The first people's congress of wenling city in Taizhou is held in October 1949. [Photo/Wenling Daily]

Formerly a backward place in southeast Zhejiang, Wenling, a count-level city in Taizhou has witnessed dramatic changes over the past 70 years.

Wenling was liberated by the guerrillas led by the Communist Party of China on May 28 of 1949,

In the past 70 years, the population of Wenling has increased from 500,000 to more than 1.2 million, with its central urban area expanded from 2.6 square kilometers to 60 square kilometers.

Over the period, the city's domestic gross product (GDP) has grown from 22 million yuan to over 100 billion yuan.

According to official historical records of Wenling, the city's industry was almost blank shortly after the liberation, with only some small workshops of machinery, textile, printing and rice milling. Its total industrial output was 4.66 million yuan in 1949.

Yuan Weifang, a 70-year-old villager from Xiao village in the city, recalled that a lot of people still suffered from hunger at that time due to the lack of farmland, saying that they only have half of what is required to be adequately fed.

In 1978, China embarked on the journey of reform and opening-up and Wenling is no doubt among one of the beneficiaries.

According to Zhou Yuezhong, head of the Wenling bureau of economic development and reform, the city was already a county renowned for agriculture and fishery then, and with the deepening of rural reform, the productive forces were emancipated, which underpinned the city's agro-modernization in the 21st century.

The city was designated a national model county for modern agriculture in 2012.

On January 15, 1983, four villagers from Muyu village of the city raised 9,000 yuan to set up an arts and crafts factory, which was the first joint-stock enterprise in China.

The mushroom of similar companies with a shareholding system later energized Wenling's transformation into a national prestigious industrial and trade city.

To date, the city is home to 182 companies with annual revenue topping 100 million yuan including nine listed ones.

In 2018, Wenling was listed among top 100 counties nationwide in terms of comprehensive economic competence and investment potentials.

Wenling's industrial development has entered a critical stage, said Zhou, adding that the city is ramping up transformation and upgrading of its traditional industries through renovation, the construction of small and micro parks and the implementation of standard and high-quality projects.