On the aluminum alloy wheel production line of Sanmenxia Dicastal Wheel Manufacturing Co., Ltd., workers are busy with assembly and polishing tasks. The city of Sanmenxia in Henan Province is transitioning from reliance on "yellow, white, and black" resources—gold, aluminum, and coal—to leading innovation in new materials like copper-based, aluminum-based, and rare scattered metals. It is also shifting from traditional equipment manufacturing to building a complete new energy storage industry chain. By driving industrial transformation to expand employment opportunities, enhancing job quality through skills training, and optimizing the workforce structure by attracting talent, Sanmenxia is forging a high-quality development path where industry stimulates employment and employment, in turn, fuels industrial growth.
The foundation for robust employment lies in thriving industries. By 2025, Sanmenxia aims to cultivate three key 100-billion-yuan industrial chains focused on gold, aluminum, and copper; three 50-billion-yuan chains involving coal and coal chemicals, equipment manufacturing, and new energy; along with six 10-billion-yuan chains spanning semiconductor new materials, building materials, biomedicine, and electronics information. According to Lü Liangtao, Director of the Sanmenxia Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the city has implemented specialized plans to boost employment through advanced manufacturing and promote "AI+" initiatives. These efforts support key enterprises in upgrading their operations and have facilitated the transfer of 263 industrial projects from the Yangtze River Delta region. This has led to the addition of 34 new industrial enterprises above a designated size, creating approximately 20,000 new jobs.
In the cleanroom of the Sanmenxia production base for Zhongke Xinshidai Technology Co., Ltd., chip components the size of buttons move orderly along inspection stations. These chips, capable of withstanding extreme high-voltage impacts, have become essential components for aerospace companies. General Manager Wang Lulu stated that the company's annual output value exceeded 200 million yuan in 2025, employing 100 local workers.
Collaborative innovation between clean energy and traditional industries is also spawning new employment growth points. At Sanmenxia Dicastal Wheel Manufacturing, the processes of "smart melting and precision casting" demand extremely high energy supply reliability. The company has deepened cooperation with Sanmenxia Zhongyu Gas to develop a customized, three-dimensional energy solution. Establishing daily, weekly, and monthly coordination mechanisms and relying on a three-tier gas supply system—primary, backup, and emergency peak-shaving—enables gas volume adjustments within 24 hours, achieving a 100% qualification rate for molten aluminum. This "clean energy supply + smart collaboration" model drives the creation of new positions related to intelligent upgrades.
In the frontier field of new materials, Sanmenxia is accelerating its layout. Neng Huan (Sanmenxia) International New Materials Co., Ltd. has commenced production of its 50,000-ton annual capacity NPR new materials project. This material is widely used in aerospace, automotive crash protection, and other sectors, creating numerous high-skilled jobs locally. In the rare scattered metals sector, Henan Zhongyuan Gold Smelter Co., Ltd. has achieved the secondary utilization of 12 valuable elements, while SDIC Jincheng Metallurgy Co., Ltd. extracts and prepares germanium crystals from copper anode slime, with annual output value surpassing 50 million yuan.
Data indicates that the annual main business revenue of Sanmenxia's metal new materials industrial cluster has exceeded 80 billion yuan, ranking it among the first batch of strategic emerging industrial clusters in Henan Province. In 2025, the value-added of industries above a designated size in the city grew by 8.4%, ranking third in the province. The value-added of high-tech industries and high-growth manufacturing industries increased by 14.02% and 18.3%, respectively. This industrial leap provides solid support for employment.
As industrial job opportunities continue to expand, how can the skills of the workforce keep pace? Sanmenxia offers a clear solution: large-scale vocational skills training to ensure workers have marketable skills and secure employment. "Having a specialized skill gives me confidence," said Wang Jianguo, a 50-year-old laid-off worker from Hubin District. After participating in a government-funded "Warehouse Manager" training program, he became a stock keeper at the Smart Warehousing Park in Sanmenxia Economic Development Zone, earning a monthly income of over 4,000 yuan. In 2025, the city provided various vocational skills training for 56,408 participants, including 20,744 who received subsidized training.
Sanmenxia actively explores a "training + employment placement + branding" model. Leveraging provincial-level human resources brand training demonstration bases, it conducted training for 19,930 individuals in roles like health managers and elderly care nurses, and for 6,969 individuals as forklift operators and couriers. The city has successfully established seven regional human resources brands recognized across Henan Province.
