The Mountain-Sea Collaboration Project is a strategic blueprint personally designed by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his tenure in Zhejiang Province and constitutes an important part of the “Eight-Eight Strategy”. For over 20 years, as a typical representative of mountainous economic development in Zhejiang, Lishui City has thoroughly implemented the strategic arrangements of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government regarding mountain-sea collaboration. Centered on key areas such as joint platform building, industry cultivation, and resource sharing, Lishui has carried out comprehensive and in-depth cooperation with developed coastal areas and economically strong counties. From 2002 to 2024, the city’s per capita GDP surged from RMB 7,434 to RMB 86,213. It has successively entered the eras of expressways, high-speed railways, and is about to usher in the era of aviation.

During this period, the Lishui Municipal People’s Congress has focused on the implementation of the Mountain-Sea Collaboration Project, conducting research and offering suggestions on policy implementation, institutional mechanisms, and industrial planning. These efforts have injected strong momentum into promoting Lishui’s high-quality development, narrowing the “three major gaps”, and advancing coordinated regional development.

Supervising Implementation and Evaluating Results

Facilitating the Implementation of Collaboration Projects

How is the development of enclave projects progressing? What issues exist in industrial cooperation? How effective are the jointly established rural revitalization demonstration sites in increasing local wealth? Since the beginning of this year, a series of special investigations focusing on the implementation of the Mountain-Sea Collaboration Project across the city have been intensively carried out. In April, Li Feng, Director of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress, led a team to investigate the implementation of the Mountain-Sea Collaboration Project in Counties of Suichang, Qingyuan, Jingning, and other places. They visited industrial parks and rural revitalization demonstration sites, gathered first-hand information, evaluated practical results, listened to local appeals, and promoted development, leveraging the strength of the People’s Congress to recite well the “Classic of Mountains and Seas”.

The research team of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress also visited counties (cities, districts) such as Liandu, Qingtian, Songyang, as well as Yuhang District and Xiaoshan District in Hangzhou. They conducted on-site visits to enclaves, industrial parks, and rural revitalization demonstration sites, delving into aspects such as industrial collaboration, technological innovation, efforts to alleviate poverty, as well as the safeguarding of resources and mechanisms. By identifying shortcomings and seeking effective solutions through direct, face-to-face communication, they have further advanced the implementation of the Mountain-Sea Collaboration Project.

On May 21, the 46th Director’s Meeting of the Fifth Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress held a special session to hear the “Investigation Report on the Implementation of the City’s Mountain-Sea Collaboration Project”. The report proposed focusing efforts on the historical mission of leapfrog high-quality development and the three strategic tasks of creating new growth poles, promoting common prosperity, and building a grand garden. It also suggested leveraging joint efforts to achieve new progress in mountain-sea collaboration; establishing a coordinated investment promotion mechanism of “leading enterprises + enclave carriers + supporting parks”; and adopting a “one chessboard for the whole city” concept to fully utilize the cross-mountain coordination mechanism, among 13 proposed measures. The report also compiled several grassroots suggestions requiring provincial-level attention, such as formulating a provincial industrial gradient transfer policy system, improving the overall coordination mechanism, and strengthening resource assurance mechanisms.

Deputies Setting Examples

Building a “Heart-to-Heart Bridge” Across Mountains and Seas

The deep friendship between the mountains and the sea is not only reflected in enclaves and industrial parks but also in the fields and grassroots communities. Over the years, deputies to the Lishui People’s Congress at all levels have actively fulfilled their “dual responsibilities” by working tirelessly between the mountains and the sea, leading the people in mountainous areas toward prosperity, and writing touching stories of “commitment to the people’s livelihood between the mountains and seas” in the new era.

In Songyang County, Li Jianwei, a deputy to the Municipal People’s Congress and General Manager of Songyang County Supply and Marketing Cooperative Mountain-Sea Agricultural Products Distribution Co., Ltd., established the “Mountain-Sea Express”, creating an agricultural product distribution network covering the Yangtze River Delta. This effort boosted sales of specialty agricultural products such as Songyang’s alpine tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms, increasing the annual income of 450 farming households by an average of RMB 12,000.

