The east wind blows strong and the Yellow River surges ahead. Zhengzhou bears the era-defining mission of driving the rise of the central region and advancing ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin, and it is writing its answers to the exam paper of high-quality development as a mega-city with innovation as its pen and hard work as its ink. Across the urban districts, industrial upgrading, project breakthroughs, urban renewal, cultural continuity, grassroots governance, and livelihood protection are all advancing side by side. A batch of major industrial platforms, backbone market players, and culture-commerce-tourism projects have taken root, traditional industries are leaping forward, emerging industries are sprouting and growing, the historical cultural thread is being kept alive, and grassroots governance is improving in quality and efficiency. Everywhere there is a surging passion for enterprise and hard work.
From the banks of the Xiliu Lake to the edge of the Jinshui River, from the Shang Dynasty ruins to the shores of the Yellow River, from the general aviation airport to the South Railway Station hub, "new technology" and "new consumption" are advancing together, and "hard power" and "soft environment" are complementing each other. A scroll of the times featuring industry-city symbiosis, the blending of ancient and modern, empowered smart governance, and inclusive livelihoods is unfolding.
Emerging Toward the "New": Industrial Upgrading Forges a "Hard Backbone"
Those who read the situation clearly are wise, and those who grasp the trend are perceptive. For high-quality development, the foundation lies in the real economy, the key lies in industry, and the way out lies in innovation. Zhengzhou upholds the dialectical unity of "revitalizing existing stock" and "expanding incremental growth," continuously working to make traditional industries "sprout new buds on old trees" and emerging industries "grow from seedlings into big trees." A modern industrial system with multi-point support and diversified complementarity is taking shape at an accelerating pace.
Technology empowering the transformation of manufacturing is the core lever for upgrading the quality and efficiency of the city's real economy. The Zhimajie 1958 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Park deeply integrates the renovation of old factory areas with the construction of science and innovation carriers, adheres to the "MIX+PARK" design concept, and creates a zero-distance innovative industrial living circle. Phase I has already brought in 180 enterprises including Unicom Industrial Internet, Didi Chuxing, Henan Qingju, and Fanrui Yunzhi, with annual revenue exceeding 3 billion yuan and driving employment for more than 2,000 people; Phase II is planned for 497 mu, and after full operation it is expected to host more than 1,000 enterprises with annual revenue exceeding 50 billion yuan. Among them, Fanrui Yunzhi Technology (Zhengzhou) Co., Ltd. focuses on new material testing and research and development, has applied for more than 100 patents cumulatively, and has built four provincial-level research and innovation platforms, becoming a "service vanguard" deeply integrating new materials manufacturing with the testing service industry.
The low-altitude economy, as a representative of new quality productive forces, is a distinctive industry that Shangjie District has moved quickly to establish. In March this year, the world's largest cargo drone, the "Changying-8," successfully made its maiden flight at Shangjie Airport; in June, the hydrogen fuel cell DJIM400 drone completed its first public flight test in Henan. Multiple heavyweight aircraft models chose to conduct their test flights and verification here — this kind of "voting with their feet" is itself the best proof of industrial carrying capacity. In recent years, the Zhengzhou National General Aviation Industry Comprehensive Demonstration Zone has delivered results one after another. China Feilong, a leading enterprise in the domestic general aviation field, has taken root here, bringing an operating fleet of more than 100 aircraft; the C909 medical rescue aircraft has been put into use, achieving a new breakthrough in the field of aviation medical rescue; Henan Sanhe's firefighting drone successfully obtained airworthiness certification; and Haiwang's ground-effect wing ship won the country's first construction permit. Up to now, 59 low-altitude economy enterprises have gathered here, with a fleet of 176 aircraft, about 5,000 hours of general aviation operations annually, and more than 150,000 hours of drone operations. Platforms and carriers such as the Henan Low-Altitude Economy Industrial Park and the Emergency Rescue Base are being put into use at an accelerated pace, and integrated scenarios of "low altitude + cultural tourism + research-based learning" continue to be enriched. From "taking off" to "being put to use," and from "single-aircraft operations" to an "industrial ecosystem," the demonstration zone is forging a path from general aviation operations to the full low-altitude economy chain.
