Big strides in rural reform

But when the group entered the 1990s, Zhou realized that it could not hope for long-term prosperity if it did not upgrade its industries.

At that time, Liu Yesheng, a senior engineer in the State-owned Wuhan Metallurgical Research Institute in the provincial capital Hubei, was visiting the group. Impressed by its factory buildings and Zhou's enterprising spirit, Liu offered to help the village make better products. He quit his job at the institute and helped the group launch the Hubei Yangtze Alloy Factory. The factory's alloy serial products, used in petroleum-drilling equipment, passed appraisal in the United States. The factory's establishment marked the group's transition from a labor-intensive to a technology-heavy setup.

In 1994, the group started establishing a high-tech industrial park, attempting to woo big projects. To improve the environment, it adopted preferential policies for investors and spent more than 10 million yuan building 10,000 meters of standard factory buildings and employee housing.

More than 20 professors and experts from Wuhan worked full-time in the group's high-tech park. With their technological assistance, the group's high-tech enterprises made welding wires and cables. Thanks to the enterprises, villagers' incomes rose steadily. The annual average income of the 247 villagers in the group amounted to 95,000 yuan last year. The group's collective assets registered 6 billion yuan in 2022.

The group has invested hefty sums to improve its environment. For example, it has built Tianye countryside park, lakes with swans and Happy Farm, which is a demonstration area for modern agricultural techniques, showing how organic vegetables and fruits are grown, and organizing activities for visitors like picking vegetables and fruits.