View of Yangtze River waterfront after Xingfa Group vacated its factory buildings, warehouses and workshops (COURTESY)

Yichang, a city in Hubei Province, sits at the junction of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The river’s main stem flowing through the city accounts for nearly a quarter of the Hubei section, which in the past was crowded by pollution-spewing chemical plants. 

But today, where industrial scars were once a health hazard, ecological restoration has blossomed. It is a transformation that stems from a decade of sustained efforts in ecological governance and industrial restructuring in Yichang. 

Breaking the deadlock 

A dull thunder broke the riverside silence in Yichang’s Xiaoting District on 9 September 2018. The 60-metre-tall chimney of Xingrui No.1 Thermal Power Plant owned by Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group Co. Ltd., a fine-phosphorus chemical enterprise, collapsed in clouds of dust. 

This demolition marked a turning point for Yichang to break free from the predicament of “chemical plants hemming in the Yangtze River.” The city took decisive action against its chemical industry, which had an output value exceeding 100 billion yuan ($14.9 billion). Motivated by access to the waterway, more than 100 chemical enterprises had once squeezed into a 1-km stretch of riverbank. Their chimneys, pipelines and warehouses physically cut the city off from the Yangtze. Industrial wastewater, unregulated mining and vessel pollution rapidly degraded the water quality of China’s mother river. The Yangtze was seriously ill. 

In 2016, the strategic guideline of “prioritising well-coordinated conservation while avoiding excessive development” brought new hope. Two years later, during his inspection tour of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first stop was Xingfa Group’s Yichang New Material Industrial Park. A clear rule was set: put ecological restoration of the Yangtze River front and centre and pursue sound, orderly and high-quality development underpinned by ecological conservation. 

“We had already torn down riverside facilities and wharves and sealed off sewage outlets,” recalled Li Shubing, chief engineer of Xingfa Group. “Vacant land was turned into green belts. One production installation was preserved and repurposed as part of an ecological study base.” 

Growing pains from transformation were inevitable. Xingfa vacated over 50 hectares of land once occupied by factory buildings, warehouses and workshops, dismantling assets worth more than 1.3 billion yuan ($194 million). In return, 900 metres of pristine Yangtze riverbank were restored. Through this process, the enterprise also achieved its phoenix-like rebirth. In 2025, the Xingfa Group posted sales revenue of 65.64 billion yuan ($9.8 billion), with its products sold to 142 countries and regions worldwide. 

Xingfa is far from an isolated case. Starting in 2017, Yichang rolled out a comprehensive greening plan for 134 riverside chemical enterprises - closure, renovation, relocation and production shift. This multi-pronged approach turned the predicament of “chemical plants hemming in the Yangtze River” into a prelude to renewal. 

 View of Xingfa Group’s Yichang New Material Industrial Park (COURTESY)

Rebirth and repurposing 

Glyphosate herbicide is Xingfa’s flagship product. Yet its byproduct methyl chloride was once hazardous waste, which meant high transportation costs and immense safety and environmental pressures. “Later, we found methyl chloride could be a vital raw material for producing organosilicon monomers (chemical building blocks used to make silicone),” explained Li. Today, methyl chloride flows directly through pipelines into organosilicon production lines. In turn, dilute hydrochloric acid, a byproduct from organosilicon manufacturing, is reused as feedstock for glyphosate production. 

A complete closed-loop cycle has thus taken shape, leaving no waste. Following this circular logic, yellow phosphorus for glyphosate production can also yield high-quality electronic-grade phosphoric acid. Industrial salt, indispensable for organosilicon manufacturing, undergoes electrolysis to generate chlorine gas. The chlorine is deployed to make glyphosate feedstock and is also used in semiconductor manufacturing for chip cleaning and etching. 

Xingfa boasts another industry-leading recycling technology that enables the recovery and reuse of resources from industrial wastewater, generating more than 100 million yuan ($14.9 million) in recovered value annually. This achievement makes Xingfa one of only four glyphosate manufacturers nationwide to pass inspections by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. 

By tapping into the symbiotic and coupled relationships between different product lines, hazardous industrial waste was transformed into high-end raw materials. This waste-to-treasure “chemical reaction” has extended Xingfa’s industrial chain and increased product added value.

Members of the fish protection team from Houping Village, Xiling District, Yichang, patrol waters along the Yangtze River (VCG)

Sustainable investment 

Confidence for transformation comes from sustained investment in scientific and technological innovation. Xingfa has poured 520 million yuan ($77.7 million) into building the Hubei Three Gorges Laboratory. It collaborates with universities and other enterprises to build R&D platforms, foster clustered growth of industrial chains such as organosilicon and tackle common technical hurdles, including phosphogypsum (a byproduct of making phosphate fertilizers) utilisation. Robust innovation has not only strengthened the group, but also turned it into a magnet for talented personnel. “Previously, a company in a third-tier city like ours could hardly recruit highly educated professionals,” Li said. “Now the company has 75 Ph.D. holders and 508 staff members with master’s degrees, providing an endless stream of momentum for technological breakthroughs.” 

At Xingfa’s smart management centre, production data across the nearly 700-hectare park is displayed in full view. Five large screens line the wall, triggering instant alerts for any anomalies. “Manual monitoring has given way to robots, lifting the level of intelligence and automation,” Li said. 

After almost a decade, ecological protection has not held back economic growth; instead, it has accelerated it. Relocating facilities away from the Yangtze riverbank has not pushed up logistics costs as some expected. Hubei Province specially approved two wharves within the industrial park to support raw material inflow and direct transportation of hazardous chemicals through pipelines. To assist, the nearby Yunchi Deep-Water Port and the Yichang Comprehensive Bonded Zone provide services enabling the enterprise to complete customs clearance right at its doorstep. 

Volunteers take action  

Amid vigorous overhaul of chemical enterprises in 2018, Ding Wanming, Party secretary of Tongling Community in Xiaoting District, took the lead to form a volunteer team with six retirees. They built a floating garbage collection vessel to clear litter from the river. No one expected this small team to grow into a large community with more than 14,000 registered volunteers. 

Various volunteer groups work in tandem, drawing far more participants than the number of registered volunteers. Among them are octogenarians who handwrite their work summaries on river protection. The volunteer community also includes fishermen who have discarded their nets following the fishing ban and young parents bringing kindergarten children to join activities. 

“At first, many believed protecting the Yangtze River was solely the government’s responsibility and had nothing to do with ordinary people. Now the mindset has completely changed,” said Li Shanshan, deputy director of a volunteer service centre named Yangtze River Sentinels. 

Nestled next to the New Materials Industrial Park of Xingfa Group, the Yangtze River Protection Education Centre serves as a time archive documenting Yichang’s decade-long efforts to safeguard the Yangtze River. Its exhibition hall features striking before-and-after photos. One photo captures a flock of egrets gracefully taking off along the Yunchi River, a primary tributary of the Yangtze River. One year after remediation, egrets that had vanished for more than 20 years returned to nest here.