CONTENT FROM BEIJING REVIEW CONTENT FROM BEIJING REVIEW XINHUA City on the Rise Together traditional and hi-tech industries boost the growth of a coastal city By Lu Yan n October 15, 2017, in the city of The city’s shoe industry began in the Olbia on the Italian island of Sardinia, small satellite town of Chendai. As China’s OLaurent Petrynka, president of the reform and opening up got underway, the International School Sport Federation, stood country’s markets began to come to life, in front of a hushed audience as he opened and commercial opportunities mushroomed the envelope containing the winner of the in Jinjiang. This port city along the ancient bid to host the Gymnasiade 2020, an inter- maritime Silk Road has a long tradition of national sporting event for young athletes. international cultural exchanges and trade. He pulled a card out of the envelope. It read In Chendai, shoe manufacturing and “Jinjiang 2020.” retail boomed as entrepreneurs realized Jinjiang, a coastal city in southeast that shoes represented a lucrative combi- China’s Fujian Province, will become the nation of huge demand and relatively low second Chinese city to host the event after production costs. Many took the plunge, the 11th edition in Shanghai in 1998, its embarking on the mass manufacturing of successful bid apt recognition of the city’s footwear. Later, as these businesses began development in the past few decades. to expand, some entrepreneurs realized that “I’m very excited and proud of my home- to differentiate their products from others town,” said Ding Shizhong, who, as chairman on the market and stay ahead of their rivals DONG NING and CEO of Jinjiang-based Anta Sports, had a they would need to build a brand. special interest in the outcome. Soon, more than 100 shoe brands Anta Sports, which started in Jinjiang in emerged in Chendai and other parts of A showroom at Anta Sports’ headquarters in Jinjiang, Technicians run tests on new equipment at Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit 1991, has grown into China’s leading sports- Jinjiang. Not all of them would survive the southeast China’s Fujian Province wear brand, with more than 10,000 outlets competition of the following years, but those and a market value ranked third in the indus- that did thrived and went on to claim a sub- try worldwide after Nike and Adidas. stantial share of the domestic market. international customers through trade fairs “This year we plan to visit the foremost going on to build an IC industry chain incor- said. “The traffic is not so bad here. If I need Jinjiang, which has prospered from its Today the shoe industry constitutes one and exhibitions. technology companies in the United States porating design, testing, manufacturing, to take a plane, I can leave my home half an shoe industry since the launch of China’s of the two industrial clusters in Jinjiang and “We have established links with custom- and learn from them,” he said. packaging and terminal application. hour before boarding.” reform and opening-up program in 1978, is its worth exceeds $15.2 billion. (The other ers from South America and the Middle East, “We plan to make the IC industry another Xu is deputy general manager of Fujian now on a mission to upgrade traditional sec- major industry is textiles and garments.) and I believe that continuing to upgrade our Hi-tech power industrial cluster worth more than 100 billion Jinhua Integrated Circuit and is a key member Chendai is now in the process of taking products to cater to customers’ demands is yuan ($15 billion) by 2025,” Wang said. of the team responsible for the company’s tors. Jinjiang’s success is testament to how Entrepreneurs like Ding Shizhong realize the industry to the next level by building a the key to better business,” she said. A well-developed IC industry can help growth. Established in February 2016, Jinhua this pivotal policy has unleashed potential how important technology can be, and and continues to drive progress in China. major market called the Jinjiang International Going global is an objective shared the city upgrade traditional industries and has been working on a memory chip project Shoes and Textile City, which covers an area by many of Jinjiang’s entrepreneurs. Anta so does the Jinjiang City Government. products, such as shoes, clothes, daily-use and is one of the main sources of innovation of 1,300 acres. Since it opened last October, Sports chief Ding Shizhong said that for a According to a government report, the city items and machinery. Wang revealed that in Jinjiang’s burgeoning IC sector. A shoe story more than 1,000 commercial tenants have long time China’s products were popular on has cultivated 85 hi-tech companies so far, local manufacturers have already explored With talent pouring in, Jinjiang looks Jinjiang is the world’s largest producer of moved in, selling raw and processed mate- the overseas market for their low prices, but and research and development investment the possibility of putting chips in shoes. poised to enjoy the best of both worlds. “We sports shoes. According to the city’s official rials for shoe making such as accessories, that things were now beginning to change. now accounts for 2.65% of the city’s GDP, up “Some companies are also trying to hope that mature traditional industries can statistics, one out of every five pairs of sports fabric and leather. “Many companies are targeting upscale from 2.42% in 2011. put chips in diapers to help detect and draw serve as a solid base for emerging industries, shoes worldwide is made in Jinjiang, home “We target not only the domestic consumers with quality products that are “But hi-tech industries account for attention to children’s bowel movements, and that the advancement of the latter can to over 4,800 shoe companies with some market, but customers all around the world,” being well received,” said Ding. “For example, a relatively small proportion of the city’s and even check their physiological status,” bring a new look to the former,” said Wang. n 280,000 employees. Many brands, including said Li Xiaohuan, general manager of the in March we launched a pair of limited-edi- economy,” said Deputy Mayor Wang Wenhui. Wang said. He believes that traditional sec- Anta, Xtep and 361 Degrees, originated in the Jinjiang International Shoes and Textile City, tion basketball shoes in San Francisco that “Innovation-led development here is far tors provide a huge potential market for the city. adding that the goal is to build it into the were priced at nearly $160. Young people from strong.” application of hi-tech devices. To learn more about developments in Jinjiang and In 1986, Fei Xiaotong, a renowned sociol- largest shoe material trading center in Asia, were queuing up to buy them. This is what In 2016, the city began to develop the Xu Zheng, a former Silicon Valley engi- other places across China, ogist, came up with the “Jinjiang Model,” with a complete and wide-ranging choice of ‘Made-in-China’ brands are capable of.” integrated circuit (IC) industry as a new neer, recently decided to settle down in scan the QR code for Beijing which called for the city’s economy to be products. Despite this success, finding a way into engine of growth, in line with the national Jinjiang, a city with a population of 2.3 million. Review’s special report on the 40th anniversary of China’s export-oriented and market-led, enabling Ding Wanyu, manager of a company pro- the global market is not easy, and Ding is policy to advance IC technology. “Jinjiang is a lot like Silicon Valley, a reform and opening up businesses, whatever their ownership struc- ducing fabric for shoes, said the new market aware of the gap between Anta Sports and According to Wang, Jinjiang will start with quiet place without the hustle and bustle of Comments to yanwei@ ture, to develop together. has helped business people like her reach other global industry leaders. the production of memory chips, before megacities, ideal for academic research,” he bjreview.com.