Xinhua News Agency, Zhengzhou, April 17th Title: Huaiyuan "Green Change" and "Alkaline Capital" Rebirth —— Investigation on the Ecological Development of Tongbai in Henan Province
Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Peng
The Huaihe River originates from Tongbai Mountain in Tongbai County, Henan Province, and runs for thousands of miles. Moreover, a large trona mine which is rare in the world is buried underground at its source.
Behind the two business cards "Huaiyuan" and "Alkali Capital" is the fierce conflict between ecological protection and economic development. In recent years, under the guidance of the concept of ecological civilization, Tongbai county has driven Huaiyuan’s "green change" with the "green change" of industry, agriculture and culture, and explored a new way of coordinated development of economy and environmental protection.
Industrial "green change" drives the rebirth of "alkali capital"
To "turn green" in Huaiyuan, we must first "turn green" in industry. In the 1970s, geological experts discovered the first trona deposit in China in Tongbai County, which changed the development track of Huaiyuan. Subsequently, Tongbai County established the status of "China Natural Alkali Capital" with the resource advantage of "the world’s four largest natural alkali mines, with Tongbai taking the second place".
"Alkali is the basic raw material of modern chemical industry, and the discovery of trona is of great significance to China’s chemical industry." Ma Qianli, who followed his father’s footsteps into the chemical industry, is now the deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Henan Zhongyuan Chemical Co., Ltd., the largest natural alkali producer in China.
"Natural alkali has an advantage over chemical alkali production in cost." Ma Qianli said that it plays an important role in maintaining the competitiveness of a country’s chemical industry in the world.
In the new century, the aura of "China Natural Alkali Capital" has become the shackles of local development because of environmental pollution. "Green transformation" has become the only choice. After more than ten years of green technology research, "China Natural Alkali Capital" has been reborn.
Nowadays, in the chemical industry cluster area of Tongbai County, where there are many new factories, around the main business of sodium nitrate chemical industry, the industry has been rearranged, and the quality has been upgraded to the downstream, and "four eco-economic circular chains" have been gathered to solve the "old problem" of pollution.
Li Wu, secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Chemical Industry Cluster in Tongbai County, said that through the "four chains", the waste residue in the production of natural soda ash has formed a building materials industrial chain, the waste gas has formed a baking soda industrial chain, and the waste liquid has formed an industrial mixed alkali industrial chain. Even the waste water has been recycled and leached, and all the "four wastes" have been eaten dry and squeezed out.
Not long ago, the world’s largest single 400,000-ton baking soda production project was officially put into production here, and "China Natural Alkali Capital" was transformed into the world’s largest baking soda production base with a production capacity of over 1.2 million tons.
Agricultural "Green Change" Blows the Horn of General Attack on Poverty Alleviation
Poverty is another big threat to the ecological protection of Huaiyuan. For a long time, the indiscriminate mining and logging caused by poverty has always threatened the achievements of ecological protection of Tongbai. The "green change" of agriculture has become a top priority.
Shitouzhuang, Yuegou Village and Chestnut Garden in Chengwan Town are all in a ravine, which is a well-known tea-making village. In the 1950s and 1960s, the tea garden area in the three villages was as high as 40,000 mu at most.
At that time, Zheng Baomian’s father was the director of a tea factory in the village. However, with the masses going out in succession, tea gardens are becoming increasingly barren.
In 2013, Tongbai County established tea as a county-wide characteristic poverty alleviation industry, which made Zheng Baomian’s tea-growing and tea-making technology come into play. "When the tea cooperative was established in 2011, the tea garden did not have access or electricity, and one person insisted on it with a hoe." Zheng Baomian said that by 2016, the scale of tea gardens will continue to expand, the barren hills will be greener, and the annual output value of cooperatives will reach more than 5 million yuan.
Agricultural "green change" is full of vitality. Many able people see the hope of returning home to start a business. Han Tingwang, general manager of Danfeng Tea Development Co., Ltd., returned to his hometown in 2013 to set up a tea factory to drive farmers to grow tea. In 2018, the company covered three kinds of tea products: red, black and green, with an annual output value of more than 60 million yuan and a cumulative export of more than 300 tons of tea.
Mo Zhonghou, secretary of Tongbai County Party Committee, said that at present, Tongbai County has identified four characteristic poverty alleviation industries, namely "tea, shrimp, wormwood and fungus", among which "crayfish farming" alone has helped 2,705 poor households embark on the road of getting rid of poverty and becoming rich.
Cultural "green change" leads the new wind in Huaiyuan
The "green change" of workers and peasants has also driven "green culture" to become a new wind in Huaiyuan. In the northwest corner of Tongbai County, in September 2018, a Huaidu Park covering an area of nearly 500 mu crossed the Huaihe River and merged with the Linhuai Park on the other side, becoming the first choice for county residents to take a leisurely walk.
Three years ago, there were more than 100 villagers here, and domestic sewage became the burden of crossing the Huaihe River. In 2015, Tongbai County raised tens of millions of yuan to demolish villages and rebuild Huaidu Park. Lu Chenghao, secretary of the Party Committee of Chengguan Town, said: "Tens of millions of yuan have solved the problem of domestic sewage, and the government has shown its determination and courage to protect the environment."
Driven by the government, the volunteer team for protecting Huaiyuan is also growing. Pan Zhonghua, a teacher of Tongbai County No.3 High School who volunteered to protect Huaiyuan, initiated the establishment of the Environmental Volunteers Association in 2009. In more than 10 years, Pan Zhonghua’s volunteer team has grown to more than 200 people, and the ecology of Huaiyuan has also undergone new changes. "The river has been renovated, the forest coverage rate has been greatly improved, and wild ducks in the river can be seen everywhere."
According to statistics, under the guidance of the "green change" of culture, in recent years, Tongbai County has rejected more than 60 highly polluting projects, built 16 national and provincial ecological towns and 208 provincial and municipal ecological villages, and the forest coverage rate of the county has reached 51.7%.