Once a revolutionary base, eastern China's Jiangxi has transformed itself into one of the nation's fastest growing provinces. Jiangxi is now equipped with e-commerce, virtual reality, and many industries. So what's been its secret? Here's CGTN's Wang Mengzhen.

With an annual GDP growth of over 9 percent.

Jiangxi, a landlocked province in China's east, is developing at an unprecedented speed.

Jiangxi's CPC party secretary, Liu Qi describes his province with three distinctive colors.

LIU QI, PARTY SECRETARY CPC JIANGXI PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE "The first color is red since Jiangxi is known as the cradle of the Chinese revolution and birthplace of the people's liberation army. And the historic city has developed red tourism because of it. The second color is green as Jiangxi's forest coverage is now at 63 percent, making it one of the greenest provinces. So, we are focused on ecological development. Last is the ancient color as Jiangxi plays a key role in the flourishing of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism."

Thanks to the so-called "latecomer advantage", the per capita GDP of Jiangxi reached more than 47 thousand yuan in 2018. That's just over 6 thousand US dollars. In 1949, the figure was only 69 yuan. As a rural revolutionary base, the urbanization rate of Jiangxi leaped from less than 10 percent to 56 percent last year. The province has lifted millions of rural residents out of poverty. Now, only 1.38% of the provincial population - roughly 500 thousand residents - are living under the poverty line.

And it has explored a brand new industry - virtual reality. This comes as the first world conference for the VR industry was held in Jiangxi's capital city of Nanchang last year.

At the presser, CGTN asked the province's governor why and how Jiangxi is capable of developing such hi-tech industries.

YI LIANHONG, GOVERNOR JIANGXI PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT "Thanks to support from the central government, the innovative genius of Jiangxi people, especially our business group has been inspired. And we have a solid foundation in developing VR thanks to our booming electronic and information industries in recent years."

Officials in Jiangxi say they are now more confident as the province has an increasingly strategic importance, regardless of its involvement in the Belt and Road initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Zone, or the neighboring Greater Bay Area. Wang Mengzhen, CGTN, BEIJING.