Sound business ethics and credibility have fueled the prosperity of businesses in Jinjiang in Fujian province. Hengan is among 46 listed privately owned enterprises and 822 companies with production value exceeding 100 million yuan ($15 million) in the city, which is about an hour's drive northeast of Xiamen.

Jinjiang has quickly grown from a cluster of fishing villages to become the most prosperous and developed county-level city in the province as well as a role model for other counties in the country. This has been accomplished thanks to thriving local private businesses predominantly based on manufacturing and trade.

Zhao Bei, an economics professor at Xiamen University, said the establishment of good credit and a solid reputation by Jinjiang's local business communities has kept the small and medium-sized private enterprises thriving. "Only by following business ethics can we build strong trust among local businessmen so as to grow big together," Zhao said.

Chen Gong, founding partner of Anbound, a think tank, said: "Persistence in developing the real economy, rather than rushing to quick-money businesses such as real estate, have been the winning weapon for Jinjiang's sustainable growth in the past three decades." The real economy involves activities like manufacturing.