A figure for economic statistics of Jincheng city [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Jincheng, a city in Shanxi province, considers advanced manufacturing a key part of its transformation and is focusing on the development of the optical-electro-mechanical industry, coal-machine manufacturing, and new energy equipment. 

The city has set up a 5-billion-yuan ($706.28 million) foundation to supervise the optical-electro-mechanical sector, signed a 25-billion-yuan optical-electro-mechanical project contract with Foxconn, and began working to transform automated production lines for optical lenses and new trial production lines for vehicle lenses. 

Jincheng has been relying on its coal chemical industry to develop a comprehensive national demonstration zone for the coalbed methane industry and build a national coalbed methane production center, a scientific research center, and a national coalbed methane trading center. The city has spent 10 billion yuan transforming the traditional coal chemical industry into a fine coal chemical industry. 

The city has also invested 13 billion yuan into the Nancun Green Intelligent Casting Industrial Park and the Jingang Intelligent Casting Technology Industrial Park in order to build a national high-end intelligent casting industry cluster. 

In addition, Jincheng has been trying to attract more tourists to its Taihang fortress groups and the south part of the Taihang Mountains with the goal of becoming a summer resort and medical tourism destination.

Jincheng has also been successful in optimizing its business environment and improving financial innovation, managing tourism, integrating media, and reconstructing old buildings. 

Furthermore, Jincheng has been working to open up, with the total value of its foreign trade and foreign investment in 2018 being 68 times and 29.8 times more, respectively, than in 1985. The city has established a comprehensive platform for opening up, and a customs, commodity inspection, and logistics center has recently opened. Jincheng has cooperated with the German Society for International Cooperation to train 100 entrepreneurs and also tested out Germany's dual education system at the local Jincheng Institute of Technology. 

The city has also improved transportation infrastructure, with its civil airport in the process of choosing a location, the Taiyuan-Jiaozuo High-Speed Railway under construction, and several highways to open to traffic by the end of 2019. 

In addition, Jincheng has made great efforts to coordinate urban and rural development and improve living standards. It is the first city in Shanxi province to achieve a poverty rate of zero percent. More than 80 percent of the city's general public budget expenditures have been spent on raising living standards, and a large number of projects related to science, education, culture, and medicine have been carried out. 

A total of 30 billion yuan has been spent renovating old and dilapidated buildings over the past three years, and rural living environments have been improved, with 110 demonstration villages being established. 

A series of new parks, including the Danhe River Wetland Park, have been completed, and green spaces now account for 45.8 percent of the city's total area. The city has a tree coverage rate of 42 percent.