When Typhoon "9·1" unleashed torrential rains, a drone rescue video from Cangnan captured millions of views. Cangnan Vocational Secondary School saw 2,500 teachers and students trapped without power or water, inaccessible by raft or on foot. As traditional rescue methods proved inadequate, two heavy-lift drones capable of carrying 100 kilograms pierced through the rain, delivering bottled water, congee, and boxed meals. Within hours, nearly 200 drone sorties had airlifted 11.3 tons of supplies. Technology had extended the reach of rescue efforts.

Behind this display lies Cangnan's strategic investments in the low-altitude economy in recent years. It also offers a glimpse into the county's transformation of its private sector. When traditional industries enter the deep end of transformation and the old path of low-cost, scale-driven expansion hits its ceiling, where does one turn? The answer for Cangnan has been threefold: traditional sectors seeking change from within, emerging industries forging ahead externally, and the business environment providing deep-rooted support. Through its unwavering commitment to the "industrial powerhouse county" strategy, Cangnan is searching for a new growth logic amid the pains of transition.

Breaking Through From Within: Traditional Industries Shed Their "Traditional" Label

Woven bags, packaging films, and dairy products—these "old trades" in the public imagination form the foundation of Cangnan's private economy. Yet clinging to old products and old ways only leads to a race to the bottom in price wars. For local private enterprises, the breakthrough from within means using technology, digitalization, and supply chain restructuring to give old industries new strength.

Cangnan's plastics products sector is now aiming for 10 billion yuan in output this year. At Wenzhou Detai Plastics, intelligent production lines have replaced the semi-automated assembly lines of old. "Sticking to low-end woven bags leaves razor-thin profits," said the company's head. Detai has invested nearly 90 million yuan in production line upgrades, dedicating over 5% of annual output value to R&D. With eight patents to its name, patent-related production now accounts for 30% of total output. Its products have entered the supply chains of Dow Chemical and Sinopec, reaching more than 50 countries and regions.

This is no solitary effort. The county is home to over 600 plastics-related enterprises, with regulated industrial output reaching 9.5 billion yuan in 2025—more than a quarter of the county's total. Cangnan has ramped up innovation support, nurturing 40 high-tech enterprises. The transition from "selling 1 yuan of raw materials for 2 yuan" to "creating 10 yuan of added value from 1 yuan of raw materials" represents an endogenous transformation that earned Cangnan recognition in 2025 as a provincial-level model case of traditional industries cultivating new quality productive forces in Zhejiang.

The dairy industry is undergoing a similar evolution. By the end of 2025, the entire industrial chain reached 4.2 billion yuan in output, anchored by three leading enterprises: Shengmana, Baifei, and Panda Dairy. But the sector has long grappled with a structural weakness: strong processing capacity paired with weak local milk supply. Change is underway. At Baifei's buffalo breeding base in Mazhan Town, construction is accelerating ahead of introducing 450 buffalo. "Previously all our milk was sourced externally, leaving the supply chain in someone else's hands," noted the project lead. With the Baifei Mazhan base and the Olive Valley planting-breeding complex coming online, Cangnan's local dairy livestock inventory is poised to jump from zero to 10,000 head. Concurrently, the county is promoting a "company + cooperative + farmer" model, rolling out contract farming of silage corn and wheat to build a closed loop spanning feed, breeding, and processing. Cangnan's ambition: systematically develop six chains—R&D innovation, raw material supply, supporting services, cold-chain logistics, trading markets, and tertiary integration—to push the dairy industry chain past 10 billion yuan by 2028.

Pushing Outward: Emerging Industries Take Root, Not Just Hype

Developing emerging industries carries the risk of hot concepts with hollow execution. Cangnan has struck a balance between attracting external investment and nurturing internal talent, anchoring its strategy on clean energy and the low-altitude economy while simultaneously exploring artificial intelligence, digital RFID, and other new frontiers. The focus is on real projects and concrete applications to cultivate substantive industrial growth.

