Global Times: The tale of Old Yang, Young Yang's 'shift' in mindset
BEIJING, Jan. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- "Bury your head in hard work and you'll stumble and fall; lift your head to see the road and you'll taste the sweetness of success. Studying the new thought clarifies the direction; Chuyuan Group recognizes high-quality development as the hard truth of the new era!" Yang Peng, Party secretary and chairman of Chuyuan High-Tech Group, told reporters, as he eagerly leads them to the digital monitoring center.
It was the reporters' fifth visit to Chuyuan in the past five years, and changes are both tangible and intangible. The tangible changes included the demolition of old workshops, the "retirement" of towering smokestacks, the adoption of robots on production lines, pilot tests of nanomaterials, and new quality productive forces that have revitalized the traditional chemical industry. The intangible change was the profound shift in mindset across the company, from top to bottom.
Located on the banks of the Yangtze River in Shishou, Jingzhou, Central China's Hubei Province, Chuyuan was once the world's largest manufacturer of reactive-dye intermediates and has long enjoyed a stellar reputation among industry peers in Hubei and across the nation. The company's two successive chairmen - father and son Yang Zhicheng and Yang Peng - are affectionately known by locals as "Old Yang" and "Young Yang."
The "stumble" Young Yang refers to happened 10 years ago. In early 2016, Chuyuan ranked in the top three on the Jingzhou City's tax contribution list, bringing a "highlight moment" for the Yangs. Two months later, Chuyuan was hit with a fine exceeding 27 million yuan ($3.86 million) for environmental protection violations, setting a "historical record" in the Yangtze River Basin.
The "astronomical penalty" sent shockwaves through Hubei Province and along the entire river. The company's illegal discharge of pollutants stemmed from Old Yang and Young Yang's failure to keep pace with the changing times: "Our bodies have entered the new era, but our minds were still stuck in the past."
On January 5, 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a symposium on improving the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. The Yangtze River boasts a unique ecological system. To restore its ecological environment will be an overwhelming task and no large-scale development will be allowed along the river at present and for a rather long period to come, he said.
On April 25, 2018, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected the ecological environment and development along the Yangtze River by ship. On the afternoon of April 26, 2018, Xi chaired a symposium on promoting the development of the Yangtze River economic belt. He clearly pointed out that "to promote green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, we must first of all have a correct understanding of the issue," and "there must be a fundamental change in their way of thinking and action."
In the speech, the General Secretary pointed out that I have read a Xinhua news report about a chemical plant located on a zigzag section of the Yangtze in Shishou City, Hubei Province. As one of the world's three largest producers in its industry, it is a leading taxpayer but also a major polluter in the local area. For many years it caused heavy pollution, inflicting unspeakable agony on the people in its vicinity. In recent years local eco-environmental authorities have been getting tougher. The plant received a fine of more than 27 million yuan, the harshest penalty on polluters in the Yangtze River Basin so far. This forced the plant to close those highly polluting production lines that could not be retrofitted, and invest about 100 million yuan to install the most advanced pollution control equipment in the industry. These measures not only ended the longstanding pollution, but also transformed and upgraded its operations.
That plant was Chuyuan. And this passage was included in the Selected Readings from the Works of Xi Jinping Volume II and the first volume of Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Ecological Civilization.
With the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Ecological Civilization, published in 2025, on his desk, Yang Peng said: "We must not let down the General Secretary's concern; Chuyuan has strived to get back on its feet, and we must resolutely continue forward!"
The power of mindset is boundless. Over the past decade, Old Yang and Young Yang have undergone a profound shift in mindset - from resentment and discouragement to summoning the courage for rectification and, ultimately, renewal and upgrading.
Changing mindset critical, difficult
At the great bend of the Yangtze River, Chuyuan Group spans 1,800 mu. At its peak, it held the world's largest production capacity for para-ester and H-acid.
This "giant" in the global dye market started humbly - from just five small rooms, five large vats and five coal-fired stoves. In 1982, more than 30 farmers who had just stepped off the fields plunged into the tide of reform, led by Yang Zhicheng. In the 1990s, the small workshop grew into a major group with both production and sales exceeding 100 million yuan, and its employees' wages were twice those of other factories. "Back then, everyone in the neighborhood envied someone who could work in Chuyuan," said veteran worker Su Furong.
