Shanxi province has undergone dramatic developments since China's reform and opening-up began in 1978.
Shanxi's economy has ballooned in size and undergone wholesale reform over the past four decades. Its GDP increased to 1.55 trillion yuan ($229.9 billion) in 2017 from 8.8 billion yuan in 1978.
The tertiary sector now makes up the lion's share of local GDP, accounting for 51.7 percent in 2017, an increase of 30.9 percentage points compared to 1978. In addition, the non-public sector has gone from strength to strength, with private firms initially involved in coal mining, coking and smelting, before the emergence of the high-end manufacturing firms that drive the provincial economy today.
Shanxi is a vital national energy supplier. And since 1978, the province has been one of the top two national energy suppliers, with a cumulative production total of 17.19 billion tons.
Meanwhile, the province has continued to accelerate its opening up to the outside world. By the end of 2017, the province had trade links with 27 countries on five continents. Indeed, its foreign trade volume increased from $350 million in 1990 to $17.17 billion in 2017.
Shanxi has also made big advances in building transport and communication infrastructure. Its highway mileage reached 143,000 kilometers in 2017, 4.5 times that of 1978, and the railway mileage reached 5,316.8 km, 2.6 times that of 1978. The province has formed an air transportation network with seven airports. Mobile phones and internet broadband have gone from being a luxury in the 1990s to being essential "must-haves" today.
People's living standards have also greatly improved, with per capita disposable income of urban residents in the province rising from 301 yuan in 1978 to 29,132 yuan in 2017, and that of rural residents from 102 yuan to 10,788 yuan.
Residents are also increasingly well cared for, with improved access to education, better insurance coverage and modern healthcare.
Despite its striking socioeconomic changes, Shanxi is committed to preventing, controlling and managing atmospheric, water and soil pollution and promoting afforestation. As a result, over the past four decades the forest coverage rate has increased from 10.3 percent in 1978 to 20.5 percent in 2017.
