For years, Xingtang county in Hebei province was shadowed by a local saying that played on its name: "Xingtang bu xing" — Xingtang cannot do it. The saying reflected more than a play on words. Along the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains, several counties had long struggled with constraints of terrain and resources. In Xingtang, a traditional agricultural county, quality farm products often failed to reach wider markets because they lacked strong brands and sales channels. When Zou Guoyu arrived in Xingtang, he saw that changing the county's prospects would require more than short-term assistance. He was among the 13 officials assigned by the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee to work in the county over the past decade. Their work focused on opening markets, building brands and strengthening the county's own capacity for development. Those efforts gradually paid off. Xingtang red dates were selected as State gifts, honey produced in the county reached Southeast Asian markets, and the county's public brand for local specialties gained wider recognition. What happened in Xingtang was not a single breakthrough, but a relay — one group of officials after another carrying the work forward and helping turn an...