Sanjiang Dong autonomous county, Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo/gx.people.com.cn]

Located at the junction of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Hunan province, and Guizhou province, Sanjiang is the only Dong autonomous county in Guangxi. The county has a total area of 2,454 square kilometers and a total population of 406,000. Its residents are mainly comprised of the Dong, Miao, Yao, Zhuang, and Han ethnic groups. Members of the Dong ethnic group account for 58 percent of its total population.

The county has significant transportation advantages as it is part of the three-hour tourism economic circle of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou, relying on the convenience of its high-speed railway lines. It also has a pleasant ecological environment, with its forest coverage rate reaching 78.2 percent and its air environment quality maintaining a national first-level standard.

The county is known for the wooden architecture of the Dong ethnic group and it boasts a number of tourist attractions. In 2019, the county received 10,005,500 tourists, generating a total tourism income of 8.06 billion yuan ($1.16 billion).

Sanjiang focuses on developing leading industries with ecological characteristics, such as dry tea, oiltea camellia, bamboo, rice, and fish.

Last year, the development of characteristic industries covered 25,100 impoverished households and a total of 20,500 registered impoverished rural labors were employed. Sanjiang has also introduced eight poverty alleviation factories, built 25 workshops, and employed 17,600 people. In addition, 753 public welfare jobs were developed.

In 2019, the county achieved a regional GDP of 7.39 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.2 percent. Its fixed asset investment was 4.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.3 percent, while its fiscal revenue was 630 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.1 percent. The added value of industrial enterprises above designated size was 171 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.5 percent, while the total retail sales of consumer goods was 2.78 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6 percent. The per capita disposable income of urban residents was 31,110 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent, and that of rural residents was 13,572 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.1 percent.