In the wave of economic development, Jiaozuo is undergoing a profound change.
In recent years, through the agglomeration of the tire manufacturing industry, Jiaozuo has not only achieved significant economic growth, but also gradually widened the GDP gap with Jiyuan. It is steadily transforming from a resource-based and tourism-based city into a city with distinctive manufacturing characteristics.
Many people think of Jiaozuo as a tourist destination, with Yuntai Mountain, Hongshi Gorge and other famous attractions.
However, Jiaozuo’s industrial development in recent years deserves more attention.
It no longer pursues an all-encompassing development model, but focuses on building its own unique competitiveness.
This change in development thinking reflects the quiet changes in the industrial focus of the entire northern Henan region.
The tire manufacturing industry has shown a strong agglomeration effect in Jiaozuo.
Behind the fully automatic vulcanization line of tire manufacturing is a set of high-threshold systems, including raw material matching, equipment maintenance, process stability, energy consumption control, skilled workers and downstream customer certification, etc., all of which are indispensable.
Although many places can attract a few projects, it is difficult to form a complete industrial sector.
Jiaozuo is different. The clustering of many tire factories has driven the development of upstream and downstream supporting enterprises. Local talents are more willing to stay, logistics and procurement costs have been reduced, and production efficiency has been greatly improved. This is the powerful late-mover advantage brought by the agglomeration effect.
From a spatial location point of view, Jiaozuo and Jiyuan are geographically close. Many people believe that their resource conditions are similar, and the speed of development is just a matter of stage.
But in fact, the key to regional economic competition lies in who can form agglomerations in key links first and attract surrounding resources.
Jiaozuo is close to the Zhengzhou metropolitan area and is at the hub of northern Henan. Once a cluster is formed in the manufacturing sector, funds, orders, and upstream and downstream companies will flock there.
Although Jiyuan has an industrial base, the gap with Jiaozuo has gradually widened due to competition from this sectoral thinking.
The urban temperament of Jiaozuo is also quietly changing.
The night view of Longyuan Lake at night exudes a sense of solidity. This non-impetuous sense of relaxation is a reflection of the true integration of industry, life and consumption.
Jiaozuo has formed a virtuous cycle of “a manufacturing belt city, a city that stabilizes manufacturing”. It no longer relies solely on resources or tourism, and is becoming an influential node city in the segmented manufacturing field.
To truly understand the changes in Jiaozuo, we should not just look at the scenic spots and statistics, but also look at the road network and trucks around the industrial parks and factories, and go for a walk by the lake at night to appreciate the real development of this city.
Through the agglomeration of manufacturing industry, Jiaozuo has embarked on a path of transformation that is both practical and distinctive, and has embarked on a different development rhythm from Jiyuan.
