Over the past five decades -- Panzhihua City in southwest China -- has maintained robust industrial growth through the production of quality steel products. But now, the city has decided to shift toward a more balanced approach, and is focusing more on green and healthier living. CGTN's Meng Qingsheng reports.

Richard Jay Nedervelt grew up in Hawaii and worked much of his life in California. In 2011, he came to Panzhihua and spent four years learning and teaching at local schools. But six months ago, he returned and decided to stay.

RICHARD JAY NEDERVELT AMERICAN EXPAT IN PANZHIHUA "When I first got here, it was a little bit dingy and dirty. They had plants, but many of them were covered with soot. Sometimes they would die because of this. Now they made more of an effort to clean things up, and to plant more trees - a bigger variety of trees."

Before the 1960s, Panzhihua was an isolated small village in Sichuan Province. It quickly became one of China's largest producers of steel, as a result of a national movement to boost defense and basic industries.

In the 1970s, mining alone contributed more than 90 percent to its local economy. However, in 2004, the industrial town was declared one of China's most polluted cities.

MENG QINGSHENG PANZHIHUA, SICHUAN PROVINCE "Iron and steel making has transformed this mountain town into an industrial giant. But along with local prosperity also came environmental problems. In 2012, the city decided to follow a green and healthier development path. Since then, it has created more than six square kilometers of green space, an area twice as big as New York's Central Park."

The city enacted its first air regulation last October to tackle dust pollution. Latest data shows the average density of particulate matter in Panzhihua dropping.

JIA RUIYUN COMMUNIST PARTY CHIEF OF PANZHIHUA "Pollution and ecological damage forced us to speed up transformation. We've taken initiatives to upgrade industrial structures, and transform the steel city into a vanadium and titanium capital, which produces less emissions. We've also worked to build a city featuring health and wellness services. In addition, we plan to grow it into a trans-regional hub, with complete urban functions."

This industrial overhaul has boosted growth of the city's service sector. Each year, tens of thousands of people visit Panzhihua.

DENG LI PRESIDENT, PANZHIHUA HEALTH & WELLNESS ASSOCIATION "Mother nature has given us brilliant sunshine and good produce like fruits and vegetables. Besides, the city has worked to improve the overall urban environment, including basic facilities, medical care, as well as green space and parks. That helps attract people from out of town to come and stay."

Richard is one of them. He has now immersed himself in a growing sense of community.

RICHARD JAY NEDERVELT AMERICAN EXPAT IN PANZHIHUA "I am here. I enjoy the good. Maybe I complain about the bad a little bit, but these things have changed. And it's such a cleaner city. So it's just getting better and better every year. And I think this made me come back to Panzhihua, and to call it my home."

Meng Qingsheng, CGTN, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province.