The night view of Donggang in Putuo district, Zhoushan city

On an early morning of June, Shi Guangpin, a villager from Qingbang Island, Dongji town in Zhoushan city’s Putuo district, drove his boat offshore into a family farm to feed tens of thousands of Daiqu (a local breed) large yellow croakers. In 2021, Shi has already received over 20 million jin (or 10 million kilograms) of orders for the large yellow croakers.

About 40 kilometers away from Shi’s farm on the shore, the family of Li Wenchun, another local villager, also profited from these large yellow croakers. By investing in the family farm, Li will be rewarded with a dividend of 500,000 yuan. On the sea and on the shore, local people are happily getting rich. What Shi and Li have in common is that they are reaping the benefits from the new drive to realize gongtong fuyu, or common prosperity.

Throughout Putuo district, the public is proactively responding to the call to achieve common prosperity. In recent years, the Putuo government has been committed to building an open, dynamic, beautiful and happy Putuo, guided by the spirit of “working hard, daring to chew bones and striving for excellence”. In the process, it has made considerable progress in improving material wellbeing, ecological environment, living and working conditions, and in promoting democracy, rule of law, and equity and justice, which has helped lay a good foundation for the island’s pursuit of common prosperity.

Indeed, Putuo’s shipbuilding industry was able to overcome the impact of Covid-19 and turned the tide in the face of myriad of difficulties. According to the number of ship repair operations, three shipyards Liuheng township of Putuo district (and four in Zhoushan) made the global top ten shipyards in 2020 in a list released by Clarkson Research, a shipbuilding and shipping market analysis agency based in the UK and widely recognized as the world’s most authoritative.

In Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard Co. Ltd., the largest ship repair facility in the world in 2020 where more than 400 ships and vessels were repaired in a year, intelligent, green and safe 6S production workshops and sewage treatment system have been built and installed. With its change and upgrading to green development, the company, and those similar to them, have gained a new lease of life amid challenges.  

The green and high-value transformation of ship repair industry is just an epitome of the high-quality development of Putuo’s maritime economy. In 2021 alone, the industrial output value of the whole district reached 23.04 billion yuan, of which the three major industries, namely marine products deep processing, ship repairing and machinery manufacturing accounted for more than 75%.

The further advance of the traditional industries has enabled the development of new and emerging industries. In the East Sea, ships buying bonded oil for a refill come to Zhoushan in droves each day. Relying on its unique location and policy initiatives, Putuo’s “refueling business” is growing by the day. In 2020, the annual settlement of oil supplied by ships exceeded 6 million tons, accounting for 40% of the country’s total.

The coastal business area of Donggang in Putuo district, Zhoushan city

Taking advantage of establishment of Zhoushan city’s oil and gas industry chain, Putuo district is now planning to focus on the development of clean energy such as LNG (liquefied natural gas) and hydrogen energy. According to the plan, the receiving capacity of the LNG terminals in Putuo will stand at 37 million tons once completed, and will deliver LNG to various inland provinces and cities along the Yangtze River. Scientific and technological innovation also proves to be inexhaustible source for the development of Putuo’s maritime industries, which have been continually attracting top talents.

To realize common prosperity, the key is on “common”. More specifically, it is to narrow regional disparity, urban-rural disparity and income disparity, and gradually reach equity in material, cultural and public services for all. One example is the renovation, demolition and reconstruction of old residential areas, which used to be the most bustling, and the accompanying infrastructure upgrading. Started from 2018, the campaign has seen marked improvement of living conditions in these areas.

The overall development of Putuo lies not only in urban and rural areas, but also in islands. As a district (county) with the second largest number of islands in Zhejiang province, Putuo once encountered some problems, such as the imbalanced development between large and small islands. To ensure high-quality development, Putuo has instituted a series of policies and measures, including developing differentiated tourism themes for each island, i.e. homestay, camping, sea fishing, among others.

“Even those who live in the city are looking at Putuo’s island life with envy,” said Chen Piaohong, a girl born in the 1990s. Four years ago, she quit her job in Ningbo city and returned to her hometown of Qingbang Island in Dongji township to open the island’s first bed and breakfast. Now, her business is getting ever popular, its annual income reaching over 400,000 yuan. Chen also recruited several local women to help with the homestay, contributing to the employment of women on the island.

Chen’s happy life is a microcosm of Putuo’s rural revitalization efforts. Statistics show that by the end of 2020, per capita disposable income of rural residents in Putuo stood at 38,600 yuan. Per capita disposable income gap between permanent urban and rural residents dropped to 1.62 (1 denotes parity), lower than the provincial average.

The coastal scenery of Donggang in Putuo district, Zhoushan city

While increasing urban and rural incomes is an important aspect in pursuing common prosperity, improving people’s wellbeing is also crucial. “Two I had to travel by boat and by bus to the city area two or three times a month to see a doctor,” said Liu Yangyue, a villager from Putuo’s Da'ao village, who has been suffering from diabetes for more than 20 years and needs to go to hospital regularly. “Now everything can be done in the health center at home, and there are even experts!”

This is the new normal for island residents of Putuo to seek medical treatment. In order to improve the capacity of primary-level medical services, Putuo has made continuous efforts to unify the management of medical and health resources. Since 2020, the Putuo government has invested 17 million yuan to upgrade the facilities of 53 island primary medical institutions.

On the Peach Blossom Island, the Town Homecare Service Center is like a “paradise” for an elder villager surnamed Wang. “There are many recreational facilities here, and we can play ball games and keep fit together.” The one-stop administrative service that the Putuo government introduced in 2017 to its grassroots branches has greatly facilitated the public to solve their issues and enhanced their sense of gain and happiness.

Editor: Huang Yan