Left: A bird's eye view of Luohe. Right: The Hongqiao Garden in Luohe.

As the newest city in China's oldest province, Luohe's physical and economic landscapes differ markedly from other historical sites in Henan Province.

Home of Xu Shen, compiler of China's first dictionary in the eastern Han dynasty (AD25-220), it's as if history stood still for 1,800 years until the city's food industry inspired its renaissance.

With nearly 2.55 million residents in its 2,617 sq km area, Luohe's population density is 966 people per sq m, three times denser than Henan's average.

But the tight squeeze was conducive to continuous growth through the production of a staggering volume of food, especially the favorite Chinese staple pork.

Already a standard-setter in the food business, Luohe's pork exports account for not only 90 percent of the provincial total but a quarter of national production.

As the first and only "famous food city" appraised by China's food industry association, Luohe's status was confirmed by the national meat products quality watchdog's decision to base itself in the city.

Shineway, the largest meat-processing corporation in Asia, also call Luohe home.

The company took 23 billion yuan ($3.06 billion) last year in revenue to make it the fourth biggest plant of its kind in the world.

While investing considerable effort into ensuring product safety, the company's contribution to local taxation and livelihood is also significant.

It is said that 40 to 50 cents of every yuan of salary in Luohe comes from Shineway, to which each local household is connected in some way.

Nanjiecun, one of China's largest instant noodle producers, and Lotto Aodeli, a Sino-Korean joint venture and national pioneer in glucose beverages, are also based in the city.

If their presence didn't confirm Luohe as China's food capital, then the success of the city's annual Central Plain Food Festival does.

Since the inaugural event in 2003, the festival has attracted more than 1,800 participants and led to 204 big deals valued at 321 billion yuan ($42.8 billion).

The city's brand image has also contributed to a fluid investment environment, in part a bi-product of its status as one of the first provincial investment promotion zones in the early 1990s, when Hong Kong investors flocked to the city.

Through these concentrated economic activities, Luohe earned its fame as "mini-Hong Kong" and "mini-Shanghai".

Indeed, Luohe's own preferential policies and inspection mechanisms provide further appeal to outside investors.

The city also surveys public opinion on 37 government agencies, ranging from urban construction bureaus to taxation offices, on a quarterly basis.

Two thirds of the survey's 100 examiners, chosen from various fields, are randomly selected to take part in the assessment, with three others acting as inspectors.

Those responsible for offices placed last in each round of inspection are put on a three-strike rule.

What's more, a performance inspection watchdog was established under the local disciplinary supervision committee in 2004 to deal with complaints against poor performance and efficiency of local departments, which may in turn undermine the socioeconomic atmosphere.

This August, the watchdog set up 300 performance monitoring stations at different government offices and local companies to further ensure that policymakers and practitioners do not act against the interests of the public and business communities.

Such thorough quality control endeavors contributed to decisions by seven Fortune 500 companies, among them DuPont, Goldman Sachs and McDonald's, to set up operations in Luohe.

Wal-Mart, too, is in the process of building its first department store in the city.

While foreign capital totaled $95.1 million last year, Luohe is also dedicated in topping the entire Midwest region in papermaking and the province in the salt chemical industry.

But all this is just the beginning of an even more vibrant future, according to Luohe Party secretary Jin Kewen.

"What you're seeing is only the beginning of something big," he said.

 

The Shuanghui Industrial Park in Luohe.

(China Daily 10/19/2007 page26)