Province animated about its future as pop culture helps it beat the odds

Sandwiched between the poor western region and the rich coastal area, the inland province of Hunan has never been known for its economic prowess.

Nevertheless, the past decade has seen the central province chart its own growth path, despite a lack of many obvious natural advantages or policy preferences.

In the beginning - when China started to decentralise its economy 30 years ago - Hunan was as clueless as most other provinces. Although mining and industry had been developed since 1949, Hunan's economy remained mostly agricultural. It consistently ranked first nationally in rice output, exporting a large surplus to other provinces. But a strong agricultural industry did not bring wealth to the province's 65 million people.

'The smartest way to revitalise an economy is to explore what you've got and what you're good at, and build on that,' said Chen Shou , an economics professor from Hunan University.

Besides the right weather and soil conditions for rice paddies, Hunan's almost only other natural blessing is its considerable mineral wealth. The effective exploitation of these resources was given top priority as the provincial leaders juggled options to industrialise its economy.

Today, Hunan Nonferrous Metal has become China's largest producer of indium, tungsten, antimony and lead. Other heavy industries - many privately held - also started to grow in the mid-90s. Among them were Yada Chemicals and Broad Air Conditioning, one of China's top producers of large air-conditioning systems for office buildings. As Hunan's largest taxpayer, Broad is so vital to the local economy that a grateful provincial official once described its chief executive, Zhang Yue , as 'a god'.

'Private enterprises in Hunan are now growing at a booming 20 per cent, compared with 4 per cent for state enterprises,' Professor Chen said of the non-state sector. 'In the future, state enterprises will only play a role in strategic industries,' he predicted.