The festive atmosphere of the “Bingwu Year of the Horse” still lingers, yet Lishui has swiftly refocused and embarked on a new journey of hard work and endeavor. On February 25, the second working day after the Spring Festival holiday, Lishui held its First Conference of the Spring Festival to implement the spirit of the provincial First Conference of the Spring Festival. With the goal of “progressive transcendence” firmly in mind, the conference focused on the modern ecological economy and the strategic pioneering project of “Investment Promotion and Talent Recruitment”, sounding the clarion call for advancing the 15th Five‑Year Plan period.

For Lishui, which is moving from “a vibrant 25‑year‑old” to “a mature 30‑year‑old”, the 15th Five‑Year Plan is not merely a time marker but a crucial window for leapfrog high‑quality development. The 9th Plenary Session of the 5th Lishui Municipal Party Committee held late last year set out the main goals for the 15th Five‑Year Plan period: achieving progressive transcendence in leapfrog high‑quality development, making key breakthroughs in narrowing the “three gaps” to advance common prosperity, and securing decisive progress toward basically achieving socialist modernization.

The First Conference of the Spring Festival aims to translate the blueprint into a roadmap and the vision into reality.

The agenda of the conference was closely linked. The release of comprehensive assessment results served as both a review and a benchmark; the report on the progress of Investment Promotion and Talent Recruitment was both an achievement report and a new starting point. Most notably, the principal leaders of Lishui’s 9 counties (cities, districts) and Lishui Economic Development Zone took to the stage one by one to present goals, unveil measures and express determination, turning the conference venue into a competitive arena.

“Qingyuan will strive to develop and expand the modern ecological economy with the ambition of a 10‑billion‑scale industry, the vision of a century‑old brand, and the fortitude of perseverance,” declared Tian Jianhui, Secretary of the Qingyuan County Party Committee, with firm resolve. This mountainous county on the border of Zhejiang and Fujian is determined to break the stereotype of “remote location”. “We will not take remote location as an excuse, nor use inherent disadvantages as a reason. We will make unremitting efforts to bridge objective gaps, and strive to be a hard‑working pioneer in leapfrog development and a dark horse from mountainous areas in common prosperity.” This statement struck a chord with the audience: mountainous areas are not synonymous with backwardness, and small counties can achieve great things through solid work.

“With the determination to accomplish in one year what would normally take several years and to make full use of every single day, we will strive for a strong first quarter to secure victory for the whole year, shoulder key responsibilities in the city and strive for higher ranking in the province,” said Pan Wei, Secretary of the Qingtian County Party Committee. Shortly after New Year’s Day this year, Qingtan launched a package of policies to achieve a “good start”. Before the Spring Festival, it issued a work list for township officials, advancing projects, industry, factor support, foreign trade and consumption with early, detailed and solid efforts.

From these speeches, a shared spirit could be clearly felt at the conference: daring to explore and act, striving for progress and virtue, and committed to lifelong endeavor. This echoes another key phrase raised at the conference — “the values of Lishui people in the new era”: unity and perseverance, hard work and self‑improvement, courage and ambition to excel.

Just as individuals need values to pursue, so does the development of a city. Recently, the outstanding performance of Lishui’s team in the “ZheBA” basketball tournament and its spirit of “daring to compete, fight and win” have sparked widespread public discussion. The values of Lishui people in the new era not only vividly reflect 25 years of leapfrog high‑quality development in Lishui, but also epitomize the city’s fine spirit of hard work, responsibility and ambition, as well as its innovative and entrepreneurial character.

This year’s First Conference of the Spring Festival is both a work deployment and a spiritual mobilization. On the great field of leapfrog high‑quality development, every Lishui citizen is a participant. It calls on everyone to take responsibility, make achievements and shine in their respective positions, turning the values of Lishui people in the new era into concrete results for achieving progressive transcendence in leapfrog high‑quality development.

When the values of Lishui people in the new era become the conscious action of every individual, and when the goal of “progressive transcendence” is translated into specific projects and implemented policies, Lishui will surely create a new and distinctive atmosphere in the opening year of the 15th Five‑Year Plan.