ZHEJIANG, May 23rd (ABP) – African journalists undergoing internship in the People’s Republic of China, accompanied by the director of China-Africa Press Center of China International Press Communication Center, Mrs. Lou Danzhu, took the train on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 from the capital Beijing to Jinhua city in Zhejiang province, in the framework of the 8th China-Africa Youth Festival and media exchanges through various on-site visits to know more about the achievements made by China in various fields.
Upon arrival in Jinhua city in the afternoon, African journalists paid a visit to the ancient city of Jinhua housing the Wanfo Pagoda that was built from 1062 to 1064. This Buddhist tower is a nine-storey octagonal pavilion-style building in brick and wood structure.
During the visit, communication facilitators pointed out that during the anti-Japanese war, due to its height where people standing on top can see the whole city, the tower was knocked down in order to prevent the Japanese troops from snooping and occupying the territory.
Thus, Wanfo Pagoda was reconstructed in 2020, and was opened to the public. The newly constructed Pagoda is 99.99 meters high, based on the design of Wanfo Pagoda built during the Song Dynasty. The newly built Pagoda has become a landscape, architectural and cultural benchmark for the ecological corridor and modern metropolis in central Zhejiang.
Inside the tower, Buddha statues resemble some statues used by some religious denominations, and their gesture is a symbol of respect and humility, according to communication facilitators. Visitors may see how much beautiful Jinhua city is in all its cardinal points, when standing on the last floor of Wanfo Pagoda.
Jinhua is a famous city known for its profound historical and cultural background. For instance, Jinhua boasts a rice planting civilization of more than 10,000 years and an institution history of over 2,200 years. The city has been hailed as ” another hometown of Confucius and Mencius ” with its flourishing culture and generations of celebrities. In the handbook that facilitates the visitors to know more about Jinhua, it has been highlighted that there are over 30,000 high-level talents of Jinhua origin at home and abroad, including 49 academicians, more than 5,000 PhDs and over 6,000 professors.
In addition, Jinhua is at the heart of Zhejiang and the garden in the center of the province. There are 10 railways and 9 highways in the city. Jinhua and Yiwu stations receive 462 high-speed trains daily, linking the city directly to 21 provincial capitals. Jinhua has a forest coverage rate of 61% and the best Class I drinking water of Zhejiang. Jinhua Double Dragon Cave, the Residence of Lord Shi of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hengdian World Studios, and Lanxi Zhuge Bagua Village are renowned tourist attractions.
In the same line of ideas, Jinhua is the hometown of industries with a large market. Jinhua is the first prefecture-level city in Zhejiang, with the total number of privately or individually owned businesses exceeding one million. There are 86 markets with an annual turnover of over RMB 100 million and 4 exceeding RMB 10 million. Emerging economic growth models, such as cross-border e-commerce and marketing by online celebrities, are developing rapidly.
Jinhua is a frontier of reform and a model of opening-up. It has implemented more than 50 national and provincial pilot reform programs. The three major opening-up channels, that is, Yiwu-Madrid-Railway, Yiwu-Ningbo-Zhoushan Channel, and cross-border e-commerce, enable Jinhua to establish trade relations with 233 countries and regions. Jinhua ranks second in Zhejiang in terms of total export value and export value to the Belt and Road countries and regions.
It’s worth noting that Jinhua is made up of Wucheng and Jindong districts; Lanxi, Dongyang, Yiwu and Yongkang county-level cities; and 3 counties such as Pujiang, Wuyi and Pan’ an.
