Linfen’s Green Transformation: A Model for Resource-Based Cities

In January 2017, sulfur dioxide concentrations at a monitoring station in Linfen, a city in China’s Shanxi Province, spiked to 1,303 micrograms per cubic meter — nearly nine times the national standard. The reading exceeded 1,000 micrograms three times within days, exposing a pollution crisis that had been building for years in this coal-dependent industrial hub. The China News Service reported that the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Shanxi provincial government dispatched expert teams to the city to analyze the causes and develop response measures.

Nearly a decade later, Linfen has emerged as one of China’s most dramatic environmental success stories. The city’s PM2.5 average concentration in 2025 fell 46.5% compared to 2020 — the largest improvement of any major Chinese city. In February 2026, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment publicly praised Linfen at a monthly press conference, calling the achievement “very remarkable,” as Tencent News reported.

From Pollution Capital to Improvement Champion

From 2018 to 2021, Linfen ranked last among more than 160 key cities in China’s national air quality rankings. The city’s “two mountains sandwiching one river” topography — a basin-shaped valley flanked by the Taiyue and Luliang mountains — created naturally poor atmospheric dispersion conditions. Nearly 10 steel enterprises and over 20 coking plants were densely concentrated in the Fen River valley, producing highly concentrated industrial emissions.

Linfen’s transformation required painful structural change. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the city closed and withdrew 9.15 million tons of coking capacity and 220,000 tons of crude steel capacity. It was the first city in Shanxi to complete the exit of restricted steel equipment, and advanced production capacity for coking, ironmaking, and steelmaking reached 100%, according to Xinhua News.

The city implemented a “Two Highs Relocation” policy, moving high-energy, high-emission enterprises from the Fen River valley to mountain areas with better dispersion conditions. Nearly 100 high-energy-consuming enterprises were closed in the Fen River area. The comprehensive air quality index dropped from 6.06 in 2020 to 4.17 in 2025, a cumulative decrease of 31.2%. Good air quality days increased from 193 to 255 per year, while heavily polluted days fell from 23 to just 1.

Economic Diversification: Building New Industries

Linfen’s transformation was not just about cleaning up pollution — it was about fundamentally rebuilding the economy. The city established a three-sector industrial layout: digital economy and intelligent manufacturing along the Fen River, new energy and agriculture-culture-tourism integration along the Yellow River, and advanced coal-coking-chemical industries along the Taiyue Mountains.

The digital economy has been a standout success. In 2025, Linfen’s digital economy revenue grew 62.8% year-on-year, the fastest in Shanxi Province. The Yaodu Cloud Business Park attracted over 400 digital companies including ByteDance, Baidu, Alibaba, NetEase, and Huawei.

Perhaps most striking is Linfen’s emergence as a micro-drama production hub. The premium micro-drama base, established in 2024, attracted more than 120 film and TV production teams within just over a year, producing 370 premium micro-dramas. Online works accumulated over 7 billion views, and the base was ranked in the national Top 10 for two consecutive years. The industry created jobs for over 30,000 people locally. As China Daily reported, Shanxi Huayun Film Industry announced a 20 million yuan investment to produce 10 premium micro-dramas telling “Linfen Stories.”

Enterprise Transformation: Steel Goes Green

At Jinnan Steel Group, one of Linfen’s largest industrial enterprises, the transformation has been equally dramatic. The company invested over 20 billion yuan in green steel production lines, eliminated six outdated small blast furnaces, and built three industry-leading 1,860-cubic-meter furnaces. Through a “steel-coking-chemical-hydrogen” integrated production chain, the company achieved clean production while maximizing resource value.

“Environmental pressure forced the enterprise to be reborn,” said Fu Weibing, vice president of Jinnan Steel Group, as reported by Workers’ Daily. The company’s carbon emissions per ton of steel now stand at approximately 1.35-1.4 tons, well below the industry average of 1.8 tons.

Business Environment: The “Linfen Speed”

Central to Linfen’s success has been a relentless focus on improving the business environment. The city compressed approval times by 80% through commitment systems and integrated review processes. The Ziguang intelligent manufacturing project went from procedures to trial operation in just 17 days; the Zhonglian Hengchuang project from land acquisition to construction permit in 37 days.

Mayor Wang Yanfeng has been unambiguous about the city’s priorities: “Whoever damages the business environment will be investigated and dealt with resolutely.” Linfen was named a “Hot Investment City” for four consecutive years and “Best Investment Destination for Zhejiang Merchants” for three consecutive years.

A Model for Resource-Based Development

The results speak for themselves. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Linfen’s GDP grew at an average annual rate of 7.0%. In 2025, GDP reached 251.38 billion yuan, and in Q1 2026, GDP grew 6.8%, leading the province. Seven of eight major economic indicators ranked in Shanxi’s first tier.

“Linfen’s GDP growth rate is eye-catching, and its development practice has become a vivid sample of the new round of industrial upgrading,” said Guan Qingyou, president of Rushi Financial Research Institute, as reported by Xinhua News.

Linfen’s experience demonstrates that resource-dependent regions can successfully transition to sustainable development. As Hong Kong Commercial Daily reported, NPC Deputy and Linfen Party Secretary Li Yunfeng presented the city’s ecological transformation story at the National People’s Congress in March 2026, positioning it as a model for other resource-based cities.

What’s Next

Linfen continues to push forward. The city has built eight flight bases for the low-altitude economy with over 3,000 service scenarios, and 840,000 rural households have completed “coal-to-gas” and “coal-to-electricity” conversions. All city buses, taxis, and ride-hailing vehicles now run on new energy.

As Xinhua Shanxi Channel noted, Linfen’s experience proves that resource-based cities can forge a path of ecological priority and green development. The city’s journey from pollution capital to improvement champion offers a compelling blueprint for other regions facing similar challenges — one built on determination, structural reform, and a long-term vision.

“We follow the development approach of economic and environmental win-win cooperation,” Li Yunfeng said, “completing the historic transformation from ‘Two Highs Relocation’ to ‘Cage Change and Bird Replacement, Establish First Then Break.’” The question now is whether other resource-dependent regions across China can follow Linfen’s lead.