SHENYANG, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Officials in China's oldest coal production base used to boast that it produced enough coal over the last 60 years to recreate the Great Wall of China two and half times over.
That's more than 600 million tonnes of coal, which could generate more than 180 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
These days they are more likely to take pride in the fact that Fuxin's sunflower seeds are sold in supermarkets in Europe and the Americas.
In the last decade, the Zhenlong Local Specialty Company of Fuxin, in northeast China's Liaoning Province, has grown from a small workshop to the city's largest exporter.
"We started up hiring more than 20,000 people to shell melon seeds, then processed and exported them," says Wu Kai, the company's manager.
"Now manpower has been replaced by modern factories and machines. Some workshops need only one person to manage."
Last year, the company export volume totaled 38.6 million U.S. dollars.
The company is part of three new pillar industries that have been established to expand the city's economic base away from its complete reliance on coal for burning in China's power plants, factories and homes.
With its coal reserves dwindling, Fuxin was chosen as China's first pilot city for a green economy revolution in December 2001.
China has 118 resource-dependent cities that face the twin crises of environmental degradation and disappearing reserves after years of heavy development -- unless they change to a sustainable economic growth pattern.
Fuxin's successful transformation has guaranteed the fast growth of local business, says Wu.
"Fuxin's abundant labor and high-quality coarse cereals are essential for the company's growth. The government has also provided strong support."
Liu Wenqi, director of Fuxin's Development and Reform Commission, says agricultural produce processing, coal-based chemicals and renewable energy are the new pillar industries. "These industries are Fuxin's future."
Food processing, accounting for 27 percent of the industrial base, is the second largest sector after coal production sector. In 2001, it accounted for just 12.7 percent of the industry sector.
The local government is aiming for the renewable energy sector, dominated by the wind power, to equal the Fuxin Mining Group, the backbone of the city's coal industry, in terms of output.
The city government estimates its coal reserves will last another 20 years, but the annual output of 15 million tonnes is now dedicated to the local chemical industry.
"Miners made great contributions to the economy in terms of blood, sweat and even their lives, but that left a heavy burden on the city's future development," he said.
Before the city embarked on a greener path in 2001, its per capita GDP was 20 percent lower than the average of China's underdeveloped western regions.
