The sweet potato vine extends in all directions to absorb more sunlight, rain, and nutrients, but its tuber always remains at the base. The vine's extension and expansion ultimately serve to make the tuber grow larger and stronger.

This was proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his time working in Zhejiang. The "sweet potato theory," vividly illustrates the dialectical relationship between "standing firm" and "opening up".

From the fields to the world

The deep meaning behind the "sweet potato economy" is, for Zhejiang, the strategy of "developing Zhejiang by leaping out of Zhejiang" proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his tenure in Zhejiang.

For Tongxiang, it means leaping out of Tongxiang and embracing the world.

From a major agricultural county to a major industrial city, and then to a strong economic city, Tongxiang, skilled in creating something from nothing, has dared to forge ahead and sail against the wind, establishing a firm foothold in the fiercely competitive Yangtze River Delta region and advancing to the forefront of Jiaxing and the province.

When the wave of opening up sweeps in, if one blindly adheres to a small plot of land, it is clearly impossible to achieve sustained development. Especially since Tongxiang has thousands of market entities, facing the driving force of industrial upgrading, the tension of enterprise development, and the pressure of factor constraints and resource environment, it urgently needs to find new ways out and expand new space.

Leading enterprises have once again rushed to the forefront of opening up.

The giant stones from Shimen Bay have traveled to the shores of the Red Sea in Egypt, bringing the "fiberglass flower" to the banks of the ancient Nile River. The fiberglass map is gradually expanding globally, and the giant stones have grown into a star enterprise of the "Belt and Road" initiative.

On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the total investment of US$1.8 billion in the Zhenshi Holding Group's Indonesia Suoshi Nickel Iron project has set a new record for Jiaxing's overseas investment projects, and further strengthened and consolidated the company's upstream industrial chain of "laterite ore-nickel iron-stainless steel".

Opening up is a process of turning stones into gold. Starting from the countryside, they have gone from the fields to the world, from small workshops to chain-leading enterprises and multinational corporations—

In November 2022, four entrepreneurs from Tongxiang were historically invited to participate in the G20 summit. The "Tongxiang pride" behind a group photo swept through social media and became a vivid epitome of Tongxiang's deep integration into the "Belt and Road" initiative.

Deeply integrated into both domestic and international dual cycles, allocating resources and developing markets nationwide and globally, also injecting vitality into Tongxiang's foreign trade exports. In 2022, the city's total foreign direct investment amounted to US$2.67 billion, ranking first in Jiaxing, with a cumulative foreign economic and trade revenue of over 6 billion yuan.

In the process of actively going global, Tongxiang enterprises have also actively leveraged their own advantages, integrated into local development, and further improved local per capita income and consumer power, thereby achieving shared high-quality development results with countries along the route.

Cultivating lush branches and leaves

Even if the vines extend in all directions, the roots of the sweet potato remain firmly planted in this land, growing stronger and stronger, driving the vigorous development of the local economy.

While many enterprises are still worried about the import of raw materials, ship after ship, laden with nickel iron produced by Zhenshi Holding Group's Yash Indonesia Investment Co., Ltd., sails from the Weidabei Industrial Park wharf in Indonesia to Jiaxing Port. Successfully opening up the upstream industrial chain of "laterite ore-nickel iron-stainless steel", Zhenshi's market competitiveness has been significantly enhanced.

The giant stone fiberglass that has just come off the production line is transported to the nearby Zhenshi Group Huamei New Materials Co., Ltd. In just a kilometer or two, the thin, thread-like fiberglass will be transformed into pultruded plates for wind turbine blades or composite materials for automotive lightweighting. From fiberglass production to fiberglass use, a micro-circulation of the composite materials industry chain has been established in Tongxiang.

In recent years, Tongxiang enterprises, which have grown strong by absorbing sunlight and rain, have once again been drawn by a special emotion, once again intimately embracing this land of growth, shouldering the responsibility and mission of building a high-quality demonstration zone for common prosperity.

By the Phoenix Lake, high-rise buildings stand tall, and merchants gather. This is the Phoenix Lake headquarters base with a total investment exceeding 10 billion yuan, and also the most densely populated area of global top enterprises in specific industries in Jiaxing. Tongxiang's CBD is about to emerge.

Zhenshi, Tongkun, Jush, Xiaoyuanman, Xinfengming, Xinao, Huayou and other high-quality enterprises have successively settled in. Entrepreneurs have chosen to keep their headquarters in Tongxiang. Chen Shiliang, chairman of Tongkun Group Co., Ltd., frankly stated that no matter how high Tongkun flies or how far it goes, it will always remember its roots in Tongxiang.

The influx of headquarters enterprises brings not only a global perspective and vitality, but also a multiplicative effect on industrial layout. Taking Zhenshi Holding as an example, relevant data shows that from 2018 to 2021, Zhenshi Holding Group's average annual revenue growth rate reached 28.64%.

It can be said that the Phoenix Lake headquarters base has become fertile ground for the high-quality, leapfrog development of enterprises. As Zhang Yuqiang, chairman of the board of directors of Zhenshi Holding Group, said, the Zhenshi Holding Group headquarters building is a new starting point for the enterprise to face the future, go out of China, and go to the world.

Tongxiang also embraces with an open mind, vigorously promoting the new era "Tongshang spirit", creating a strong atmosphere in the whole society of respecting entrepreneurs and serving entrepreneurs.

Developing an open economy concerns Tongxiang's present and future. The city's Party Congress report points out that it is necessary to firmly promote open improvement, and to use opening up as a magic weapon to win advantages, win initiative, and win the future.