“426 yuan! I got a ticket from Lishui Airport to Shanghai Pudong!” On the morning of July 11, Mr. Zeng, a citizen of Lishui, booked a flight from Lishui to Shanghai Pudong on July 18 through China Eastern Airlines’ app. On July 18, Lishui Airport will witness the historic moment of its operation.

From the “highway era” to the “high-speed rail era” and now entering the “aviation era”, this is not only a remarkable transformation in Lishui’s comprehensive transportation but also a vivid epitome of its leapfrog and high-quality development over the past 25 years.

On July 19, 2000, the young city of Lishui was born. Over the past 25 years, Lishui has always kept in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions, taken leapfrog and high-quality development as an important mission, and in the practice of the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, has blazed a path of development that is technology-led, resource-saving, and environment-friendly, opening up new space for high-quality green development.

Adhering to the “Ecology-First City” Strategy

With mountains at the top of the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins and waters as the source of six rivers, ecology is Lishui’s most precious asset and most distinctive symbol.

During his work in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping conducted research in Lishui eight times, emphasizing that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and this is especially true for Lishui.”

Remembering these instructions and striving with determination, over the past 25 years, successive municipal Party committees and governments of Lishui have kept in mind the earnest instructions, resolutely guarded the ecological “golden bowl”, and insisted on protecting and utilizing ecology as the greatest advantage.

In October 2000, the first Congress of the Communist Party of China Lishui Municipal Committee was successfully held. The congress established the development strategy of “developing green economy, cultivating advantageous industries, improving infrastructure, and building an ecological city” and put forward the strategic requirements of “building the city through ecology and prospering the city through green development”.

Since then, the banner of ecology has been flying high over Lishui, remaining fresh and vital through the years.

In 2003, Lishui put forward the “three-pronged” development strategy of “building the city through ecology, strengthening the city through industry, and prospering the city through green development”; in 2008, it took the lead in releasing the “Lishui Ecological Civilization Construction Outline” in the country, proposing to build a “national pioneer zone and demonstration zone for ecological civilization construction”; in 2012, it put forward the general strategic requirement of “green rise and scientific leap”; in 2014, it proposed to unswervingly follow the path of green ecological development that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”; in 2019, it launched the country’s first pilot project for the realization mechanism of ecological product value; in 2022, it compiled the country’s first prefecture-level white paper on biodiversity conservation...

From “building the city through ecology” to “ecological development” and then to “ecological benefits for the people”, Lishui has handed over a “win-win” answer sheet featuring production development, people’s prosperity, and sound ecology in the continuous deepening of ecological civilization construction.

Over the past 25 years, the city’s GDP has continuously crossed the 50 billion yuan, 100 billion yuan, and 200 billion yuan marks, increasing from 13.7 billion yuan to 218.1 billion yuan, a 14.9-fold increase; industrial added value has increased from 4 billion yuan to 62.8 billion yuan, a 14.5-fold increase; total fiscal revenue has increased from 1.28 billion yuan to 31.44 billion yuan, a 23.5-fold increase.

Once a city in the southwest corner of Zhejiang, Lishui has achieved a key leap in its comprehensive economic strength from the middle-lower level to the middle-upper level in the country. It is striving to become a new growth pole in the province and is steadily moving to the forefront of the development of old revolutionary base cities in the country.

Innovative Practice of the “Two Mountains” Concept

As an important birthplace and pioneer in the practice of the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, Lishui has always played the role of an explorer and forerunner in the process of establishing and improving the mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products.

The key to innovatively practicing the concept of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” lies in how to open up and expand the transformation channels.

In 2019, Lishui launched the country’s first pilot project for the realization mechanism of ecological product value. In May of the same year, it released the country’s first village-level GEP accounting report - “GEP Accounting Report of Datian Village, Suichang County”, which for the first time “priced” the value of mountains, fields, forests, water, and even air.

By solving the problems of measuring, mortgaging, trading, and monetizing “lucid waters and lush mountains”, Lishui has explored a new path and created a model for transforming “lucid waters and lush mountains” into “invaluable assets”.

In Datian Village, relying on the GEP accounting results, it obtained more than 3 billion yuan in loans from the China Development Bank, which were used for 34 projects such as the construction of the southwest Zhejiang red cadre training center, ecological monitoring, and smart information construction, opening a new path for “monetizing ecological resources”.

In 2021, the “Lishui Experience” was summarized and promoted at the national on-site meeting for pilot demonstrations of the mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products; in May last year, Lishui was selected into the national list of pilot projects for the realization mechanism of ecological product value for the second time, starting the 2.0 version of further deepening the innovation practice of paths, methods, and systems...

