Jinqiu village in Jingning She autonomous county, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]

Jingning She autonomous county in East China's Zhejiang province has seen significant achievements over the past 40 years since its establishment.

Established in 1984, Jingning is China's sole autonomous county of the She ethnic group.

Over the past four decades, this small county nestled deep in the mountains has blazed a unique path of economic prosperity and social harmony.

The She ethnic group is one of China's 56 ethnic groups. Statistics show that there are about 746,000 members of the She ethnic group in the country.

The population of the ethnic group in the county stood at 18,410 as of the end of last year, roughly 11 percent of the county's total.

In 2023, the county's GDP reached 10.28 billion yuan ($1.14 billion). The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached 49,800 yuan and 28,100 yuan respectively, which is 62 times and 190 times that of the 1984 figures. The income ratio between urban and rural residents has narrowed to 1.77.

A tourist resort in Jingning She autonomous county. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]

Over the past 40 years, the county's ecological environment index has ranked among the top 10 in the province for 10 consecutive years. In 2023, the forest coverage rate reached 81.45 percent.

Exploring mechanisms for realizing the value of ecological products has allowed Jingning to utilize its high-quality ecological resources. This has promoted the deep integration of cultural tourism, sightseeing tourism, and health and wellness vacations, leading to a tourism revenue of 2.71 billion yuan in 2023.