From its origins as a rural trading post to its current status as a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse, Yongjia's journey reflects the resilience and innovation of private enterprise. In 1983, the Qiaotou button market became the nation's first specialized rural commodity market, marking a foundational moment for China's private economy and the birth of the renowned "Wenzhou Model." Today, four decades on, Yongjia remains steadfast in its "industrial powerhouse" strategy, concentrating on the cultivation of a "4+3+N" modern industrial cluster. By deeply integrating technological advancement with industrial innovation, the region has secured the province's highest manufacturing accolade, the "Tiangong Award," for consecutive years and has been recognized among China's top 100 innovative counties for three straight years, accelerating private economic growth.
In a workshop at Olam Valve Technology, 23-year-old Jin Hannie is fine-tuning a multimodal AI early warning system. He recalls his childhood memories of his family's workshop being covered in oil and grease. Now, after returning from Nanyang Technological University, Jin is collaborating with his father to overhaul the company's production and sales systems. AI is now deeply embedded across the enterprise, with sensor data uploaded to the cloud to create digital twins that can predict fatigue damage risks up to five hours in advance. The company's flexible manufacturing platform, composed of 16 specialized AI agents working in concert, has streamlined operations from order assessment to production scheduling and equipment maintenance, slashing order delivery times by over 70%. This father-son partnership is a powerful symbol of Yongjia's generational business transitions, where the next generation injects new energy into established industries by embracing new technologies rather than abandoning them.
This local drive has led to a full-scale digital transformation, with all surveyed industrial enterprises completing basic digitalization and 60.4% reaching an advanced level. The region has developed two provincial-level key industrial internet platforms and 11 municipal-level ones. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Yongjia focused on its specialty clusters—pumps and valves, footwear, educational toys, and electrical equipment—by publishing a demand list for "AI+" application scenarios. This has guided leading enterprises to develop vertical industry models, encouraging a culture of shared innovation. The pump and valve industry is transitioning towards system process equipment and key energy equipment, while the footwear and apparel industry is moving towards fashionable, smart manufacturing. The educational toy sector is expanding into educational equipment and cultural creativity, and the electrical industry is accelerating its shift towards smart grids and key basic components, with output value growing an average of 24.1% annually.
"Customers now want a complete solution for an entire amusement park, not just a single piece of equipment," says Jin Liqun, chairman of Huaxia Amusement Co., Ltd. The company has evolved from selling products to delivering scenes and now to providing comprehensive solutions, exporting to 108 countries and regions and even launching its own cultural IP overseas. In the first half of this year, Huaxia Amusement's export value surpassed 35 million yuan, with production orders booked out three months in advance.
On August 18th, the navigation lab for AeroCore National Innovation was inaugurated at the Maiteng Zhilian Science and Technology Park, along with doctoral and master's innovation stations. The lab is tackling a long-standing issue for domestic manufacturers: the dependence on imported industrial-grade IMUs. Their self-developed WAG-Ring high-precision navigation chip has achieved small-batch production, making the company the first in China to industrialize this technology. These chips can accurately sense position, velocity, and attitude without satellite signals, making them reliable in tunnels, forests, and other GPS-denied environments. Co-founder Wang Jinliang explains that the company is currently deploying products for drones, car navigation, and embodied robots, and they project an output value of 25 million yuan this year. The company recently won the sole grand prize in the entrepreneurial category at the Wenzhou regional finals of the "Makers in China" competition.
Technological innovation is fueling the rise of emerging industries. Yongjia is accelerating its "12345" three-year plan to build a large-scale incubator cluster, capitalizing on its transportation advantages to connect with innovation hubs in Hangzhou and Shanghai. This year alone, 183 new enterprises have been incubated, attracting 1,823 entrepreneurs and talents. In the Yongjia Connected Vehicle Incubation Base, Zhejiang Wuxia Technology's chairman, Zhu Xiaoyan, is leading efforts to explore "AI+" applications in intelligent supervision, focusing on fatigue detection and speed warnings. In 2025, Yongjia issued the city's first testing and demonstration license for intelligent connected vehicles and opened road rights for autonomous vehicles in mountainous areas. The first batch of self-driving delivery vehicles is now in operation, delivering up to 3,000 parcels daily in both urban and mountainous districts, making Yongjia the city's first demonstration zone for unmanned logistics delivery.
