Xingxian county in North China's Shanxi province has been putting in place a multi-industry development framework based on local conditions, to help left poor residents out of poverty and increase their incomes as well as boost industrial development. 

Since last year, Xingxian county has invested 223 million yuan ($31.5 million) to build a "222+N" featured industrial system: enabling each farmer in the county to grow 2 mu (or 0.13 hectares) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), 2 mu of high-quality small grain, 2 mu of cash crops – as well as to develop potatoes, mushrooms, animal husbandry, aquaculture and the e-commerce industries.

While building up its regional TCM brands, the county has been extending the grain industry production and supply chain and improving the quality of potato products.

Officials said it has been developing the environmentally friendly animal husbandry and aquaculture industry, as well as building vegetable bases.

So far, the county has planted 40,000 ha of small miscellaneous grain, over 13,333 ha of TCM, over 38,666 ha of red date and walnut plantations, 3,400 ha of high-quality potatoes, as well as developed 280 animal husbandry and aquaculture farms, helping 35,300 people increase annual per capita income by 3,800 yuan. 

A total of 15 town-level industrial parks, 141 village-level industrial bases and 383 rural economic development cooperatives have been newly established in the county – which has established 550 cooperatives and 16 leading city-level companies.