ORDOS, China, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — On April 24, Ordos International Communication Center was unveiled as the first international communication center in Inner Mongolia. To become a new window for exchanges between cities along the Yellow River and the world, the center is regarded by the local government as the headquarters for the global dissemination of the image of Ordos as “a warm city”, according to Ordos Convergence Media Center.
Located in the southwest of Inner Mongolia and inside the rectangular bend of the Yellow River, Ordos is a famous place for controlling desertification and a key strategic area of energy in China.
In the 1980s, the advertising slogan “Ordos warms the whole world” widely known in China brings fame to the city which abounds in cashmere sweaters. In the following decades, depending on astonishing resource endowments (1/6 of coal reserves and 1/3 of natural gas reserves in China), Ordos gradually grew into the most dynamic city with the greatest economic strength in Inner Mongolia. Meanwhile, it shoulders greater responsibility in the national strategy.
In 2022, against the background of tight energy supplies, Ordos with a population of only 2.2 million people produced 870 million tons of coal, to fulfill 1/4 of national supplies and satisfy the urgent demand of 25 provinces and cities for “coal”; in Beijing, 1 out of 5 lights is powered up by Ordos; in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, natural gas used by half of the families comes from Ordos.
To avoid the resource curse, Ordos is focusing on adjusting the energy mix and carrying out a green transformation, with the successive implementation of innovative new energy projects such as the first carbon-neutral industrial park and the largest ecological photovoltaic power station in the desert in China, which provide new impetus for economic growth and help the Ordos open up a “warm” and “clean” path of development.
In the past decade, the government of Ordos has invested 12.756 billion RMB cumulatively in “afforestation”. 11.2 million people in total took part in voluntary tree planting, 144.41 million trees (converted) have been planted, and 8.63 square kilometers of wetlands within the boundary have been recovered. Now, on the Ordos Plateau, deserts, grasslands, lakes and valleys are interwoven into a beautiful natural landscape, creating a lush green shelterbelt in north China.
For two consecutive years, Ordos has ranked top by GDP per capita, ahead of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in China. In 2022, it was nearly 3 times more than GDP per capita nationwide.
Every evening, lights are ablaze in stores along streets, where people fashionably dressed look at ease. In the rosy sunset, urban grasslands, malls, pubs, parks and gyms are all open for people to embrace life.
The citizens of Ordos exude confidence, which results from their quality life, as well as various benefits given by the government.
As early as 2010, Ordos has taken the lead in implementing 12-year compulsory education and 15-year free education for ethnic groups and special education. In 2020, Jungar Banner of Ordos became the first to offer free HPV vaccination to nearly 10,000 girls in primary and secondary schools. Since 2021, all females aged 13 to 18 in Ordos have been able to get free HPV vaccines.
“A warm city” is an image that Ordos conveys based on factors such as its resource endowments, economic development, ecological environment, quality of urban life, cultural atmosphere and literacy of citizens, containing Ordos’s self-motivation and confidence in the future.
With the International Communication Center, Ordos has a lot more stories to tell.
