Jinhua — Bazhong: A Ham Links Mountains and Seas, Together on the Road to Common Prosperity

        APD Zhejiang News—Under the national framework of China’s East-West Pairing Assistance, Jinhua in Zhejiang and Bazhong in Sichuan have built a profound cross-regional partnership spanning thousands of miles. Centering on the co-branded signature product “Mountain-Sea Bond” ham, the cooperation adopts high-quality hind legs of Bazhong’s Qingyu Black Pig certified by both China and the European Union. With the time-honored intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship of Jinhua ham, the two cities have jointly established a complete industrial chain covering breed conservation, ecological breeding, slaughter and cold chain, intensive processing and brand marketing.

        As the only paired cities in Zhejiang and Sichuan undertaking dual strategic missions — East-West Pairing Assistance and targeted cooperation for key cities in old revolutionary base areas — Jinhua and Bazhong adhere to the philosophy of two-way empowerment rather than one-sided assistance. Leveraging Jinhua’s strengths in e-commerce development, dynamic private economy and mature industrial experience, and drawing on Bazhong’s superior resources in germplasm, ecology, labor, energy and cultural tourism, the two sides have carried out multi-dimensional cooperation in industrial upgrading, employment expansion, consumption assistance, cultural and tourism integration, as well as educational and medical support.

        Through innovative mechanisms including enclave industrial parks, offshore sci-tech innovation platforms, the “Eastward Training & Westward Return” vocational education model and comprehensive farmer-benefiting linkage systems, the cross-regional cooperation has effectively increased household income for local farmers and cultivated sustainable pillar industries to empower high-quality development in the old revolutionary base area.

        The year 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of Zhejiang-Sichuan cross-regional collaboration and signals the official launch of regularized East-West assistance. Building on years of solid cooperation achievements, Jinhua and Bazhong continue to explore diversified win-win mechanisms, consolidate and expand poverty alleviation outcomes, promote balanced and coordinated regional development, and steadily advance toward the goal of common prosperity.

        Beyond industrial synergy and resource complementarity, the long-term in-depth cooperation between Jinhua and Bazhong serves as a vivid paradigm of coordinated regional development in the new era. The enduring mountain-sea friendship translates superior resource endowments into core industrial competitiveness and turns regional cooperation achievements into tangible livelihood benefits for local people. Through continuous two-way exchanges, mutual learning and joint innovation, the two regions are composing a new chapter of high-quality integrated development and inclusive common prosperity.

 (Shen Rong)