Full coverage: 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Red Army's Long March

As a cradle for the Chinese revolution, the city of Yan’an has a special chapter in the annals of Chinese modern history. In the past decades, Yan'an also has seen advances in its economy, such as in red tourism and agriculture. However, the old revolutionary city has many challenges ahead.

"Since the reform and opening up (of China), Yan'an's economy has increased a lot -- GDP and fixed asset investments are both at over 15 billion US dollars. Taxable income has reached about 7 billion US dollars. However, Yan'an is still a less developed area and has a huge gap compared with developed coastal regions. First, Yan'an doesn't have natural and geographical advantages. Second, the city has a simple economic structure, which causes the economy to lack the motivation needed for sustained growth. Third, Yan'an has a fragile ecological environment and poor infrastructure. I still believe Yan'an has a huge potential to develop its economy. The government will further promote poverty reduction and lift 100,000 people out of poverty,"  Deputy mayor of Yan'an Yang Xiao said.