Clean energy stands as the backbone of Cangnan's emerging sector. Total investment in projects across the county exceeds 200 billion yuan, with installed capacity approaching 13,000 megawatts. This positions Cangnan to shoulder nearly half of Wenzhou's non-fossil energy installation targets during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. In 2025, clean energy and related industries generated 7.143 billion yuan in output, growing at an average annual rate of over 120%, with projections to break the 10 billion yuan mark this year. Energy has traditionally been state-dominated, but Cangnan has boldly welcomed private capital. For instance, private shareholders' stake in the second phase of the Sannao nuclear power project has risen to 10%. Envision Energy is fully funding the Cangnan No. 3 and No. 5 offshore wind projects, with total investment of 21.1 billion yuan. According to the Cangnan Development and Reform Bureau, Unit 1 of the Sannao nuclear plant has entered commercial operation, and a million-kilowatt offshore wind cluster has taken shape. Physical projects like the Envision wind turbine manufacturing park and Tongguang high-end cables have landed, while nuclear energy comprehensive utilization and offshore wind technology bases are being planned. The industry chain is extending from simple power generation into higher-value segments like equipment manufacturing and operations and maintenance R&D.

The low-altitude economy offers a vivid case of application-driven development. The drone supply drops during the early September flood response were a real-world stress test of the county's capabilities. "We're not rushing to scale; we're first solidifying infrastructure and application scenarios," said Lin Yuezhu, director of the Low-Altitude Economy Development Center at the Cangnan County Transportation Bureau. The county has established a low-altitude facility network comprising "1 hub + 5 centers + 45 takeoff and landing points," with seven tourism routes in operation, including a cross-provincial route connecting Zhejiang and Fujian. Manufacturers such as AutoFlight and Guangyang Technology have established operations in the Low-Altitude Digital Intelligence Valley, and the county has added 22 low-altitude-related enterprises since last year. Use cases spanning power line inspection, agricultural and forestry crop protection, offshore wind material delivery, medical rescue, and tourism have been validated. Shanggu Agricultural Technology handles drone-based farming services countywide, completing 400,000 mu of crop protection operations annually. The electric power sector conducted over 4,000 drone inspections last year. A maritime ton-class drone transport test drew national media coverage, and the Cangnan Gold Coast Rescue Center has introduced long-endurance maritime search-and-rescue drones that operate with the efficiency of roughly five speedboats.

Deep Support: Business Environment Delivers, Not Just on Paper

A favorable business environment isn't measured by the number of documents issued, but by whether support materializes when enterprises face challenges. Cangnan is simultaneously safeguarding its "sweet potato economy"—businesses with roots at home and reach abroad—while cultivating homegrown enterprises, ensuring policies don't remain ink on paper.

Cangnan mining and tunnel engineering companies operate worldwide, with 43 headquarters-returning enterprises radiating to over 1,000 overseas project sites. For these businesses going global, overseas risks, legal protection, and equipment procurement are pressing realities. At the end of 2025, the Cangnan County Public Security Bureau launched the "Canghai Luopan" digital platform, tailored specifically for these international enterprises. The platform features eight modules covering overseas risk alerts, anti-fraud, intellectual property protection, and equipment procurement—offering a one-stop map of overseas risks and a single-click channel for business appeals. As of the first half of this year, the platform has served 13 overseas projects, helping enterprises avert over 7 million yuan in losses and save 6.63 million yuan in equipment procurement costs.

While escorting the "sweet potato economy" abroad, Cangnan is also nurturing local soil at home. The county continues to expand its incubator cluster: the Low-Altitude Digital Intelligence Valley now hosts 46 enterprises, attracting innovative companies like Zongheng Feikong and Yufan Technology, with nearly 700 professionals and annual output exceeding 500 million yuan. The Zhejiang South Digital Valley has been completed and operationalized, housing 88 enterprises and ranking second citywide in active online stores, with the Cangnan Online Product Selection Center earning provincial recognition. The "Qingcunji" provincial modern agricultural innovation park, open for less than a year, has attracted 51 enterprises and 748 young professionals, drawing 3,500 young people into rural practice. To address the weak R&D capacity of private enterprises, Cangnan has deployed 36 "technology vice presidents" to work within companies, completing 25 technical breakthroughs and resolving a host of "bottleneck" challenges, while assisting 16 enterprises in establishing municipal-level or higher R&D institutions.

Resource guarantees are equally substantive. As of August this year, Cangnan secured 767 mu of industrial land and cleared 978 mu of approved-but-unused land. In the first half of the year, the county obtained 576 million yuan in "two major" and "two new" project funds and 48 million yuan in central budget funds, secured 3.74 billion yuan in local government bond funds, and secured 1.36 billion yuan in "8+4" funds—ranking first citywide.