This digital push is yielding results. The core industry's manufacturing added value grew from 686 million yuan in 2020 to 1.487 billion yuan in 2025, an average annual growth of 21.8%. Major projects, including BYD's new energy battery plants and a pumped-storage power station, are under construction, steadily increasing the share of strategic emerging industries in the total output of surveyed industrial enterprises.
Earlier this year, Shenle Co., Ltd. moved into a new 70-mu factory in Wuniu Street. "Our old site reached peak output of 500-600 million yuan, but even before our new plant is fully operational, we're already exceeding 600 million," says Gu Wenbo, the general manager's assistant. The cramped conditions of the old facility necessitated manual transport of goods, leading to inefficiency and even contamination issues. The turning point came through Yongjia's "data-driven land allocation" mechanism, where companies are evaluated on their data performance. After the move, the company's relay production jumped 15% month-on-month. This year, Yongjia has allocated land to nine companies through this mechanism, totaling 187.3 mu, ensuring that land scarcity doesn't hinder promising businesses.
Support extends beyond land. The local government has introduced 40 policies to accelerate industrial high-quality development, offering rewards for companies recognized as "specialized and innovative" at various levels and providing technical transformation subsidies. A company's technological upgrade project can receive up to 5 million yuan, with a 2 million yuan reward for those designated as provincial-level future factories. The county has also been the first in the city to launch a plan to encourage corporate mergers and acquisitions, completing 42 such cases to help leading enterprises integrate their supply chains. Through a comprehensive tiered cultivation system, Yongjia has nurtured 11 key "little giant" enterprises, 18 national-level "little giants," 15 provincial "hidden champions," and 118 provincial-level specialized and innovative SMEs.
These efforts are paying off. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the added value of surveyed industrial enterprises surpassed the 10 billion yuan mark, growing an average of 11.3% annually. Industrial, manufacturing, and technological transformation investments grew by 17.1%, 19.8%, and 18.9% per year, respectively. The city continues to optimize its business environment, ensuring that private enterprises can grow and succeed.
The story of Yongjia is one of evolution. It begins with a button market and continues with cutting-edge technology, demonstrating how a forward-thinking approach to industrial policy can accelerate modern economic development. Its innovative approach to renovating old industrial zones and leveraging digital tools to promote internal corporate growth has been selected as a provincial model experience.
At the heart of this is a "smart" land management strategy. By using digital twin technology, the local authority has built a comprehensive map of industrial parks. They were the first in Wenzhou to introduce guidelines for "industrial buildings" to support heavy industries in multi-story facilities. To address the lack of capital for village renovations, they have piloted a "BOT" model for old park redevelopment. Through their "data-driven land allocation" program, they perform "no-sense" evaluations of enterprises, using big data to create detailed profiles and prioritize land distribution for top performers.
The local "Enterprise Home" platform has also been recognized as a national model for business services. It expedites financing with a "Direct Banking Express" program and innovative financial products, while a legal services team offers support through online sessions and data-driven compliance advice. The platform also assists with digital marketing, helping enterprises expand their brand and market reach through partnerships with online platforms, short-video promotions, and dedicated training.
Yongjia is also fostering a thriving innovation ecosystem through a network of 23 incubators that house over 600 businesses and more than 6,000 people. The Maiteng Zhilian Science and Technology Park, located near Wenzhou North Station, has attracted 47 tech companies and 45 high-level talents. Integrated services provide incubation support, and the system actively opens up testing scenarios for connected vehicles, low-altitude economy, and AI, helping companies validate their technologies and secure major orders. This dynamic environment is a testament to Yongjia's enduring spirit: a commitment to forging new paths and accelerating its own modern industrial future.
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