The photovoltaic industry in Shiguai district develops to a large scale. [Photo/WeChat account of Baotou Daily]

New schools open and local education develops in a well-rounded way in Shiguai district. [Photo/WeChat account of Baotou Daily]

Transformation is the keyword for Shiguai district's development over the past decade.

Shiguai district in Baotou was listed among the third batch of national resource-exhausted cities 10 years ago. Over 300 years of coal mining left behind a goaf of 65 square kilometers, with a single industrial structure, deteriorating environment, polluted air, and dilapidated urban areas.

In the past 10 years, Shiguai has been striving to build a green, low-carbon and distinctive high-quality transformation and development pilot area. A number of enterprises have cooperated with surrounding power plants, and the coal industry's proportion of GDP in the region has dropped from 15.8 percent to 6.1 percent. The district was listed as part of the second batch of smart cities in China and built the Smart Baotou Big Data Industrial Park.

Ecological transformation is also the district's development goal. Its forest coverage rate has increased from 21.5 percent in 2007 to 35.5 percent today, ranking first in Baotou.

At the same time, Shiguai is making full use of its unused coal mining subsidence area to develop a photovoltaic industry. In December 2019, a leading photovoltaic technology base in the area connected the grid for power generation, becoming the largest photovoltaic base in Baotou's coal mining subsidence area.

Several generations of miners have now realized their dream of living in a region with better living conditions. Over the years, Shiguai has invested 4.41 billion yuan ($653.16 million) to implement coal mining subsidence area management and shantytown renovation projects and relocated 42,000 residents, completely solving all remaining problems.

However, Shiguai did not stop moving forward. These extraordinary 10 years have been a magnificent turnaround and the starting point of a new journey.