At the turn of the century, as China joined the World Trade Organization, the chemical industry along the Yangtze River expanded rapidly. Production capacity for H-acid, para-ester, and reactive dyes surged to the top in Asia, and Chuyuan became Hubei's largest private enterprise by export earnings.
Old Yang was elected as a deputy to the Hubei Provincial People's Congress and was successively honored as a provincial model worker and outstanding entrepreneur. In 1999, Yang Peng graduated from university and began learning management alongside his father.
On January 10, 2016, the Jingzhou Municipal State Taxation Bureau released its list of enterprises paying more than 100 million yuan in annual taxes, with Chuyuan Group ranking third and retaining its title as Shishou's top taxpayer for years running.
That same year marked a historic watershed in efforts to protect the Yangtze River. On January 5, 2016, a symposium on improving the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt was held. The status and role of the river and the economic belt mean the development along the river must prioritize ecology and "green development" to respect natural, economic and social rules, Xi said.
A series of illegal emissions by Chuyuan once again drew the attention of environmental protection authorities, prompting a special task force to be stationed on-site for investigation and evidence collection.
On March 13, Chuyuan was ordered to halt production entirely for rectification. By the end of March, the Jingzhou Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau issued a penalty decision against Chuyuan in accordance with the law. The administrative fine exceeding 27 million yuan became the "largest environmental penalty in history" in the Yangtze River Basin and one of the most severe in China's environmental enforcement history.
The astronomical fine hit Old Yang and Young Yang hard. Chuyuan was among Hubei's top 100 private enterprises, employing more than 4,000 people. At the time, in Shishou, the company contributed 11.99 percent of local GDP and about 60 percent of tax revenue.
"With such huge contributions to the local economy, couldn't they go easy on us - just a little flexibility?" Yang Zhicheng initially struggled to accept the decision and harbored illusions that while the enforcement appeared strict at the moment, pulling some strings might make it "pass."
After finding that backdoor channels were blocked, Chuyuan applied for a hearing on March 30. On April 26, the Jingzhou Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau held a public hearing. After two and a half hours of sharp exchanges, the company's statements and defenses were rejected. On June 6, the bureau issued the formal administrative penalty decision.
"The group's IPO was just one step away. If we admit the violation, wouldn't that ruin our future?" Old Yang began publicly protesting online, openly questioning the environmental enforcement findings and the penalty decision. On June 27, Chuyuan applied for administrative reconsideration. On August 16, the Jingzhou Municipal Government issued its reconsideration decision. Still refusing to accept the outcome, Chuyuan filed an administrative lawsuit.
On September 26 and 28, the Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court served notices of administrative litigation response to the Jingzhou Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau and the Jingzhou Municipal Government's Legal Affairs Office, respectively.
"Changing mindset is the most critical, but is also the most difficult." Liu Mingchun, then the head of the Jingzhou Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, said that the case is unprecedented in his many years of work.
The intense confrontation sent ripples through Shishou. Some were shocked: "That's Yang Zhicheng. He has wide connections and knows everyone. They really dare take him on?" Others applauded: "It's about time regulators got serious. Not just handing out fines, but actually shutting it down completely!" Still others worried: "So many people in the city depend on Chuyuan for their livelihoods. If it closes, what will we do?"
Opinions varied widely over the dispute surrounding the "astronomical fine," but one perception was unanimous: officials' mindset had changed, the Yangtze River's protection drive was being pursued in earnest, and the overall situation was fundamentally different.
New era, new thought
This was not the first time Yang Zhicheng had faced environmental protection troubles. In 2006, Chuyuan was placed under special supervision for illegal pollutant discharges. In March 2007, media reports exposed that the group was discharging 7,000 tons of wastewater directly into the Yangtze River each day - a shocking revelation that ultimately resulted in a fine of just 100,000 yuan.
