The 5th China Health and Senior Care Conference was held July 19 in Huangshui Town in Shizhu county in southwest China's Chongqing, according to the Publicity Department of Shizhu County. The three-day event focused on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and health and senior care, covering activities such as health and senior care medicated food tasting and TCM industry development symposium. By systematically introducing the local development achievements of "health and senior care +" , the conference seeks to boost the transformation and upgrading of health and senior care economy. At the opening ceremony, a number of health and senior care industry investment projects were signed by 9 enterprises, with a total investment amount of 11.03 billion yuan, and a white paper on the industrial development of the rhizome of Chinese goldthread was released. Shizhu, a county established in AD 619, is located in the east of Chongqing, the south bank of the Yangtze River and the heart of the Three Gorges Reservoir area. The county covers an area of 3,014.06 square km and has a total population of 550,000, of which Tujia ethnic minorities account for 79.3 percent. Tujia folk culture is diverse and colorful, with its Tusi culture being specifically unique. Shizhu enjoys an advantageous geographical location. It is located at the junction of the central and western regions of China, the junction of eastern Chongqing, western Hubei and northern Guizhou, the junction of southeast Chongqing and northeast Chongqing, as well as the heart of the Three Gorges Reservoir area. It is known as the hometown of Coptis chinensis in China. The county's Huangshui Town is the largest trading market of Coptis chinensis in China. It has initially developed a certain scale of Chinese herbal medicine processing base and a number of Chinese herbal medicine health products. Shizhu is also known for its pepper oil which is fragrant and bright in color, gaining the county the honor of the hometown of Chinese pepper; At the same time, Shizhu is also one of the most beautiful, ecological and healthy tourism destinations in China and the hometown of the world classic folk song Happiness at Sunrise. Shizhu boasts an enjoyable ecology and climate. The forest coverage rate of the county tops 60 percent. It has Dafengbao forest, the most beautiful forest in Chongqing, the most beautiful grassland-Qianye Grass Farm, and Xituo Ancient Town, one of the first ten famous historical and cultural towns in China. The county enjoys a promising prospect to develop healthy leisure tourism. In the past five years, Shizhu has built a modern health and senior care industry system, transforming and upgrading the health and senior care leisure tourism from a single-season tour to tourism across the year and the region. The economic added value of health and senior care accounts for over a half of the region's total GDP. Shizhu will speed up the cultivation and expansion of the modern health and senior care industry system, enrich and optimize health and senior care products and services, and strive to build Shizhu into a place with prosperous industry, affluent people and ecological beauty, and a national ecological health and senior care resort. For more information, please visit: http://www.zgsz.gov.cn/ Source: The Publicity Department of Shizhu County