East China's scenic lake restores ecological system through comprehensive approach

The Qiandao Lake, the largest artificial lake in east China's Yangtze River Delta, has achieved ecological restoration through comprehensive environmental improvement, involving conservation efforts from local cultivators and even financial institutes.

The Qiandao Lake, located in the city's Chun'an County, is an artificial lake built during the construction of the Xin'an River Hydropower Station.

Like dazzling gems,1,078 islands dot the lake and thousands of smaller ones are scattered across it. Hence, the lake has earned the name of "Qiandao Lake," which literally means "Thousand Islands Lake" in Chinese.

Being recognized as an outstanding example of the country's ecological restoration and biodiversity protection efforts, the artificial freshwater lake has seen agricultural plantations around it adopt eco-friendly cultivation to reduce potential harms of insecticide.

"To protect the ecosystem of the Qiandao Lake, we remove the weeds by hand. All the weeds in our navel orange plantation are removed by hand," said Weng Wei, manager of Chun'an Qiandao Lake Jieju Eco-Agricultural Development Company.

Financial efforts have also been launched to promote the region's environmental conservation program. Since 2018, the World Bank has planned 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in loans to Chun'an County for pollution control and forest restoration with local cultivators being encouraged to use more eco-friendly fertilizers.

"We have adopted ecological cultivation in our plantation. We use the organic and the formulated fertilizers promoted by the World Bank programs," Weng said.

The forestry system of the Qiandao Lake, which has distinct features and vulnerabilities, is also included into the environmental improvement efforts, according to Fang Yanjie, senior engineer of Zhejiang Forestry Survey Planning and Design Institute.

"The forests around the Qiandao Lake have distinct features and vulnerabilities. For example, the forests are mainly consisted of Masson's pine, which are evergreen and needleleaf. Because the structures and the species diversity of their underbrushes are rather simple, the forests are relatively vulnerable to pest infestations," said Fang.

In an effort to strengthen ecological resilience, local environmental conservators are also racing to diversify tree species so as to help the lake's forestry system better withstand diseases and pests, Fang added.

East China's scenic lake restores ecological system through comprehensive approach

Zhuji City of east China's Zhejiang Province, dubbed as "the sock capital," has been making up bigger presence in the global sock industry through high-quality production and independent designs.

As the world's largest sock manufacturing base, the Datang sub-district of Zhuji produces approximately 25 billion pairs of socks yearly, accounting for more than 70 percent of the output of China and one-third of the whole world. A significant volume of these socks is exported to markets in Japan, South Korea and North America.

About 70 percent of the local population is working in the sock production sector, including long-time residents and new entrepreneurs who have established factories in the region.

"I'm a new local in Zhuji. I moved here because I saw huge potential in the local sock industry and decided to start my own factory. With the complete supply chain and established customer base, setting up was smooth," said Deng Shuangquan, head of a local textile company.

"The relaxed atmosphere is great, and when I miss the hustle of big cities, Hangzhou (the provincial capital) is just an hour away," Deng added.

Deng's factory now ships around one million pairs of socks daily, with one single sock style selling 120 million pairs in just six months. Its monthly sales have now reached 200 million yuan (about 27.63 million U.S. dollars).

Local manufacturers and the younger generation of factory owners have recognized the importance of innovation, which has helped foster the growth of local design companies.

"In the past, most sock companies focused mainly on practicality. But today, consumers around the world want more style and design. That's why we've started creating a range of fashionable and trendy sock designs," said Deng Changdu, an independent designer.

Socks from east China city explores global market