The digital economy and platform industries are flourishing, injecting new momentum into urban development. The Zhengzhou Zhongke Emerging Industry Technology Research Institute in Jinshui District and Henan University jointly established the "Longzi Lake New Energy Laboratory," which has been approved for 27 provincial and municipal science and technology research platforms and continues to make breakthroughs in new energy, new materials, green technology, life and health, and other fields. UU Paotui, rooted in the same-city instant life services track, has relied on big data technology to "run" into more than 300 cities nationwide, with more than 12 million registered runners and serving more than 80 million users, and has now expanded into new tracks such as domestic services and drone delivery. Small and micro enterprise parks are the "nurseries" of innovation and the "incubators" of new quality productive forces. The Tianhe Science and Innovation Park in Huiji District targets modern food, equipment manufacturing, and biomedicine as its leading industries, focuses on tracks such as high-end manufacturing and biomedicine, and has introduced a group of high-quality market players including listed companies, gazelle enterprises, specialized and sophisticated "little giant" enterprises, and high-tech enterprises. The park plans to open by the end of 2026, and after full operation it is expected to achieve annual output value of more than 1.5 billion yuan and drive employment for 7,000 people, becoming an important platform for cultivating new quality productive forces in Huiji District. From "industrial rust belt" to "science and innovation green valley," from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing," Zhengzhou leads industrial innovation with technological innovation and reshapes traditional advantages with digital empowerment, standing up the "hard backbone" of high-quality development.
Leaping Toward the "Better": Urban Construction Radiates a "New Presence"
A city is an organic living entity. The old urban areas have witnessed the city's "road traveled," and they must also join hands with the new urban areas to move "toward the future" in step. The Zhengzhou South Railway Station and related projects are key support for building Zhengzhou into an international comprehensive transportation hub. The newly built Zhengzhou South Railway Station adopts an elevated station scheme, and the conventional-speed passenger function of Zhengzhou Station will be relocated to Zhengzhou South Railway Station, while high-speed rail passenger functions will be added. It is one of the four main stations in Zhengzhou's "four main, multiple auxiliary" station hub system, and is of great significance for releasing the capacity of Zhengzhou Station, promoting the development of the southern area of Zhengzhou, and enhancing its status as an international comprehensive transportation hub. The Zhengzhou South Railway Station hub industrial park takes Zhengzhou South Railway Station as its core, delineates a 30-square-kilometer area, adheres to the "TOD" station-city integration concept, plans "one core leading, two axes and four zones," focuses on the three major industrial directions of "new consumption, big health, and micro-innovation," and has planned 33 construction projects in total, which will strongly drive the iterative upgrading of industries in the area and the improvement of people's lives toward the new and the better.
Looking across the southern urban districts, Erqi District is concentrating on developing science and innovation, information technology application innovation, and cross-border e-commerce. The Erqi Central Digital Science and Innovation City is making every effort to build the "Erqi Digital Valley," focusing on formats such as corporate headquarters, science and innovation incubation centers, and service support, and advancing industrial upgrading in key fields such as digital trade, science and innovation with information technology application innovation, and medical health. Among them, the Central Innovation Vitality Zone is developed and built mainly with corporate headquarters, science and innovation incubation centers, and service support formats, and mainly develops a science and technology innovation industrial park with information technology application innovation as "one leading engine" and the digital economy and medical health AI as "two supporting industries," satisfying enterprises' composite needs and promoting the transformation, upgrading, and reborn development of Erqi District's industries. After completion, it is expected to introduce more than 200 enterprises and provide 20,000 jobs. The Jindai Smart Industrial Park in Guancheng District has refreshed project construction speed with "start construction upon land acquisition" and "first-phase delivery in 17 months." It is Zhengzhou's first small and micro enterprise park developed and built on new industrial land (M1A), has already settled more than 280 enterprises, drives employment for more than 8,000 people, and has an annual output value exceeding 8 billion yuan.
The upgrading of transportation hubs, the iteration of industrial parks, and the leap in the level of districts are not only vivid practices of Zhengzhou's urban quality improvement and refined construction, but also the core lever for urban renewal empowering development. They support the foundation of high-quality development and further uphold the people's yearning for a better life.