Today, Lishui has established a scientific and reasonable system for accounting, evaluating, and applying the value of ecological products, as well as an effective institutional system for realizing the value of ecological products. It has truly turned good ecology into a “golden bowl” and transformed “high ecological value” into “high economic value”.

In Lishui, which is described as “nine parts mountains, half part water, and half part fields”, there is now a new way to “live off the mountains”. Tourists who have come to Lishui to experience the “poetry and distance” by enjoying mountain scenery, living in mountain residences, tasting mountain-grown food, and drinking mountain spring water will certainly be familiar with the regional public brands with the character “mountain”.

The sales volume of “Lishui Mountain Agriculture” has exceeded 16 billion yuan in the past three years; “Lishui Mountain Residences” have become a pacesetter in the development of homestays in China, receiving more than 20 million tourists annually; “Lishui Mountain Spring” has annual sales of nearly 40 million yuan, becoming the state banquet water for the Hangzhou Asian Games and quickly gaining popularity... By innovatively creating regional public brands with the “mountain” character, Lishui has broadened the path for the efficient transformation of the value of ecological products, which is a vivid example of Lishui giving play to its advantages of mountains and waters and promoting ecological benefits for the people.

At the 2025 China Ecological Culture Forum held in Chongqing in June this year, Lishui shared its exploration and practice in cultivating and promoting ecological culture from the four dimensions of “spirit, material, behavior, and system”.

Building a Modern Ecological Economic System

Ecology is economy, and economy must be ecological.

Over the past 25 years, to accelerate the development of a distinctive path of leapfrog development, Lishui has taken the construction of a modern ecological economic system as a strategic task and actively built a “5+5” modern ecological economic system with Lishui characteristics.

Guided by the “chain leader system”, Lishui has accelerated the cultivation of five leading industrial clusters: the entire semiconductor industry chain, precision manufacturing, health and pharmaceutical industry, fashion industry, and digital economy. It has continuously attracted the landing of “large, good, and high-quality” projects, accelerating the transformation from projects to industries, from chains to chain groups, and from taking shape to becoming mature.

Focusing on cultivating eco-enriching industries, Lishui has vigorously developed five pillar industries for enriching the people and strengthening the city: high-quality agriculture, cultural industry, tourism industry, forestry industry, and water economy, accelerating the development of the revitalization of old revolutionary base areas and the path of taking the lead in common prosperity in mountainous areas.

In June 2022, the groundbreaking ceremony of the Lishui Dongxu High-end Optoelectronic Semiconductor Materials Project was held in Lishui Economic and Technological Development Zone. This means that Lishui’s first 10-billion-level major manufacturing project has officially landed.

From “nothing to something” and “small to large”, in just a few years, Lishui has cultivated and expanded the semiconductor industry, successively introducing 92 projects, and the characteristic semiconductor industry has maintained a growth rate of more than 25% for four consecutive years. At the same time, Lishui has also opened up new tracks for strategic emerging industries and future industries such as smart transportation (low-altitude economy), artificial intelligence (metaverse), new energy, and new materials, writing a pioneering achievement that “mountainous areas can also engage in innovation”.

Aiming at the 10-billion-level scale, Lishui’s traditional Chinese medicine health industry is “growing vigorously”. Based on its high-quality ecological foundation, Lishui has focused on the traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing industry, forming a characteristic industrial cluster represented by Chinese herbal pieces, proprietary Chinese medicine preparations, plant extracts, and health products. A number of representative enterprises such as Weikang, Benefite, Conba, and Fangge have emerged, the industrial scale has continued to expand, and an industrial ecosystem with leading agglomeration effects is gradually taking shape.

By optimizing the business environment and vigorously implementing “double recruitment and double introduction” (recruiting investment and talents), the beautiful Lishui is full of vitality. Schott Group of Germany, a Fortune 500 company with a history of more than 130 years, specializing in the R&D and manufacturing of special glass, has invested in Jinyun County three times from 2011 to 2021, with a total investment of 250 million euros.

Striving for leapfrog development over 25 years, forging ahead on the path of green development.

Embarking on the new journey of building a demonstration zone for common prosperity, the whole city will always keep in mind the instructions, bravely shoulder the mission, strive for victory on the main battlefield, fight on the front line, work hard with practical actions, take the lead with a sense of responsibility, and strive to hand over a new high-score answer sheet!