medical health, and intelligent equipment industries each exceeding a billion yuan, with a number of leading enterprises emerging in various fields.

After decades of development, Jinjiang's traditional industries possess numerous advantages such as research and innovation, brand quality, industrial clusters, and capital. It is the right time to strategically position itself in the global market, participate in the new round of international division of labor, and seize the high-end of the value chain. This is according to Xu Guoxin, Party Secretary and Director of the Administrative Committee of Jinjiang Economic Development Zone.

Source: Xinhua News Agency Reporter: Zheng Liang, Pang Mengxia

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