In Qingyuan County, the Jiaping Liaison Office of the Longxi Township People’s Congress Liaison Station adhered to integrity and innovation on the road of mountain-sea collaboration and rural prosperity. By implementing a model of “People’s Congress Liaison Office placing orders—Strong Village Company dispatching orders—Common Prosperity Workshop fulfilling orders”, it established smooth channels for the exchange of renowned local agricultural specialties between regions, exploring a new path for increasing farmers’ income.

In Liandu District, the Xiandu Township People’s Congress actively explored a “killed cadres + People’s Congress deputies” volunteer service model. Relying on the mountain-sea collaboration platform, in collaboration with ‌CETHIK Group Corporation and Liandu Shanchao Agricultural Products Platform, they marketed value-added local specialties such as peach gum, dried peaches, and peach wine to paired cities including Ningbo and Hangzhou, effectively expanding sales channels for local products.

In Jinyun, deputies to the People’s Congress, including Ying Zhijie and Lu Xiqian, jointly proposed suggestions that prompted the local government to implement a cold chain storage base project through the “mountain-sea collaboration + strong village company” model. The facility can store up to 350,000 jin of water bamboo. During periods of sluggish market demand, the facility provides cold storage rental services to help farmers sell their produce at staggered times, turning passive sales into active ones, ensuring stable selling prices, and relieving farmers of future concerns.

Persevering for Long-Term Achievements

Sustaining the Effectiveness of Collaboration Development

To further improve the underlying logic of deepening mountain-sea collaboration mechanisms, the Lishui People’s Congress has also strengthened efforts in institutional guarantees, continuously promoting steady and long-term development of collaboration initiatives.

The “14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of Lishui City and the Long-Range Objectives for 2035”, approved by the Sixth Session of the Fourth Municipal People’s Congress, clearly proposed to “upgrade the Mountain-Sea Collaboration Project”, emphasizing not only collaboration in various industrial parks and rural revitalization demonstration sites but also promoting “mutual enclaves”, with developed regions setting up multiple enclaves for technological innovation, talent, and poverty alleviation, thereby creating high-standard cooperation platforms.

The “Regulations of Lishui City on Promoting the Integrated Development of Talent and Science & Technology”, reviewed and approved by the Eleventh Session of the Fifth Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress, stipulates in its “General Principles” that active efforts should be made to build a regional collaborative innovation system, deeply integrate into the national Yangtze River Delta integration strategy, plan cross-regional science and technology corridors, and strengthen cooperation with mountain-sea collaboration areas to undertake the transfer of scientific research achievements, talent, and industries. The “Platform Construction” section proposes that people’s governments at the municipal and county (city, district) levels should fully utilize the role of “talent and sci-tech enclaves” to form an innovation model of “development in the enclave, contribution in Lishui”.

Currently, the Municipal People’s Congress is also actively participating in the planning of the “15th Five-Year Plan” for mountain-sea collaboration, as well as the formulation of the Three-Year Action Plan for Mountain-Sea Collaboration (2025–2027), innovating paired collaboration models, improving the undertaking of industrial gradient transfer, and creating collaboration platforms for “development enclaves” to advance new mechanisms for mountain-sea collaboration and build a new pattern of coordinated development.

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As of the end of 2024, counties (cities, districts) across Lishui have established nine “industrial enclaves”, five “sci-tech enclaves”, and sixteen “poverty alleviation enclaves” in places such as Hangzhou and Yiwu. Additionally, four industrial parks, six eco-tourism cultural industry parks, and seventy rural revitalization demonstration sites have been jointly built with paired regions within the city. Public service sharing platforms covering medical care, education, scientific and technological talent, and consumer assistance have also been established, yielding outstanding results in leveraging external resources, creating talent hubs, and promoting strong villages and common prosperity.

United by mountains and seas, persistent in endeavor. The Lishui Municipal People’s Congress will continue to contribute its wisdom and strength with the commitment of “success does not have to be mine” and the responsibility of “success must include me”, adding to the magnificent blueprint of mountain-sea collaboration in the new era and allowing both “mountains” and “seas” to advance together toward common prosperity and shine brilliantly.