The regulations lacked "teeth" and could not "bite" through tough cases. It was not just Chuyuan and Shishou. Chemical enterprises had sprung up along the river, routinely polluting while paying fines and treating pollution while continuing production. By 2010, China had become the world's largest chemical powerhouse.
Accompanying this "chemical encirclement of the river" was a deepening pollution crisis. The "Mother River" had fallen ill. The symptoms appeared in the water, but the root cause lay in the outdated mindset of "pollute first, clean up later" and "destroy first, restore later."
In the new era, new thought reaches straight into people's hearts and charts the course forward.
Through the coordinated advancement of the Five-Pronged Overall Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, ecological civilization construction has gained higher positioning, broader vision, and greater intensity.
To transform views on political achievements and development, Party committees and governments at all levels took the lead in making a shift in mindset. The Hubei Provincial Party committee and the provincial government clearly stated that, with the entire Yangtze River basin in view and looking beyond Hubei to the river as a whole, the province should establish an "upstream consciousness," shoulder "upstream responsibility," and resolve to forgo ranking advances rather than accepting "GDP tainted by pollution."
Institutions "grow teeth," regulation "carries a charge," and comprehensively advancing the rule of law in the country - local environmental enforcement feels the tremendous changes of the era.
Wang Yong, then captain of the county-and city-level detachment of the Jingzhou Municipal Environmental Inspection Brigade, led a team in 2016 to conduct a thorough inspection of a Chuyuan company. "Throughout the entire enforcement and penalty process, not a single person tried to intercede or pull strings," Wang recalled.
"The General Secretary's important instructions gave us confidence, the new Environmental Protection Law gave us weapons, and local environmental enforcement has never been this swift before!" Liu Quan, former head of the enforcement team of the Shishou branch of the Jingzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment Protection, said of the work back then.
The change was driven by larger trends and was also historically inevitable. Enterprises that had long blocked their own "sense of smell" gradually began to regain it.
Old Yang once approached the director of the Hubei Provincial Environmental Protection Department seeking leniency. The director straightforwardly handed him a copy of the newly revised Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China and said, "The solutions are all in this book."
Young Yang, too, tossed and turned at night. He had closely followed the news about the symposium on promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Yet he had not placed himself in the picture, making it difficult for the message to truly touch his soul. "I never imagined the storm would come so quickly - or that we would be the first to get caught in it!"
The Yangtze River winds through Shishou in sharp, serpentine bends and has changed its course several times throughout history. After each shift, the new channel has proven more vibrant and fuller of life.
Liu Zhongcheng, then Party Secretary of Shishou, made a solemn pledge to the city's residents: any enterprise failing to meet rectification standards would under no circumstances be allowed to resume production.
Liu knocked on Chuyuan's door and had a heart-to-heart talk with Old Yang and Young Yang, saying that "filing an administrative lawsuit is the lawful right of the enterprise. But in my view, this case will be very difficult to win. Prioritizing ecology and pursuing green development - guiding enterprise growth with new mindset and new concepts - will be the new normal going forward. It's just like in the era of high-speed rail: if you keep riding the old, slow green trains, you're bound to be left far behind by everyone else!"
Hear the tune of the new era
On the banks of the Tiaoxian River near the village of Boyaokou originated the story of the musician who could recognize a friend by the sound of a single string.
The proverb - listening to the strings to know the soulmate - captures an essential truth: changing one's mindset is difficult because it first requires hearing the voice of the era and letting that voice resonate within.
To find that resonance, one must first tune the strings.
Old Yang and Young Yang are both Party members and members of Chuyuan's management team. Fully leverage the political core role of Party organizations in enterprises, use the Party's innovative theories to transform the subjective world of individuals, and only when entrepreneurs tune the strings of their thinking accurately can the enterprise grasp the pulse of the era.
When Chuyuan was ordered to suspend operations for rectification, provincial officials from Hubei paid three earnest visits. The first time, Yang Zhicheng did not appear; the second time, Old Yang listened but said little; the third time, he opened the door and spoke frankly.
