Minle County

Minle county has been a key area on the southern route of the eastern section of the Silk Road since ancient times. The county got its name in 1929, meaning people live in peace and work happily. Covering an area of 3,687 sq km, it has 10 towns and one urban community management committee under administration, and has a population totaling 193,000.

Minle boasts a time-honored history and rich culture. It is home to a large number of cultural relics and historic sites, such as the east and west Huishan cultural relics, the Baguaying Tombs, the Yuantong Temple Pagoda, and shuilu (water and land) paintings of the Ming and Qing (1368-1911) dynasties. The county has four cultural relic sites under national-level protection, seven under provincial-level protection, and 38 intangible cultural heritages under provincial, municipal and county level protection, such as the bowl-carrying-on-head dances and leather-silhouette performances.

Minle provides convenient transportation. It has the Lanzhou-Urumqi High-speed Railway, national highway No. 227 and G0611 Zhangye-Wenchuan Expressway passing through its territory. Being adjacent to Zhangye Ganzhou Airport and close to railways, highways and airline destinations, it is a must pass connecting North China’s Qinghai province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The county has abundant agricultural resources. With 1.3 million mu (86,666.71 hectare) of arable land, it was rated as a national advanced county in grain production, the hometown of Radix isatidis in China, a national demonstration county for basically realizing whole-process mechanization in major crop production, one of the first organic product certification demonstration areas in Gansu province, one of the second provincial-level pilot counties for agricultural product quality and safety construction, and a pilot county for promoting overall quality improvement of farmers' cooperatives. The Minle County Industrial Integration Development Demonstration Park was recognized as one of the first national rural parks of its kind. The Modern Intelligent Greenhouse Industrialized Cultivation Ecological Demonstration Project conducted by Shaanxi Haisheng Fresh Fruit Juice Co., Ltd was rated as an international cooperation demonstration project of the modern Silk Road cold and arid agriculture and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Minle has affluent tourism resources, including two AAAA-level scenic spots and four AAA-level ones. It was recognized as a provincial leisure and agriculture demonstration county. The rape flower landscape of Biandukou was included on the Beautiful Countryside in China List. There are 127 historical and cultural sites in the county, such as the ruins of Rouzhi’s eastern city, east and west Huishan cultural relics, and Tongzi Temple Grottoes of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). Carbonized grains found at the East Huishan Cultural Relics offers precious basis for studying agriculture in China and the world of the Neolithic Age in the primitive society.

With relatively good developmental foundation, Minle planned 140 sq km for its industrial zone, which has complete infrastructure and strong carrying capacity. It is now home to 166 enterprises, including 30 enterprises above designated size and 18 high-tech ones. The zone was awarded as a provincial high-tech industrial development zone and one of the first national small and micro-sized enterprise innovation and entrepreneurship demonstration bases.

In 2021, the GDP of Minle county reached 6.88 billion yuan ($9.48 billion), and the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents were 28,531.6 yuan and 15,185.8 yuan, respectively. In the next five years, the county will mainly develop its industry while paying attention to its ecology, and better coordinate its economy and ecology, urban and rural areas, as well as development and security. It will promote the construction of its National Demonstration Park for Integrated Development of Rural Industries, Modern Silk Road Pastoral Complex Demonstration Zone, and Urban Rural Coordinated Development Demonstration Zone with all strength, accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, focus on solving uneven and insufficient developmental problems, and step up efforts to open a new chapter of happy life for Minle.