Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) In the winter, a visit to Zhouxi Town, Duchang County, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province reveals rows of standardized factory buildings standing neatly amidst the shimmering lake. Inside the processing workshops, workers skillfully grind seashells into pearl nuclei, make buttons, cut them into mosaics, and carve them into handicrafts. In the aquaculture bases, pearl oysters grow peacefully in the clear lake water, nurturing dazzling pearls.
Duchang County, possessing one-third of the water area of Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, is a natural place for pearl farming and is known as the "Hometown of Freshwater Pearls in China." The pearl industry has always been a traditional industry in the area, with a history of over a century.
In recent years, the United Front Work Department of the Duchang County Committee has fully leveraged the unique advantages of the United Front in "uniting hearts and minds and gathering strength," using the pearl industry as a starting point to accurately address local development needs. Through live-streaming e-commerce and short video promotion, it has continuously expanded online and offline sales channels for pearl products, continuously enhancing the brand influence of Duchang pearls.
“Many families in Zhouxi Town produce pearl shell products, ranging from small buttons to large jewelry and handicrafts. Previously, everyone operated independently, and processing machines were simply placed on both sides of the road, causing noise pollution and impacting the environment,” explained Zhang Wenbin, vice president of the Poyang Lake Pearl Shell Industry Association. To address the issues of fragmented industry scale, high financing costs, and weak product branding in the local pearl shell sector, the local United Front Work Department has leveraged its unique resources to establish a four-party coordination mechanism involving the government, banks, enterprises, and the association. This mechanism has encouraged financial institutions to optimize financial services and launched specialized financial products such as the “Pearl Shell Industry Loan.” Fifteen pearl shell enterprises have successfully signed agreements with banks, securing a total credit line of 5 million yuan. “With financial support, local enterprises are gradually transforming towards green and intelligent manufacturing, further promoting the cluster development and collaborative innovation of the pearl shell industry.”
Furthermore, the United Front Work Department of Duchang County continues to deepen the integrated development model of “United Front + Chamber of Commerce,” actively building a government-enterprise service network. Zhang Wenbin stated that the Pearl Shell Industry Association has established price standards for pearl shell products to prevent vicious price competition among enterprises; established a procurement mechanism to protect the economic interests of enterprises; and invited out-of-town buyers to conduct on-site inspections to broaden sales channels for pearl shell products. "Currently, we are also building a jewelry testing center to conduct jewelry appraisal services and improve the market competitiveness of enterprises."
To date, the pearl farming area in Duchang County has reached 15,000 mu (approximately 1,000 hectares), with 136 shellfish processing enterprises in the county, generating an annual output value of 1 billion yuan and creating more than 2,300 jobs. The "small pearl shell" has become a powerful tool for increasing farmers' income and promoting rural revitalization.
"We will continue to leverage the advantages of the United Front's extensive connections and talent pool to refine the pearl shell industry in Duchang County, make investment attraction more targeted, and enhance brand influence, injecting strong momentum into rural revitalization," said a relevant official from the United Front Work Department of the Duchang County Party Committee. (End)
