Dongtou: Leverage Marine Advantages and Innovate Blue Industries

Dongtou, a city of a hundred islands on the coast of the East China Sea. Here, private enterprises each have their own "battlefield": some push deep‑sea cage aquaculture offshore; some refine fish oil to a purity of 99.7%; others bring the thousand‑year‑old shell carving craftsmanship to the world through co‑branding with film and television dramas. Though operating in different sectors with diverse approaches, they all share the same enterprising spirit born from the ocean.

In the first half of the year, Dongtou District’s GDP rose by 7.2%. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents increased by 6% and 7% respectively, ranking first and fifth across Zhejiang Province. Investment in manufacturing and high‑tech industries grew by 61.8% and 144%, both topping the city’s list.

Behind these figures lies the new dynamism unleashed by the private economy. At the start of the 15th Five‑Year Plan period, private enterprises in Dongtou are using the ocean as their canvas and innovation as their brush to write an industrial legend belonging to these coastal waters.

Seizing Wind from the Sea

Step into the smart manufacturing base of Westinghouse Port Energy Holding Co., Ltd. German‑introduced intelligent flexible sheet metal production lines, Estun robotic intelligent bending centers and ABB robotic laser welding centers operate in order under the scheduling of intelligent systems. Equipment conducts real‑time sensing and processes make autonomous decisions.

Production progress and quality data flash in real time on a huge electronic display board. Put into operation in Dongtou at the end of 2024, this enterprise has invested a total of 260 million yuan and built a 32,000‑square‑meter smart manufacturing base. It has planned a strategic framework of "one base, three centers, six zones and multiple offices". Its product portfolio covers medium and high‑voltage switchgears, box‑type substations, energy storage prefabricated cabins, new energy charging piles and more. This year, its workshop was designated a provincial digital workshop.

Having entered the power equipment sector in Shanghai back in 2009, the company returned to Wenzhou’s Dongtou in 2023, completing the transformation from traditional manufacturing to smart manufacturing. “This represents not merely a leap in production efficiency, but a reshaping of industrial competition logic,” said Zhang Jiwei, Deputy General Manager of the enterprise. Currently, the company has established partnerships with world‑renowned firms including Schneider and Siemens. It holds multiple patents, and its products serve clients nationwide and overseas, applied in State Grid, big data centers, airports, ports and other scenarios.

The homecoming journey of Westinghouse Port Energy from Shanghai to Dongtou epitomizes how Dongtou’s private economy advances toward new growth.

Zhejiang Chengyi Pharmaceutical is another star enterprise based in Dongtou. This listed pharmaceutical firm does not rest on its leading position in glucosamine products. Instead, it continuously strengthens core competitiveness and expands production capacity.

KUKA robots carry out boxing and palletizing procedures in Workshop 104 of Chengyi Pharmaceutical.

“The second phase of Chengyi Pharmaceutical’s Health Industrial Park requires a total investment of 1 billion yuan, focusing on high‑purity fish oil EPA, DHA and related products,” introduced Zhao Chunjian, General Manager of Chengyi Pharmaceutical. At present, Phase I, with an annual output of 1,000 tons of fish oil EPA active pharmaceutical ingredients, has been completed. Workshop 104 for EPA ethyl ester softgel pharmaceuticals and Workshop 402 for health food fish oil softgels have both gone into production. Seven production lines deliver an annual capacity of more than 500 million softgel capsules, forming a full industrial layout for fish oil.

Private enterprises need support to dare to innovate and expand. Dongtou District has launched the “unified one‑form management mechanism for corporate issues”. It integrates town and street service centers, the Enterprise Assistance Cloud Platform, the 96666 hotline and other channels. Files are categorized and tracked throughout the whole process, achieving a 100% resolution rate. In recent months, Dongtou District has rolled out the special campaign “Policy Interpretation & Targeted Enterprise Support”, setting up sector‑specific publicity teams and building “one file per enterprise” to deliver customized policies. Meanwhile, tax incentives such as additional VAT deductions for advanced manufacturing have been implemented.

Since the start of this year, Dongtou has launched or completed nine capacity expansion and capital increase projects. A number of high‑level platforms are accelerating their implementation, and many innovative entities are thriving. Seeds of new marine productive forces are taking root and sprouting in the soil of Dongtou’s private economy.

On the northern waters off Luxi Island, sea wind carries a strong briny scent. Phase II of Yellow Croaker Island Ocean Fishery Group’s combined mother‑daughter cage system is under intensive construction. Workers install high‑strength HDPE pipes against sea breezes, while anchoring systems are embedded slowly into the seabed.

Large intelligent combined mother‑daughter aquaculture cages at Yellow Croaker Island.