The growth of industrial chains necessitates changes in talent cultivation models. Sanmenxia brings the classroom directly to the production line. Inside the heat treatment workshop of Baowu Aluminum's hot-rolling plant, machinery hums as intelligent production lines operate at high speed. Recently, 100 students from Sanmenxia Polytechnic entered Baowu Aluminum. As part of an "order-oriented class," after completing foundational studies, safety education, and exams, they began formal internships at the enterprise. "Students spend half their time studying on campus and the other half directly embedded in the company. The most pressing challenges at the industry's forefront become their research topics," said Yang Tong, Party Secretary of Sanmenxia Polytechnic. Under this model, graduates can contribute immediately upon hiring, with their internship period counted towards seniority, giving them an advantage in salary and grade determination, achieving a seamless transition from "graduation to employment to career development."
Such practices of integrating industry and education are not isolated cases in Sanmenxia. The city promotes collaboration between technical colleges and over 60 large and medium-sized enterprises, both within and outside the province, covering more than 70 specialties, with an annual training scale exceeding 10,000 people. At the platform level, Sanmenxia vigorously advances government-school-enterprise cooperation, encouraging enterprises to build innovation consortia with universities and research institutes. To date, 19 enterprises across five batches have been selected as "Provincial Industry-Education Integration Enterprises." The implementation of the "Xiaohan Talent Program" further provides high-level talent support for industrial upgrading. The city dispatched 50 "Technology Deputy General Managers" to enterprises in its first batch, ranking fourth in the province for total deployments.
The extension of industries means employment opportunities are not confined to urban factories but reach into fields and rural households. In Lushi County, small shiitake mushrooms are "linking" a prosperous local industry. Hu Mingjun, Director of the Lushi County Edible Fungi Industry Technology Research Center, noted that the county's annual mushroom production is stable at 400 million units, with a comprehensive output value nearing 10 billion yuan, accounting for 60% of the county's GDP and providing employment and income for 36,000 households, or 120,000 people, near their homes. "It's a five-minute walk from my home to here, and I earn over 3,000 yuan a month," said Cui Fenna, an employee of Sanmenxia Sensheng Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. Lushi County invested 138 million yuan to develop a rare edible fungi project. Wang Weipeng, the company's responsible person, said, "We provide mushroom farmers with菌棒 (fungus inoculum), build mobile smart mushroom houses, offer technical guidance, and guarantee buy-backs and sales channels." Upon completion of the project's second phase, it is expected to provide stable employment for over a hundred people.
In Yanshan Village, Wangjiahou Township, Shanzhou District, Forsythia suspensa fruits hang heavily from branches across the mountains. "This forsythia is our 'golden bean'," said Sun Yantao, manager of a 3,000-mu forsythia base, who expects this year's harvest to sell for around 320,000 yuan. Centered on Dianzi Township, Shanzhou District's Chinese herbal medicine industry chain has increased incomes for 4,600 farming households, with output value exceeding 100 million yuan, forming an integrated pattern combining "planting + processing + cultural tourism."
Hu Yixuan, 36, is a local youth who returned to Sanmenxia to start a business. In 2013, he returned to his hometown and founded a technology company focused on agricultural plant protection using drones. "Traditional farming relies heavily on manual labor, which is inefficient and costly. Drone plant protection accurately solves these pain points—it can efficiently handle pesticide spraying, fertilizing, and seeding," he explained. His team is now a regular service provider for local agricultural cooperatives. This spring, he started a drone night school at his company. Zhang Min, 56, was among the first trainees. Holding the control stick, she said, "If you're willing to learn, anyone can master this high-tech!"
Through skills training, an increasing number of workers are transitioning from manual labor roles to skilled positions. During the 2025 "Spring Breeze Action" employment service campaign, the city innovatively created a service chain integrating "job matching + skills enhancement + entrepreneurship support + expert guidance." It cumulatively held 53 online and offline job fairs, offering over 55,000 positions. Addressing skill gaps among migrant workers and market demands, the city launched training for high-demand occupations, implementing a closed-loop "training + certification + employment" service, achieving a post-training employment rate of 72%.
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