"Old Yang, you're a veteran model worker and have served four terms as a provincial deputy. Why did Chuyuan once lead the pack? Because you were committed to learning and always hit the right beats. Why did you stumble this time? Because you relaxed your study discipline and relied on old habits. To keep pace with the times, you must hear the tune of the new era and step in time with it," an official said.
Repeated heart-to-heart talks fell like steady rain; the hardened ground began to soften.
Young Yang was the first to reflect: "Environmental protection used to seem like a minor issue. Now it's a major one." However, Old Yang had another concern: "If only we alone accept penalties while our competitors keep using the old ways, won't we be the losers?"
Then Chen Liequan came to visit. A former senior executive at Chuyuan, Chen had appeared on camera in 2007 when the company was exposed for pollution. The public embarrassment forced him to rethink. He left in 2010 to found the high-tech enterprise Nenter & Co, starting over with an uncompromising focus on environmental protection and innovation. "Back then, apart from me, a college graduate, everyone else just put down their hoes and went to work in the factory. We only had a few water vats at home. Why were we able to grow our businesses so big? By listening to the Party and following the Party," he said.
Located in Shishou, Nenter's plant, with its fishponds and lush vegetable plots, produces 8,000 tons of isophytol annually and is recognized as a leader in fine chemicals.
Chen's experience showed that change could pay off. "Along the river, chemical plants were being closed or relocated," he said. "We must allow the river to follow its natural course and flow to the sea. That is the trend - there's no more walking on a slippery rind of a watermelon and hoping to land safely. We must put on new shoes and walk a new path," Chen added.
Chuyuan spent more than nine months closed for rectification. Honest conversations cleared doubts and opened minds.
"This isn't just bad luck or someone picking on us. In the new era, environmental compliance is unavoidable. The fine was meant to wake us up, not to finish us off." Awakened, the Yangs invested 100 million yuan in rectification. Young Yang led a delegation to learn from Jilin Chemical Group Co, a long-time rival.
"In the past, some of our products outperformed competitors' only because we cut corners," Young Yang said. "Today, the last thing we want to encounter is the old version of ourselves."
They permanently shut down more than ten production lines at Chuyuan's facility, built rainwater collection systems, and launched the second phase of a wastewater treatment plant. Development and safety were rebalanced step by step.
They studied, reflected and transformed. The three-part "tune-up" produced genuine resonance.
In November 2016, Chuyuan withdrew its lawsuit and accepted penalties. After passing inspections on December 25, 2016, the company resumed production.
"Trust the Party and move with the times," Old Yang said. "Those who come out of Chuyuan must change their mindset, fill their pockets, and straighten their backs."
Mindset shift for development transformation
Fish, one of the four delicacies of the Yangtze River, is a specialty of Shishou. Every spring, countless fish swim upstream; the greater the resistance, the stronger their survival ability.
The challenge of green development lay before the people of Chuyuan.
In 2017, after production resumed, Chuyuan's tax payments totaled only about 70 million yuan. "Does the era no longer need us?" Young Yang wondered.
Enterprises were not the only ones lacking confidence. In 2016, Chuyuan's rectification directly reduced the growth rate of Jingzhou's industrial added value above designated size by 2 percentage points, while Shishou's local fiscal revenue fell by 67 million yuan. Some felt the punishment was "too harsh" and that development and environmental protection were difficult to reconcile.
Another view held that the chemical industry is high-risk and that "shutting it down would save trouble."
How could one think dialectically and turn crises into opportunities?
"To promote green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, we must first of all have a correct understanding of the issue. In particular, we must not see eco-environmental protection and economic development in isolation or set them in opposition," Xi said during the symposium on promoting the development of the Yangtze River economic belt on April 26, 2018.
The power of thought lies in their ability to drive practice.
"Development is the top priority. Shifts in mindset are meant to serve development and transformation. Although the pressure is heavy, doing it well puts you one step ahead of others. Chuyuan's future depends on whether you can strengthen your confidence and make a difference," local officials told Old Yang and Young Yang.
There are no bystanders in high-quality development, and private enterprises are a key driving force.
"To help Chuyuan regain its footing and grown stronger, strict supervision, timely guidance and front-line government services are essential," said Wang Min, Party secretary of Shishou.
