The No.856 Farm, established in 1955, is located in the southwest of Hulin City in Heilongjiang Province, which boards with Russia in southeast and covers a land of 1,200 square kilometers, and the farm is known for its vast flat land, rich soil and abundant resources. The farm has a population of 18,000 with 7,000 full-time employees in 30 faming brigades and 20 non-agriculture units. After half a century development, the farm is nowadays an important cereal output base in China, the example farm of IT application in agriculture in the State 863 Plan as well as a state-level eco-system example base.

The No.856 Farm, the biggest paddy farm in Heilongjiang, has a vast development potential thanks to its rich resources, and the major outputs of the farm include rice, wheat, barley, soybean, corn and silage used for animal feed. Wetlands and forests are commonly seen in the farm, and it has the largest plain water reservoir in Heilongjiang with irrigation channels at 80 kilometers, for which the farm is well-known in the province as the soil of rice and fish.

The economic condition of the No.856 Farm is healthy with robust economic and social development, and it is one of the top 10 farms in China in terms of profitability.

—— The farm has accelerated market-oriented reform paces through technology improvement and business restructure to enlarge paddy planting area and to enhance standardized management, which has promoted agriculture production and realized the transformation into market-oriented farming from traditional cultivation. In particular, the farm has been sticking to the policy of land contracting and promoting IT application in agriculture production. The unit rice output per mu (15 mu = 1 hectare) reached 550 kilograms in 2001 with unit soybean output at 170 kilograms and unit corn output at 500 kilograms, and the total output in 2001 amounted 265,000 tons. In other words, both the unit and total output hit new record highs in that year. Thanks to recent strategies of farm-to-pasture transformation, silage plantation enlargement as well as milk cow cattling, the farm has realized scientific and standardized feeding of 3,000 cows.

—— Private economy is developing rapidly in the farm, and private firms are mushrooming up within the farm, thanks to development, investment encouragement and resources leverage, to provide new dynamics into the farm economy. There are currently seven private firms, two joint-stock companies and 500 individual business registered in the farm with total registered capital at RMB 22 million, which ranked top among the region with combined payroll number at more than 5,000. In 2002, the industrial value output of the private sector reached RMB 87 million with profits at RMB 25 million, per household income at nearly RMB 10,000 and per capita income at RMB 5,100.

—— A small-sized town has been build up at the heart of the farm of brand-new image, flexible mechanism and multi-functions upon modern positioning, market-oriented planning and standardized management, which is playing a leading role in farm economy development. There is a Culture Park covering 19,000 square meters and containing a 17.5-meter-high Pioneer Monument, the highest among all farms in Heilongjiang; there is a Qingshan Lake Park covering 200,000 square meters and containing a 85.6-meter-high fountain; there is Culture Square covering 7,800 square meters and a Leisure Square, also known as the Rice Square, coving 11,000 square meters highlighted by the theme of Rice is Our Life by 15.8-meter white marble status, a symbol of rice. In addition, there is a kindergarten building of 1,350 square meters, a hospital of 2,580 square meters, a shopping mall of 3,340 square meters, a multi-function building of 5,000 square meters, a school of 20,000 square meters with three classroom buildings and two dormitory houses. In the blueprint, there will be additional industrial and commercial facilities in the town, including a processing zone with new plant coverage at 3,200 square meters, a repair zone with workroom coverage at 2,400 square meters, a construction material zone with sales area at 4,000 square meters, two shopping streets with retail sales area at 10,000 square meters, a cow house area covering 3,000 square meters, four parking lots to accommodate 130 taxis, two closed parking lots for transport vehicles, road of 20,000 square meters with cement, pavement of 18,000 square meters covered by colored tiles, a breeding area at 60,000 square meters, a 40-ton energy-efficient thermal center as well as a large-sized tourism project covering 53,000 mu, which is centered at the Qingshan water reservoir and highlighted by sight-seeing farming, original wetlands, forests, special feeding and local delicacies to offer a sight-seeing, refreshment and relaxation place for tourists.

—— The social public services are improving significantly There are more than 100 cultural and sports places in the farm with more than 15 performance on show every year, and the coverage of cable television has reached 100% with 31 programs available. The density of fixed telephone among local households also reached 63%. There is one hospital and 33 hygiene offices in the farm; the farm has realized centralized primary and secondary education since 1988 with school student number at 2,400, junior-to-senior middle school ratio and high school-to-college ratio among top in the region, and ratio of pre-school children entry in primary schools at 100%; all the residents in the farm can access to clean and safe water; there is also a Convalescent Apartment in the farm, there is no break record of the one-child policy in the farm; and the per capita housing area has reached 19 square meters.

In the future, the No. 856 Farm will continue to carry forward the innovative and "advance with time" sprit under the guideline of the "three represents" theory to build up the largest paddy base and the best town in the region as well as to set up eco-tourism farm and provincial-level farm example as a way to be the first farm being truly modernized.