In the heart of Jiaozuo, a city in Henan Province, China, lies a century-old power plant, Jiaozuo Power Plant, which weathered the test of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. This historic landmark, part of the China Energy Investment Corporation Co., Ltd., was established in 1905 by Zhongfu Company, a pioneering Sino-foreign joint venture involved in coal mining in Jiaozuo. It remains one of the oldest operational power plants in China with a rich and uninterrupted history.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Chinese people's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Looking back on its journey, Jiaozuo Power Plant emerges as a beacon of hope and resilience during wartime, playing a pivotal role in driving the country’s industrial efforts and providing crucial support for the war against Japanese aggression.
The story traces back to the autumn of 1937, a time when the northern regions of Henan Province were engulfed in the shadows of war. Situated in the heart of the Central Plains region, Jiaozuo faced the looming threat of Japanese aggressors’ bombardment following their occupation of North China.
It was during this tumultuous period that Sun Yueqi, general manager of the then Zhongfu Company, started contemplating the perilous situation. He made a bold decision to dismantle all the equipment of the Zhongfu Company and transport it to the safer places, with the first destination being Central China’s Hunan Province.
The journey southward was fraught with challenges. Sun tirelessly shuttled between the cities of Jiaozuo, Zhengzhou and Xinxiang, coordinating efforts to transport the equipment. In a bid to secure transportation, he managed to procure passenger train carriages from the Zhengzhou railway, which were used to transport both the equipment, the workers and their families.
In February 1938, as the Japanese aggressors surrounded Xinxiang, the Chinese army tried to bomb the Yellow River railway bridge to block their way. At that moment, the final batch of equipment was still on the bridge.
Sun, braving the hail of bullets, rushed to the demolition team and passionately pleaded with them, emphasizing the critical importance of the mining equipment for the war effort. He said that the mining equipment will be crucial for rebuilding new mines and producing coal, which holds immense significance in supporting the anti-aggression efforts.
Witnessing his anxious expression, the commanding officer finally nodded and agreed to delay the detonation by five minutes.
The painstaking efforts to transport the 4,000 tons of equipment, tools, and over 1,100 individuals became the spark that ignited the industrial efforts in the home front during the war. In Xiangtan, Hunan Province, Sun and his workers established new coal mines that operated ceaselessly, supporting the anti-aggression war efforts in Changsha and Wuhan.
Following the fall of Wuhan, they journeyed to Sichuan Province in Southwest China, collaborating with local enterprises to open mines in places like Tianfu, Jiayang, and Weiyuan. Among these efforts, three 125-kilowatt units and one 350-kilowatt unit were relocated to the Tianfu coal mine in Sichuan, providing electricity to the people of Chongqing and significantly bolstering the war against Japanese aggression.
The saga of the Jiaozuo Power Plant serves as a poignant reminder of resilience, sacrifice, and unwavering determination in the face of adversity. Dubbed as the "living fossil" of China's power industry, it made the list of the National Industrial Heritage Sites recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in October 2024, the only power company in Henan Province on the list.
(Executive editor: Yuan Ting)
