Editor’s note: Promoting the integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County is a critical plan for CPC Huaihua Municipal Committee and the People’s Government of Huaihua City to implement the “five new missions and four orientations” strategy, which is of great significance for fostering a new engine for coordinated regional development. After more than two years of endeavors, a high-quality development pattern featuring unified planning, synchronous development, connected infrastructure, shared public services, joint environment protection and improvement, proper distribution of urban functions, coordinated industrial development, orderly and free flow of production factors, and reinforced resource complementarity has taken initial shape, and the regional potential has been tapped at a faster pace.
The integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County is expected to scale up city capacity and improve people’s wellbeing. A series of reports have been published on hh.rednet.cn, which focus on front-line practices and record how Huaihua has translated the blueprint for the integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County into reality.
At 21:00 p.m. on June 11, a truck loaded with magnetic components for medical equipment left the office area of Yaxin Electronics. The truck headed south along Lugang Avenue. 20 minutes later, it entered a Shenzhen-bound highway by way of Zhongfang.
“In the past, to enter the highway, you had to spend a long time making a detour despite poor road conditions.” Jin Daidong, Outreach Director of Huaihua Yaxin Electronics Co. Ltd., said that he knew best about the roads in Huaihua International Land Port Economic Development Zone. In 2018 Yaxin Electronics settled in Huaihua International Land Port Economic Development Zone. At that time, Lugang Avenue had not been built, and there were only unpaved roads. The roads would become bumpy after trucks drove by. Employees were often covered in dust on sunny days and mud on rainy days.
At present, Lugang Avenue, the major transportation project of the integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County that serves as the main channel connecting Zhongfang County and Hecheng District, runs right past the company. The upgraded and renovated avenue offers travel convenience, reduces transportation costs, and facilitates the company’s business expansion. “Especially after the opening of Lugang Bridge, it only takes 10 minutes to travel from the company to the high-speed rail station, which makes it more convenient for customers to make inspection visits and drives the order fulfillment rate higher,” said Jin Daidong. Just then, another truck carrying electronic products set off from the company and headed for Shanghai via Lugang Avenue.
At this moment, on Lugang Avenue, trucks and machineshop trucks file past in an endless stream, witnessing the vigorous integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County.
“Now, Lugang Avenue has a 42-meter-wide boundary line, a dual three-lane carriageway, and bicycle lanes.” Yao Yao, Deputy General Manager of Huaihua International Land Port Development Co., Ltd., told the reporter that with the in-depth integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County, more and more companies have settled around Lugang Avenue. To better serve the logistics of companies, in January 2024, the construction of the supporting road project for Huaihua International Land Port (upgrade and renovation of Lugang Avenue) started. The road surface from the Economic Development section of Yazuiyan Bridge to the Nanshan Yiyuan section was repaired, with a total length of 4.76 kilometers. In August of the same year, the project was completed, and the avenue was put into use.
From the drone footage of the upgraded and renovated Lugang Avenue, the main artery of transportation between south and north, we see many provincial key projects under construction on both sides of the avenue.
“Taking this avenue as the axis, we are continuing to promote the development of supporting facilities such as the Huaihua International Land Port RCEP ASEAN Multimodal Transport Transshipment Center and the high-standard warehousing base.” Pointing to the two projects under construction, Yao Yao told the reporter that after completion, the projects will enhance the warehousing and logistics services of the entire area and give a great boost to the development of port industries in Huaihua under the support of Lugang Avenue.
Next to Lugang Avenue is the high-standard warehousing base of Huaihua International Land Port under construction.
The bag & suitcase industry is one of the key port industries in Huaihua City. In the Huaihua International Bag & Leatherware Industrial Park located on the west side of Lugang Avenue, industrial development projects are in full swing.
The reporter walked into the factory of Huaihua Ausite Luggage Co., Ltd., where machines were roaring and the workers were working hard to catch up with the orders. “We shipped a batch of luggage to Japan on May 23 through Huaihua International Land Port, and now we are working on the Dubai orders.” Factory Director Yang Meng smiled and said, “We chose to settle in Huaihua because of its transportation advantages and geographical location. Lugang Avenue on our doorstep greatly facilitates raw material transportation and finished product export. It is very convenient for us to go to Huaihua International Land Port or Huaihuaxi Marshalling Station.”
In addition to enhancing regional logistics efficiency, Lugang Avenue also greatly contributes to reducing labor costs. The reporter learned from www.07450745.com that the Huaihua International Bag & Leatherware Industrial Park has attracted a large number of idle workers from nearby rural areas, of which employees from Zhongfang County and Hecheng District account for 10% and 25%, respectively.
Ms. Pan, who works in the industrial park, lives in Huabei Village, Zhongfang County. She rides an electric bike to commute, with a commuting time of no more than half an hour. “Close to home, convenient transportation, work-life balance... I’m very satisfied with this job.” “No need to provide food and accommodations. The boss will also be satisfied.” Ms. Pan joked.
Huaihua International Bag & Leatherware Industrial Park has seen rapid development in recent years thanks to its convenient transportation, enabling business environment, and abundant human resources. The industrial park has become an important place to absorb the relocated bag & suitcase industry nationwide and a key characteristic industrial cluster in Hunan Province. As of May 2025, Huaihua introduced 149 bag & leatherware projects, with a total investment of over RMB10 billion, and the number of enterprises in the industrial chain reached 155.
Along Lugang Avenue, key municipal projects including the Huaihua Sannong Industrial Park of China Co-op Group and Huaihua International Land Port Green Food Industrial Park are well underway. After completion, the two projects together with the existing Huaihua International Bag & Leatherware Industrial Park will form industrial agglomeration and promote the integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County and even Huaihua’s economic development.
Short review
From “geographical proximity” to “mutual development”: a new paradigm for regional development
Zhang Xingcheng
When we behold Lugang Avenue from above, we will see a great number of factories on both sides of this “golden corridor” that connects the south and north and cars in an endless stream. Before our eyes is a magnificent picture of integrated industrial and urban development and common prosperity of urban and rural areas.
From dirty and muddy unpaved roads to an artery of transportation that supports industrial clusters with a scale of over RMB100 billion, the transformation of Lugang Avenue is not only about upgraded and renovated infrastructure, but also about new regional development philosophies.
It indicates that in the new era of high-quality development, targeted infrastructure investment can help break down market administrative barriers, reshape the industrial landscape, invigorate urban and rural development, promote the flow and reorganization of production factors such as population, capital, information, and technology between cities, improve the comprehensive carrying capacity and resilience of cities, and ultimately achieve a historic leap from “geographical proximity” to “mutual development”.
As Huaihua advances the strategy of the integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County, people will expect more from Lugang Avenue. The avenue will become a benchmark for coordinated regional development in the new era and provide a duplicatable “Huaihua solution” for cross-regional collaboration in the inland region.
(Translated by Professor Yu Jie)