A bird's-eye view of Zhengyang Apple Base. In the late spring season, strolling through the Zhengyang Apple Orchard in Zhongcun Town, Ning County, the fragrance of blossoms from thousands of acres of apple trees fills the air. Visitors crowd the glass walkway, and laughter surrounds the wooden villas, unfolding a picturesque scene of thriving industry, beautiful countryside, and prosperous farmers under the warm spring sun.
The transformation from a traditional agricultural model of scattered planting and meager profits to a characteristic industrial cluster spanning ten thousand acres with an annual output value exceeding one billion yuan marks a remarkable evolution for Zhongcun Town's apple industry. This success is driven by the continuous empowerment of the town's Party Committee, the pioneering efforts of grassroots Party organizations and members, and serves as a vivid example of Party-building leading rural revitalization.
In recent years, adhering to Ning County's overall industrial development plan and the "Five Zones" Party-building requirements, Zhongcun Town has leveraged its resource advantages to focus on its distinctive apple industry. It has deeply cultivated the integrated development of "agriculture + culture + tourism" through a practical approach of "establishing Party branches on industrial chains, gathering Party members on the development frontlines, and enriching the masses on the path to revitalization." This has propelled the transformation of the formerly traditional agricultural town into a renowned demonstration zone for rural revitalization.
**Party Building Steering the Course: Building a Solid Foundation for Industrial Development** "Without the Party Committee's coordination and precise policies, we wouldn't have the contiguous orchards and stable employment we see today," reflected Li Gang, Secretary of the Zhengyang Agricultural Company's Party Branch, recalling the challenges of the base's initial construction phase.
Previously, Zhongcun Village relied mainly on traditional grain cultivation, characterized by a single industrial structure, weak risk resistance, and limited avenues for increasing incomes. Addressing this, the Town Party Committee, based on the town's industrial realities, identified the apple industry as the leading sector for strengthening the town and enriching residents. It spearheaded "Three Development" activities—inter-village co-development, village-enterprise joint development, and paired assistance—between the Zhengyang Agricultural Company's Party Branch and the Party branches of seven involved villages, breaking down administrative barriers and pooling development efforts.
"Wherever the industry develops, the Party branch's role is exerted, and Party members are present," stated Fu Yongfeng, Secretary of the Zhongcun Town Party Committee. Anchored to the goals of building an "agriculturally strong town, an ecologically livable beautiful town, and a cultural tourism town," the town established a three-tier responsibility system with town Party and government leaders taking charge, coordinating village Party branches, and ensuring Party leadership permeates every stage and aspect of industrial development.
Land transfer was the first major hurdle for scaled development. To overcome issues like land fragmentation and difficult transfers, the Town Party Committee formed specialized service teams to proactively mediate disputes, explain policies, and address concerns household by household. Within just one year, they successfully consolidated the transfer of 12,000 acres of land across seven villages, laying the groundwork for large-scale, standardized apple production. Concurrently, targeted investment attraction brought in Zhengyang Agricultural Company, which invested 2.4 billion yuan to establish the country's largest self-rooted dwarfing dense planting apple demonstration base. The base is equipped with hail nets, frost protection machines, and a smart orchard management system, using technology to upgrade the industry from simply "growing apples" to "growing apples intelligently."
Today, the Zhengyang Apple Base drives the development of 5,200 additional acres of orchards by surrounding Party members and residents. The total apple planting area in Zhongcun Town has reached 17,000 acres, earning it the title of "One of China's Top 100 Towns for Apple Industry." Over a thousand residents have secured year-round local employment, with per capita annual income increasing by more than 10,000 yuan, as the "red engine" continues to inject strong momentum into industrial growth.
**Extending and Strengthening the Chain: Activating New Momentum for Industrial Development** "Selling apples right after harvest used to mean low profits and high vulnerability to market fluctuations," said Gao Yunfeng, head of Zhengyang Agricultural Company. "Now, with cold storage, fully automated sorting lines, and deep processing projects, the value of our apples has doubled, and our confidence in developing the industry is stronger."
For long-term sustainability, a complete industrial chain is crucial. The Zhongcun Town Party Committee, guided by a full-chain development mindset focused on "extending, supplementing, and strengthening the chain," has actively worked to expand the industry from mere planting to include cold chain storage, deep processing, and online/offline sales, maximizing industrial value.
