Insisting on high-quality development in recent years, Meihekou city in Jilin province has comprehensively promoted industrial transformation and accelerated the cultivation of new productive forces, forming a modern industrial system supported by pharmaceuticals, food processing, commerce and logistics, and tourism.

Meihekou is a county-level city directly administered by the provincial government. In September 2013, it was chosen as a pilot area to explore the expansion of power among such counties.

In January 2020, the province decided to build a demonstration zone, the Meihe New Area, for high-quality development and to create a modern regional central city.

In June 2021, the Meihe New Area was approved by the provincial government and officially established in September 2021.

In line with the spirit of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the fifth plenary session of the 12th CPC Jilin Provincial Committee, the Meihe New Area takes investment attraction and project construction as breakthrough points, and fully focuses on strengthening, optimizing and enhancing the real economy, according to Zhu Huan, Party secretary of Working Committee of the Meihe New Area and Party secretary of Meihekou city.

"We are also steadfast in transforming the work style, stabilizing growth, promoting reform, adjusting structure, improving the environment, benefiting the people and striving to compose a chapter of modernization with Chinese characteristics in Meihe," he said.

In the pharmaceutical industry, a cluster of industries centered around chemical drugs, biological drugs and traditional Chinese medicine has been formed.

Jilin Sihuan Pharmaceutical Co, with an investment of nearly 10 billion yuan (1.37 billion), has expanded its production center to Meihe.

Jilin Huisheng Biological Pharmaceutical Co spent 12 years developing Ganagliflozin Proline, the only innovative diabetes drug of its kind approved in Jilin in the past five years.

Furthermore, well-known pharmaceutical companies such as Buchang and Tianheng have also set up production facilities in Meihe, introducing a number of new varieties with great market potential.

In the food industry, the city has developed four key sectors: nuts, rice, alcohol and convenience foods.