In the early years, fishermen on Luxi relied on “knocking gillnet fishing” to harvest seafood. Such predatory fishing nearly wiped out wild large yellow croakers. Yellow Croaker Island Group resolved to use technology to change the situation. After three years of R&D, it developed the mother‑daughter cage combination. The mother cage weakens ocean swells, greatly raising the survival rate of large yellow croakers and yielding firmer flesh. Today, its combined cage system covers over 1,000 mu of aquaculture area, producing more than 2 million large yellow croakers annually. Zheng Xiangwu, General Manager of the company, told reporters that after Phase II is commissioned, the group plans to expand farming area to over 3,000 mu within five years.

At the northwest end of Zhabuduan Village in Luxi Township, Jinfeng Ocean Ranch hosts the country’s largest single enclosed aquaculture water body. It innovatively adopts the “double‑pile flexible coastal enclosure” design to realize ultra‑low density and fully wild farming.

Sun Mingde, person in charge of Jinfeng Ocean Ranch, explained that the stocking density is merely 0.2 fish per cubic meter, meaning each large yellow croaker has a private sea area of five cubic meters. “They feed on natural baits, so the fish has no earthy odor and tastes fresher.” Jinfeng also built a digital “Cloud Ranch” platform to warn about net damage by analyzing mechanical parameters.

The technological innovation for large yellow croakers is one example of Dongtou’s modern marine farming. On another track, Sargassum fusiforme, a traditional local seafood of Dongtou, is experiencing value upgrading — shifting from being sold by the ton to by the gram.

Wenzhou Jiahai Food Co., Ltd. is China’s largest exporter of Sargassum fusiforme. In recent years, it has turned its attention to the domestic market. The enterprise has set up a Doctoral Innovation Station to develop high‑end dried products and pre‑made dishes using Sargassum fusiforme. Wenzhou Xingbei Seaweed Food Co., Ltd. took a different path to develop beverages. Partnering with research institutes, it successfully developed ready‑to‑drink healthy seaweed drinks, upgrading Sargassum fusiforme from a traditional ingredient to functional beverages.

In recent years, Dongtou’s national coastal fishing port economic zone pilot has passed performance re‑evaluation. Together with China Fisheries Association, it formulated and released the Specifications for Graded Ecologically Farmed Large Yellow Croaker of Dongtou. The local government has planned and launched a three‑year action plan for premium large yellow croaker industry development, and started construction of supporting projects including the Luxi Large Yellow Croaker Industrial Park, laver processing center and supply chain cloud warehouse. In the first half of the year, fishery output rose by 6.8%, ranking first in the city.

A full industrial chain covering fry breeding to dining tables and raw materials to high value‑added products is taking shape rapidly on the coast of the East China Sea.

If emerging industries and modern fisheries form Dongtou’s hard power, cultural tourism serves as its gentle soft cover. Dongtou also achieves creative breakthroughs in cultural tourism.

Last weekend, Ms. Chen from Lucheng took her children for a pleasant holiday in Colorful Dongtou Village — making fish lanterns, eating yellow croaker noodles and enjoying sea breeze beside the shared swimming pool.

Colorful Dongtou Village has long enjoyed fame, yet inadequate supporting facilities and limited business forms once failed to retain tourists. Changes came with a cultural tourism enterprise called “To the Sea”. Through re‑planning and renovation, the old village post office was transformed into a fish‑lantern cultural and creative museum, the former village committee building became a designer homestay, and idle spaces were turned into a shared swimming pool and sea‑view platform, enriching cultural tourism scenarios.

Li Shangtan, operator of “To the Sea”, introduced that the project has formed a cooperation mechanism of “village collective + operator + villagers”. Villagers gain multiple incomes by renting idle houses, supplying local ingredients and participating in service management.

Dongtou also shines on screen. This summer, the short drama Mask and Rose shot on location in Dongtou ranked 8th on the high‑quality Zhenguo List of Hongguo Short Drama Platform. Previously, *Love of Caged Birds* exceeded 200 million topic views within 24 hours after release. “We used to go out to promote Dongtou with promotional videos. Now viewers finish watching dramas and ask us how to get here,” said an official from Dongtou District Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports.

Dongtou’s cultural tourism popularity stems not only from scenery but also cultural heritage. The Dongtou Shell Carving Museum integrates intangible heritage mother‑of‑pearl inlay art with ancient costume dramas. Mother‑of‑pearl jewelry boxes, sandalwood combs and earrings sold out quickly. Meanwhile, mother‑of‑pearl (shell carving) cultural and creative products have been exhibited overseas in Belgium and other countries, expanding Dongtou’s name card of intangible cultural heritage.

Statistics show that in the first half of the year, tourist arrivals in Dongtou grew by 8.7% and overnight tourist arrivals rose by 15.2%, ranking second and first in the city respectively. Dongtou was selected as one of “Zhejiang’s Top 10 Hidden Gem Towns of 2025”.

Enterprises swim in their own ways in the waters of Dongtou. The government keeps building platforms, paving roads and providing support from behind, enabling enterprises to forge ahead boldly. On the journey to building a genuine “Sea Garden”, they ride the wind and waves and advance at full speed.

Source: Wendu News