To transition from selling raw produce to selling value-added products, the Town Party Committee facilitated discussions between the Zhengyang Agricultural Company's Party Branch and management to define the path for chain extension. An investment of 1.7 billion yuan established a 20,000-ton intelligent cold storage facility, a fully automated commercial sorting line, a fruit and vegetable nutrient-locking production line, and an apple packaging workshop. This created an integrated system covering planting, storage, processing, and sales, ensuring full control and added value from "branch to palate."
In terms of team building, the Town Party Committee continues to strengthen the vanguard role of Party members. By establishing Party member model posts and responsibility zones, and implementing a "Three Cultivations" program—training Party members into operational backbones, turning backbone Party members into management personnel, and developing operational backbones into Party members—it continuously solidifies talent support for industrial development, infusing red dynamism into the high-quality growth of the apple industry.
Currently, the fruiting area of the Zhengyang Apple Base is 8,000 acres, with an annual output of 10,000 tons and sales revenue exceeding one billion yuan. It annually recycles 20,000 tons of agricultural waste like fruit branches, promoting the synergistic development of grain and livestock industries in Zhongcun Town. A green recycling system of "manure-fertilizer-grain-fruit-livestock-biomass" is gradually forming, achieving a mutually reinforcing enhancement of economic and ecological benefits.
**Integration and Synergy: Painting a New Picture of Rural Revitalization** Quality improvement hinges on integration. Building on its industrial foundation and centered around the Zhengyang Apple Orchard, the Zhongcun Town Party Committee has successively developed supporting facilities including a tourist center, e-commerce live-streaming rooms, a vocational farmer training center, dining facilities, wooden villas, an apple square, fitness trails, an RV camp, apple and vegetable picking gardens, a barbecue area, a glass walkway, an apple science and culture museum, a intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall, a time square, and a non-powered playground. It has also improved service facilities like tourist signage, smart tourism systems, parking lots, and restrooms. Focusing on the six key elements of "food, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping, and entertainment," it aims to create a year-round tourism experience of "flower viewing in spring, summer retreats, fruit picking in autumn, and snow fun in winter."
The town has organized distinctive cultural tourism events such as the "Flower Sea Shining Ningzhou" marathon, the "Flowers Fill Ningzhou" rural culture and art tourism festival, a national amateur Go tournament, the Qingyang Apple Brand Promotion and Golden Autumn Sales Conference, and a village basketball league (CBA). Using festivals as a medium and tourism to boost industry, it attracts visitors from within and outside the province, turning orchards into scenic spots, villages into playgrounds, and products into commodities.
The integrated development of agriculture, culture, and tourism has not only invigorated the rural economy but also broadened income channels for residents. Data shows the Zhengyang Apple Orchard scenic area receives over 100,000 tourists annually, with online apple sales exceeding 5 million yuan and a price premium of over 2 yuan per kilogram. Local residents benefit from stable land rental income and employment within the park, and also earn additional income through live-streaming sales, operating homestays, and starting agritainment businesses. This model of "multiple revenues from one piece of land, multiple benefits from one job" ensures the dividends of industrial development are shared more widely and fairly among the populace, achieving a synergistic resonance between industrial prosperity and improved livelihoods.
From small beginnings, Party building has activated industrial potential; from weakness to strength, integrated development has broadened the path for industrial upgrading, town strengthening, and resident enrichment. The Zhengyang Apple Orchard has now been upgraded to a National 3A-level tourist attraction integrating industry cultivation, cultural tourism experiences, and science education, and is currently striving to become a National 4A-level site, serving as a living example of Ning County's integrated agricultural, cultural, and tourism development.
"We will continue to deepen the integrated 'Party Building + Agriculture-Culture-Tourism' development model, constantly strengthening the distinctive apple industry and refining the integration framework," said Zhongcun Town Party Committee Secretary Fu Yongfeng, expressing full confidence in the next steps. "We aim to make the 'small apple' a true 'fruit of happiness' that enriches the town and its people, and establish integrated development as a powerful engine for rural revitalization, contributing to the high-quality economic and social development of the county."
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