On September 18, the press conference of Jiahe County celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of PRC was held in the Press Release Hall of the Municipal Government. Guo Xin, Secretary of Jiahe County Party Committee, released the great achievements and historic changes of Jiahe County since the founding of New China 70 years ago.

In 1949, the total industrial and agricultural output value of Jiahe County was only 14.99 million yuan. In 2018, the total economic output reached 16.8 billion yuan, 1121 times that of 1949. The comprehensiveness, coordination and sustainability of the county's economic development have been continuously enhanced, and the foundation for high-quality development has become more solid and stable. 

Jiahe County has adhered to high-end, green and intensive development, and accelerated economic restructuring and industrial transformation and upgrading; adhered to the first industry, focusing on the main selenium-rich brand; insisted on strengthening the second industry, focusing on the main forging brand; insisted on the third industry, focusing the main hot spring leisure tourism brand, and successfully explored the first deep hot spring well in the whole province. They will create a new hotspot of global tourism for 5 million people in 7 counties around the radiation area.

Over the past 70 years, Jiahe County has achieved great changes in history from a small agricultural county to a foundry capital in the south of China, and its economic developed rapidly. At the beginning of liberation, the economy of Jiahe County was in a state of complete disuse, with agriculture as the main industry and weak industrial foundation. The total output value of industry and agriculture was only 14.99 million yuan. In 2018, the county's GDP reached 15.13 billion yuan, 388 times that of 1978. The tertiary production structure was adjusted from 56.7:23.2:20.1 in 1978 to 11.5:43.6:44.9 in 2018.

Over the past 70 years, Jiahe industry has undergone a dramatic change from "silly, rough and black" to "green and intelligent manufacturing", and the leading industry has been upgraded. The casting and forging industry is gradually transforming to scale, standardization and normalization. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Jiahe County has deepened the supply-side structural reform, dismantled the backward equipment such as cupola and aluminium shell furnace, and closed down and integrated 156 foundry enterprises. A total of 12 state-level high-tech enterprises have been established, and the added value of high-tech industry has exceeded 20 percent of GDP. It has been rated as "Jiangnan Foundry Capital", "Green Forging Development Base of Forging Township in China", "Hunan Foundry Industry Base" and "Pilot County of Foundry Industry Cluster in China".

Over the past 70 years, Jiahe County has witnessed a dramatic change in its history from poor county  to the integration of urban and rural areas, bringing a new look to both urban and rural areas. The county has boldly explored the Jiahe model of urban-rural integration, accelerated urban-rural integration, production-city integration and scenery-city integration, and successfully declared two national name cards of Jiahe National Forest Park and Wetland Park. It has taken the lead in implementing the integration of urban and rural water supply in the whole province and has been appraised as a national demonstration project for people's livelihood. It has been listed as a national demonstration county of urban-rural transport integration, and a provincial demonstration county of urban-rural passenger transport integration.

Over the past 70 years, Jiahe County has witnessed a dramatic change from poor and weak to well-off in an all-round way, and its people's livelihood has been continuously enhanced. The overall realization degree of Jiahe's building a well-off society in an all-round way has reached 93.8 percent. All 28 poverty-stricken villages in the county have been lifted out of poverty. The number of poor people has decreased from 29396 in 2014 to 3265 in 2018. The incidence of poverty has dropped from 12.8 percent to 0.92 percent. The county has given priority to the development of education and eliminated 145 large classes and 92 super large classes in compulsory education; insisted on improving medical and health conditions, and invested 360 million yuan to build a new County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, adding more than 1800 beds; invested 160 million yuan to complete the standardization of township hospitals and village clinics.
Over the past 70 years, Jiahe County has undergone tremendous changes from being closed and backward to being fully open, and its reform and innovation have burst into vitality. In 2018, the total import and export value of the county was 15.44 million US dollars, an increase of 37.2 percent, ranking second in the city.

At the press conference, Zhang Wandong - Vice Secretary of Jiahe County Party Committee, and County Governor, Zhou Xiaoyang - Vice Secretary of Jiahe County Party Committee, Yuan Zhangzhong - Standing Committee of Jiahe County Party Committee and Executive Deputy County Governor attended the conference and answered questions from reporters.