The transformation of resource-based cities is never simply a matter of 'abandoning mines and changing production', but rather an active reshaping of 'turning stones into gold' while maintaining the ecological bottom line. Peng Daiyuan, a National People's Congress representative and mayor of Hezhou City in Guangxi, said that the key to promoting the green transformation of resource-based cities in Hezhou is to base on the endowment of calcium carbonate resources, strengthen the foundation with intelligent manufacturing clusters, break through bottlenecks with circular economy, and find a new path of green transformation that benefits ecology, economy, and society. Located at the border of Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hunan provinces (regions), Hezhou in Guangxi is known as the "Capital of Heavy Calcium in China" and "Capital of Rock and Granite in China", with a prospective reserve of approximately 7 billion tons of marble resources. In the initial stage of the industry, the local area has long been dominated by "digging stones, selling raw stones and heavy calcium powder", with many enterprises operating in small workshops with low technological content, low resource utilization rate, meager profits, and environmental problems such as dust and waste slurry pollution. At that time, the calcium carbonate industry in Hezhou was like 'begging for food with a golden rice bowl', guarding high-quality resources but always staying at the bottom of the industry chain. Peng Daiyuan admitted that this extensive and low-end development model did not meet the requirements of high-quality development and went against Hezhou's ecological endowment. The government work report points out that we will vigorously develop a green and low-carbon economy. This is exactly the consistent development direction of Hezhou for a long time. The core is to solve the problem of 'resource dependence', promote the calcium carbonate industry to leap towards' innovation driven ', and achieve' scientific mining, clean production, high-end products, and resource recycling ', "said Peng Daiyuan. To achieve this goal, Hezhou uses the "chain length system" as a lever to reshape the ecology of the calcium carbonate industry. On the raw material side, Hezhou has abandoned the traditional open-pit extensive mining model and promoted the "five modernizations" of mining management, including step-by-step, factory based, standardized, large-scale, and modern methods, to build a "five type mine" that is green, ecological, high-quality, harmonious, and intelligent. In addition, the "mining while repairing" system will be strictly implemented, and the mining area will achieve "mining one piece and repairing one piece". As of now, Hezhou has invested a total of 113 million yuan to complete the greening of 7767 acres of mining areas, clean up 2.12 million cubic meters of historical waste rock and slag, and achieve "standardized mining and orderly operation" in all 56 open-pit production mines. The mines that were once "white headed" have gradually regained their green appearance. On the production side, Hezhou aims for "intelligence, greening, and integration", vigorously introduces and cultivates leading enterprises, and promotes the upgrading of the industry from "primary processing" to "deep intelligent manufacturing". We are no longer limited to producing basic raw materials such as ordinary calcium carbonate and filling masterbatch. Instead, we adhere to the combination of heavy calcium and light calcium, vigorously develop deep processing products of light calcium such as nano calcium and medical calcium, accelerate the development of functional masterbatch, plastic new materials (degradable new materials) and high-end coatings, and continue to promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure. "Peng Daiyuan introduced that Hezhou has successfully created a national level characteristic industrial cluster of small and medium-sized enterprises in the calcium carbonate new materials industry, attracted a group of industry leaders to settle down, and formed an industrial cluster covering powder processing, artificial stone, new building materials, and calcium based new materials. Green development, protected by the rule of law. On January 1, 2026, the first local regulation specifically targeting the development of the calcium carbonate industry in China, the "Hezhou City Calcium Carbonate Industry Development Promotion Regulations," was officially released and implemented. By clarifying the responsibilities of various parties such as the government, departments, enterprises, industry associations, universities, and research institutions, a multi-party collaborative promotion mechanism was established to help optimize and upgrade the entire industry chain, and provide legal guarantees for Hezhou to build a national leading zone for the development of the calcium carbonate industry. Developing a circular economy is the finishing touch to the green transformation of Hezhou's calcium carbonate industry. The key to the green development of resource-based industries lies in solving the problem of 'waste' and turning 'misplaced resources' into' usable wealth ', "Peng Daiyuan said. Currently, Hezhou has established a complete calcium carbonate industry chain of" mining - natural stone slabs and crafts - calcium carbonate ultrafine powder - artificial granite - composite new materials (masterbatch, plastics, coatings, new building materials, etc.) - comprehensive utilization of solid waste ", achieving the goal of" eating more and using up all the resources in one stone ". Not only that, Hezhou has also extended the concept of circular economy to the entire industrial system, and has built a number of circular economy demonstration parks such as the Guangxi Hezhou Huarun Circular Economy Industrial Demonstration Zone and the Hezhou Renxin Cogeneration Green Technology Park. In the park, an industrial chain of "resource sharing and waste reuse" has been formed among enterprises: the waste residue of calcium carbonate enterprises is supplied to new building materials enterprises, the waste heat of power enterprises is supplied to food processing enterprises, and the wastewater of food processing enterprises is treated and supplied to the park for greening and irrigation... This "circular symbiosis" development model has greatly improved the resource utilization efficiency of Hezhou and continuously alleviated the pressure on the ecological environment. The green transformation of industries ultimately benefits the ecological environment and people's well-being. Nowadays, Hezhou has long bid farewell to the past of "dust everywhere" and replaced it with an ecological picture of "beautiful mountains and clear waters, blue sky and green earth". Data shows that the excellent air quality rate in Hezhou has remained above 92.6% throughout the year, and the compliance rate of surface water quality is 100%; The forest coverage rate has reached 70.7%, ranking among the top in Guangxi for several consecutive years. Ecology is the most valuable asset of Hezhou and the greatest confidence for industrial transformation. ”Peng Daiyuan introduced that relying on its excellent ecological environment, Hezhou has taken advantage of the situation and combined industrial transformation with the development of cultural tourism and health care industries, striving to create the preferred destination for health care tourism in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. Nowadays, the Mawei River at the foot of Gupo Mountain has transformed from the former "Milk River" to a waterfront leisure park, becoming a popular destination for tourists to check in. The abandoned tailings pond, which has been idle for 22 years, has been built into a football base with 35 football fields. The ecological "scar" has become a new business card for cultural and tourism development. The health and wellness products launched by tourism and wellness bases such as Huangyao Ancient Town and Xixi Forest Hot Spring Resort in Zhaoping County, including "forest bathing," "hot spring therapy," and "longevity cuisine," have attracted a large number of tourists from the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area for leisure and vacation. Peng Daiyuan stated that during the 15th Five Year Plan period, Hezhou will continue to adhere to the ecological bottom line, strengthen technological innovation, improve the circular economy system, and promote the development of the calcium carbonate industry towards higher quality and greener direction. At the same time, we will continue to promote the development of the cultural, tourism, and health industries, improve the living environment, and broaden the path of transformation for resource-based cities, making green mountains and clear waters truly the "happy support" for the people of Hezhou. (New Society)