"A few years ago I took out a loan of 1.1 million yuan to buy an excavator and invested 300,000 yuan to buy a loader. I usually take on basic engineering construction work in the Yima Coal Chemical Industry Cluster, and now more than 10 transport trucks work with me. The loan for the machinery has almost been paid off," Duan Changjiang, a villager from the Dongjiewa group of Mazhuang Community, Dongqu Subdistrict Office, Yima City, told the reporter happily on the afternoon of December 13.

The Yima Coal Chemical Industry Cluster is the only industrial cluster in Henan Province named after the coal chemical industry. It consists of two parts, the West Zone and the East Zone. The West Zone is the built-up area, with major enterprises such as Henan Kaixiang Chemical Co., Ltd. and the Yima Gasification Plant. Roads, water supply and drainage, and other infrastructure in the zone are fully equipped, and the zone has been integrated into urban development. The East Zone is a planned new area. The Yimei Group Zongneng Co., Ltd. project, with a planned total investment of 35 billion yuan and a daily output of 10 million standard cubic meters of coal-to-gas and comprehensive utilization, is the landmark project of the cluster.

The construction of Yimei Group Zongneng Co., Ltd. has provided a good opportunity for residents of the nearby Mazhuang Community to increase their incomes. According to Hou Yanzhao, Party branch secretary and residents' committee director of Mazhuang Community: "Mazhuang Community used to be an administrative village, divided into villager groups such as Dongjiewa, Xijiewa, Jiaogou and Shagou, with 1,557 people who used to make a living from farming. In the second half of 2008, after Yima City planned and built the industrial cluster in Mazhuang, it brought us an opportunity to change our fate. The village took the lead in setting up a transport team of more than 20 trucks to transport slag, raw materials and products for the coal chemical industry cluster. In addition, more than 500 villagers work as temporary laborers."

Mazhuang Village also established Ruilong Diversified Operation Service Co., Ltd. to help farmers increase their incomes. "The overall annual income of farmers now is much better than farming in the past," Hou Yanzhao said.

This was confirmed by Li Jingtao, a villager from the Xijiewa group: "Our village used to rely on the weather for farming and had no income in droughts or floods. Now it is better. Adult women in the village work in the cluster and can earn at least 2,000 yuan a month, and some can earn 90 yuan a day. Male laborers can earn 120 yuan a day."

Zhu Xiaomeng is deputy director of the Dongqu Subdistrict Office of Yima City and is assigned to Mazhuang Community. He said: "The people of Mazhuang have made great contributions to the construction of the cluster, so as long as villagers can do the work, we try to let them do it."

"With more work, incomes have naturally risen substantially. Among the more than 50 households in the Xijiewa group, there are more than 30 family cars and minivans alone," Hou Yanzhao said. "More than 100 people from our village also work as regular employees in the cluster, and more than a dozen of them have become team leaders."

In addition to Mazhuang Community, the development of the Yima Coal Chemical Industry Cluster has also provided employment opportunities for many land-lost farmers in the city. Many farmers have become construction workers, earning about 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a month.

"Wherever our projects are built, the local people benefit. Henan Kaixiang Chemical Co., Ltd. is an important pillar enterprise in the West Zone of the Yima Coal Chemical Industry Cluster, and most of the transport and mechanical construction work is done by the fleet from Maling Community," Jiang Hai, head of the Economic Development Bureau of the Yima Coal Chemical Industry Cluster, told the reporter. "In addition to formal employment, the Yima coal chemical industry has driven about 3,000 local people to work in the service sector. Shenhao New Energy Co., Ltd., which is related to the coal chemical industry, is a private enterprise. Its boss, Duan Pingle, is from Shihe Village in Yima, and his enterprise alone has employed more than 100 nearby villagers. The coal chemical industry has also spawned many fine chemical processing projects, which not only extend the industrial chain but also provide farmers with many ways to increase their incomes."

The aluminum and deep aluminum processing industry is also one of the projects in the five hundred-billion-yuan industrial clusters. For many years, Sanmenxia has relied on its rich aluminum resources to continuously accelerate technological innovation, gradually embarking on a path of adjusting the industrial structure, promoting industrial transformation and upgrading, and accelerating the transformation of the economic development model. It has bid farewell to being "big, bulky and crude" and made a splendid turn toward being "high-end, refined, distinctive and excellent."

East Hope (Sanmenxia) Aluminum Co., Ltd. is located in Mianchi County, which is rich in aluminum ore reserves. Zhou Xiangjun, deputy general manager of the company, said: "Nearly 70 percent of the company's workers are local. Unloading workers can earn more than 200 yuan a day, and in a year unloading alone can increase migrant workers' incomes by 4 million yuan. Hehutuo Village in Yangshao Town has 500 to 600 people, and more than 200 of them work in our company. Almost every household has a transport vehicle, and in the best year they earned more than 2 million yuan from the company. Most of the company's workshop directors are local, and some have annual salaries of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan."

While working at East Hope (Sanmenxia) Aluminum Co., Ltd., employee Sun Jianguang found love with a female worker from Mianchi: "My wife and I both work at the company. Together we earn more than 8,000 yuan a month, and we have bought a home in Mianchi County. We are both very satisfied with our work and life now."

Sanmenxia Qiangxin Casting Co., Ltd., under construction, is an aluminum deep processing enterprise that achieves recycling through deep processing of calcined bauxite. General Manager Zeng Xiaoping said: "We have built one production line, which has helped two to three hundred nearby people find work and earn money. Our raw material and finished product import and export business alone can bring more than 10 million yuan in revenue to the local logistics industry, and product packaging can also bring several million yuan in revenue to related industries."

It is understood that the five hundred-billion-yuan industrial clusters plan to implement a total of 184 major projects, with a total investment of 192 billion yuan. According to estimates, after all projects are completed and put into operation in five years, they will generate an additional 505.7 billion yuan in sales revenue. As the old saying goes, "It is good to enjoy the shade under a big tree." With the "protection" of these 184 "towering trees" of the five hundred-billion-yuan industrial clusters, the incomes of the people of Sanmenxia will surely rise steadily like sesame flowers blooming ever higher.