The Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway opened to traffic on December 26, 2009. This provides a safer, greener, more efficient and comfortable travel mode, and helps Chenzhou connect with Changsha, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. 

 

With the help of high-speed railway, the economic volume of Chenzhou has jumped from the third tier in Hunan province to the first tier in just five years, and has remained in the first tier. 

 

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Chenzhou has increased from 82.15 billion yuan in 2009 to 311.06 billion yuan in 2023. 

 

High-speed rail is not only a convenient transportation channel, but also brings wealth. 

 

As the hometown of nonferrous metals in China, Chenzhou City is a typical resource-based city. 

 

The 2008 global financial crisis severely hit the mining industry in Chenzhou, and various economic indicators in Chenzhou plummeted. 

 

However, due to its geographical location, Chenzhou was unable to squeeze into the economic integration of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan cities, and only wandered outside the city cluster in the Pearl River Delta.

 

The pillar industries were confronted with difficulties in development, struggling for survival between the two city clusters. The opening of the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway undoubtedly opened up another path for Chenzhou. 

 

At the end of 2009, the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway connected the Wuhan urban agglomeration, the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group and the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration. This allows Chenzhou to enter the one-hour economic circle with Changsha and Guangzhou, and makes Chenzhou become the center of the Pearl River Delta and the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city groups. 

 

As the first stop of the railway from Guangdong to Hunan, Chenzhou has become the bridgehead for the province to undertake the industrial transfer of the Wuhan-Guangzhou economic belt. It has also received strong support from the provincial government in land use approval, tax incentives and other aspects. 

 

Before the opening of the railway, Chenzhou’s main competitors in undertaking industrial transfer were Shaoguan in Guangdong Province, Ganzhou in Jiangxi Province and Wuzhou in Guangxi. 

 

The railway has brought popularity, business opportunities and development opportunities to Chenzhou, enhancing its competitiveness. 

 

Stepping out of resource dependence, Chenzhou is striving to be the most open city in Hunan province and a center city in provincial regions of Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi.

 

Chenzhou has been working to promote the construction of a demonstration zone for industrial transfer in southern and western Hunan, consolidate the model of GBA headquarters plus Chenzhou Base, GBA R&D plus made in Chenzhou, and GBA assembly plus supporting facilities in Chenzhou, to improve the level of industrial coordination. 

 

It has also carried out cultural tourism promotion and investment attraction activities in the GBA. 

 

In recent years, Chenzhou has introduced 85 projects worth over 102 billion yuan from Fortune Global 500, Top 500 Chinese Enterprises, and Top 500 Private Enterprises. 

 

Among them, 28 projects were introduced from the GBA, with a total investment of about 28 billion yuan. 

 

Chenzhou has focused on group development, and the effect of industrial clusters has been prominent. For example, the advanced nonferrous metal new materials in Chenzhou High-tech Zone has been selected as a national innovative industrial cluster. The “Yongxing Model” rare and precious metal industry was promoted nationwide. 7 consortium projects are under construction, and 82 lithium battery new energy projects have completed an investment of 43.2 billion yuan. 

 

Chenzhou has been working to explore ways and build bridges for Hunan Province to further connect with the GBA. 

 

In recent years, the integrated development of Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone Chenzhou Area, Chenzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone, Chenzhou Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone and Chenzhou Land Port has been accelerated. 

 

Chenzhou has made breakthroughs in the one-stop arrival of Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal transportation, with a reduction in logistics costs and an increase in customs clearance efficiency of over 30%.

 

The Single E-lock Scheme between Hunan, Guangdong and Hong Kong has been officially launched, becoming the first pilot program in China except for Guangdong. The whole transportation time has been reduced by 50% compared to the past. Chenzhou has been listed as a national modern circulation strategic pivot city. 

 

In 2023, the annual GDP of Chenzhou increased by 5% year on year, the added value of large-scale industries increased by 7.1% year on year, fixed assets investment up 7.3%, the total retail sales of social consumer goods rose 7.7%, and the local fiscal revenue grew by 5.6%. The main economic indicators remained in the forefront of the province. 

 

Chenzhou is known as a city in the forests, with over 110 unique ecological tourism resources and 51 national A-level tourist attractions. The high-speed rail has greatly promoted the economic development of Chenzhou, and has created a “golden channel” for its tourism industry, serving for its urban development. 

 

As a high-speed and convenient transportation system, high-speed rail not only shortens the time and space distance between Chenzhou and cities such as Guangzhou, Changsha, Wuhan, and Hong Kong, but also facilitates the access to Chenzhou for tourism.

 

Chenzhou West Station handled over 2,000 passengers per day when the railway was opened in 2009. Now, there are 33,000 daily passenger trips made during peak periods.

 

To meet the travel needs of more passengers, Chenzhou Railway Station also carried out expansion and renovation in 2017, with a significant increase in station building area and a rise in designed daily passenger flow from 8,000 to 28,000.

 

The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Hong Kong High-speed Railway was officially opened in 2018, which brought Chenzhou new opportunities for opening up. 

 

The convenient high-speed rail connects many tourist attractions and allows for greater development of urban tourism resources.

 

In 2023, as the second Hunan Tourism Development Conference was held in Chenzhou, the construction of tourism projects was accelerated. 

 

Chenzhou has created eight cultural tourism brands--Red Tourism, Mangshan Mountain, Hot Springs, Danxia Landscape, Oriental Water Town, Summer Resort, History, and Nighttime Economy, allowing tourists to appreciate the most beautiful Chenzhou.

 

Efforts have been made by Chenzhou to create a 100-billion-yuan cultural tourism industry, make tourism brands famous, implement quality improvement projects for scenic spots, and promote tourism market, cultivate and strengthen market players and improve service quality. 

 

It has also held cultural tourism promotion events in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, actively participated in international tourism exhibitions and tourism commodity expos in the GBA, to attract more visitors to Chenzhou. The increasing number of tourists has brought vitality to Chenzhou.

 

Last year, the city received 70.673 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 45.9%, with a total tourism revenue of 73.15 billion yuan, an increase of 46.1%. The number of tourist trips and revenue ranked second in the province, with over 70% of tourists from the GBA. 

 

In addition to injecting vitality and energy into the tourism industry, the high-speed rail has also expanded sales channels for agricultural products. 

 

On July 17 last year, Gaoshan castanea henryi of Rucheng County was first sold on the 400 high-speed trains of Guangzhou Railway Group, allowing passengers nationwide to taste Chenzhou products on the high-speed trains. 

 

To improve the quality of agricultural products, Chenzhou has strictly controlled the quality, strengthened cultivation and certification, actively guided related enterprises to produce green and standardized products, and created public brands.

 

There are 233 “vegetable basket” bases for the GBA in Chenzhou, with over 80% of its vegetables sold to the GBA.