To build a new type of clean and cordial relationship between government and business, relevant departments in Shishou presented Chuyuan with a "big gift package," including policy promotion, support for technological upgrading, support for science and technology innovation, and timely relief measures. The relevant policies are readily available and accessible, with over 20 million yuan in subsidies for environmental remediation, and 132 practical difficulties have been quietly resolved.
From 2016 to 2022, Chuyuan invested a total of about 200 million yuan in environmental upgrades, cutting energy consumption by 59 percent, becoming one of Hubei's first enterprises included in the national carbon trading pilot program.
"For today's Chuyuan, making progress while maintaining stability is more important," Young Yang said, after turning down a deal with high returns but high risks for the environment.
Chuyuan invested more than 40 million yuan to upgrade production processes, build fire stations, and establish online monitoring and early-warning of major hazard sources. In May 2025, the industrial park received the highest-level safety risk standard certification. Walking around the Chuyuan factory today reveals clear water flowing from the central treatment pool, with sewage discharge data uploaded online around the clock.
Clear directions, clever methods
When a boat navigates sharp bends, it tests the nature of water; when people go through obstacles, it tests their strength of character.
The chemical industry has faced significant downward pressure in recent years, and Chuyuan, after resuming production, has found it difficult to regain a leading position.
To address the challenge, the Yangs explored cooperation opportunities in emerging sectors such as wind power, lithium batteries, photovoltaics, new energy, new materials, and biomedicine.
This time, without external supervision, Yang took the initiative to lead Chuyuan employees to study proactively, sharpen their understanding and change their mindsets.
In July 2023, a national conference on ecological and environmental protection was held, underscoring that traditional enterprises can also pursue high-end, smart and green transformation. "It is crucial not to dismiss traditional industries as uniformly 'low-end' or 'backward' and simply phase them out, as doing so could lead to a disruption in the transition from old to new growth drivers, cause a loss of momentum, and exacerbate the pains of structural adjustment," it said.
"Transformation does not mean changing industries. A better life is inseparable from the chemical sector. By upgrading traditional industries according to local conditions, it is also possible to cultivate new quality productive forces," Yang reflected.
Facing mounting environmental and market pressures, Chuyuan has refocused on its core businesses, upgraded its production chain and increased investment in green and smart manufacturing.
To eliminate legacy pollution and extract value from by-products, Chuyuan invested 50 million yuan to build systems for the comprehensive treatment of production waste and effluents. The project has enabled the group to recover materials and reduce disposal costs, converting earlier environmental liabilities into new revenue streams.
The company also put 60 million yuan into a new chlorosulfonic acid production line designed to improve environmental performance, enhance safety and lower unit costs — a trifecta the company calls a "win-win win" outcome.
Supported by favorable policies, Chuyuan upgraded its energy and production infrastructure by installing a new biomass boiler and accelerating automation. The company's deployment of industrial robots and smarter control systems has raised production efficiency by around 40 percent, while cutting energy intensity and emissions.
Chuyuan has actively integrated industry, academia and research resources, achieved science-driven product breakthroughs, and invested in next generation materials to open up strategic new markets.
The results have been tangible. After intermittent restarts in previous years, Chuyuan has operated at full capacity since 2024. For 2025, the company expected revenue of about 2 billion yuan and tax payments to exceed 80 million yuan, increases of 55.4 percent and 53.5 percent, respectively, compared with 2022.
The trajectory shows that new quality productive forces are inherently a form of green productivity.
"To develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions, the directions are clear and the methods are clever!" Yang Peng said, as he reflects on what transpired over the past decade. "To reiterate, the rule of law is the best business environment, and high-quality development is the only way forward."
This year marks the opening of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, what lies ahead for Chuyuan?
Chuyuan plans to invest 400 million yuan in 2026, prioritizing the circular economy and setting a long-term goal of becoming a century-old green enterprise. Young Yang said the firm will "find its place in grand landscape of Chinese modernization" and "strive to become a driving force in the private sector."
SOURCE Global Times
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