Advancing Toward "Integration": Culture and Tourism Consumption Ignites a "New Engine"
Culture and commerce, protection and development, tradition and fashion — in Zhengzhou these are not either-or choices, but mutually reinforcing integration. Traffic flows like water, while retained customers are like canals; it is important not only to attract them, but also to keep them. The Bozhou Culture and Art Center in Guancheng District is adjacent to the City God Temple, the East City Wall, and the Confucian Temple. With a fair-faced concrete style and the idea of "harmony in diversity," it realizes the coexistence of old and new, and its core formats cover collection auctions, cultural exhibitions, art bookstores, and art salons. The Tawan Old Street project covers about 52 mu, with a total construction area of 49,000 square meters. It is positioned as a Central Plains-style folk culture and tourism street, shaping a composite space of "traditional temple fair + modern commerce," and is expected to be put into operation in May 2027.
The Zhengzhou Central Culture District (CCD) is positioned as Zhengzhou's cultural living room. Since 2023, it has cumulatively held more than 130 sports events and more than 4,000 cultural and artistic performances, received more than 20 million visitors, successfully supported 144 concerts with more than 10,000 attendees each, and achieved a cross-city attendance rate of more than 80%. It has deeply cultivated the core track of competitions and performances, with a prominent traffic effect, innovated the ticket-stub economy model, and strengthened consumption momentum. Since 2023, it has cumulatively driven related consumption of more than 13 billion yuan and indirectly driven culture, commerce, tourism, and sports consumption of more than 10 billion yuan, truly achieving "one venue and one hall activating an entire city." Located in the Zhengzhou Newspaper Building in the Zhengzhou Central Culture District, Douyin's Henan headquarters seizes new consumption tracks and uses topics such as "Discover Zheng Youth" to drive Zhengzhou's culture and tourism consumption to remain vibrant, helping the city's influence continue to rise. Zhengzhou Yunding Garments Co., Ltd. has long cultivated the women's trousers track, and the e-commerce channel of the "Yiyang" brand has long ranked at the forefront of the industry, with operating revenue increasing by 54% year on year from January to August 2026. "Chinese design" from Zhengzhou crosses mountains and seas and is continuously entering more than 20 million households in more than 70 countries and regions around the world. Ziel Home Furnishing Technology Co., Ltd. is Henan's first listed internet home furnishing company and one of Zhengzhou's first batch of unicorn enterprises, with revenue of 8.701 billion yuan in 2025. Its independently developed products have won more than 70 domestic and international design awards and 832 global patents.
Relying on its location and resource advantages, Huiji District strengthens its leading industries of food and cold-chain logistics. Sanquan Food, as a leading enterprise in China's quick-frozen food industry, has built a national-level 5G factory, uses technological innovation to shorten the new product research and development cycle, and drives hundreds of thousands of farmers to increase income and become better off; the Mingpinfu Industrial Park in central China is laid out on more than 1,000 mu of land and strives to build a nationwide leading full-chain smart cold-chain park. After being put into use, it will effectively stabilize regional cold-chain prices and provide more than 50,000 jobs; the Zhongbo Modern Food Technology Small and Micro Enterprise Park and the Dahe Huiji International Food Trade Port are laid out at multiple points, conducting precise investment promotion for food processing, biomedicine, and equipment manufacturing, and building development carriers for small and medium-sized market players.
"How can the canal be so clear? Because there is a source of living water." From the competitions and performances at CCD to the industrial memory of the oil chemical plant, from the folk culture and tourism of Tawan Old Street to the park-style shopping of Shanshan Outlets, from the traffic fission of Douyin e-commerce to the global links of Mingpinfu cold chain, Zhengzhou is transforming cultural soft power into hard support for consumption and turning traffic advantages into development advantages.
Moving Toward "Governance": Good Livelihood Governance Consolidates the "Ballast Stone"
There are constant principles in governing a country, and benefiting the people is the foundation. Urban governance must have not only the hardcore efficiency of good management, but also visible practical changes and a livelihood temperature that can be felt. The business district party and mass service center of Duling Subdistrict in Jinshui District serves more than 1,200 merchants and more than 4,000 employees, with average daily foot traffic exceeding 100,000. Such a huge population data requires precise service support. The center deepens the "365" working method, forms six enterprise-support service teams including legal aid, and provides precise services such as policy presentations, financing matchmaking, consumer rights protection, and dispute resolution through grid-based task assignment and department-based acceptance.
The Zhengzhou Memory · 1952 Oil Chemical Plant Tourism and Leisure Block was formerly the Zhengzhou Oil and Fat Chemical Plant built with Soviet aid. It adheres to "repairing the old as old, and making the new necessarily trendy." It has brought in more than 230 culture-commerce-tourism spaces and more than 200 market merchants, has annual visitor traffic of more than 11.7 million, drives employment for about 5,500 people, and has been rated a national-level tourism and leisure block. At the livestreaming base of Zhengzhou Haiyi Yunshang Group, young hosts are introducing home appliance products through the camera, and the slogan "Party building leads development" behind them is especially eye-catching. The Haiyi Yunshang Group in Erqi District established a general party branch in 2020 and was upgraded to a party committee in 2022, with eight party branches under it and more than 700 party members. The group builds a full-chain ecosystem of physical retail, e-commerce, and cross-border trade, lays out multiple online and offline channels, and its revenue scale continues to climb. With "Hongling Haihui" leading the "party building + internet" model, it has won honors such as National Advanced Grassroots Party Organization. Revenue increased from 12 billion yuan in 2023 to 20 billion yuan in 2025.
The warmth and coldness of the people have always been a key area in urban work. The Dongzhao resettlement housing project in Huiji District relies on special loans for urban village renovation to revitalize resources, and the resettlement of residents continues to accelerate. A total of 4,343 resettlement housing units in Courtyard No. 2 and Courtyard No. 3 will soon welcome residents back. The project not only compressed the construction period by three months, but also absorbed residents' opinions, optimized the architectural appearance, equipped charging piles, ball sports venues, and children's play facilities, and laid out party and mass services, kindergartens, childcare, and day care centers, achieving the service goal of "care for the elderly, childcare for children, and venues for activities."
The temperature of livelihood is also reflected in job creation and ensuring supply and stabilizing prices. Sanquan Food provides more than 10,000 jobs, drives more than 7,800 small and medium-sized enterprises to grow together, and drives 400,000 farmers to increase income. It was awarded the honorary title of "National Advanced Enterprise in Employment" by the State Council. After completion, Mingpinfu Industrial Park will effectively enrich regional livelihood supply, and is expected to reduce local cold-chain product prices by 10% to 15% and provide more than 50,000 jobs. At the construction site of Phase II of the AUX Smart Air Conditioning Production Base, the factory buildings have passed completion acceptance, and production equipment is entering one after another. In another two months, the first air conditioner will roll off the production line here. The project uses the chain leader as a fulcrum to leverage the entire industrial chain. After full production, it will become the largest intelligent air conditioning production base in the Central Plains region, drive a large number of upstream and downstream supporting enterprises to gather and settle, and drive employment for about 5,000 people.
When the strength of all is gathered, nothing cannot be overcome; when the wisdom of all is applied, nothing cannot be achieved. Urban development needs not only a new "face," but also a solid "inner self"; it needs not only industrial height, but also livelihood temperature. From resettlement housing construction to the South Railway Station hub, from cold-chain supply assurance to employment and income growth, from business district party building to services for new employment groups, Zhengzhou is strengthening its backbone with science and innovation and intelligent manufacturing, adding vitality with culture and tourism consumption, and consolidating its foundation with good livelihood governance. It has both "top-of-the-sky" leading enterprises and "all-encompassing" small and micro enterprises growing together; it has both the urban qualities of "youthful energy, technological feel, and fashion sense" and the happy undertones of "everyday warmth, human touch, and sense of security." This is a deep transformation related to industrial iteration, urban renewal, and livelihood improvement, and it is also a firm answer from a mega-city on the journey of modernizing itself as a national central city.
The tide surges in the commercial capital, with a thousand moods and myriad appearances; hard work is the pen, and the future can be expected.