About 3 kilometers south of Shilu Town in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Province, at the foot of Jinniu Ridge, freight trains depart from here to transport ore out of the region. As an important iron ore production base in China, the Shilu Iron Mine is located right here and is renowned both domestically and internationally for its high-quality, high-grade iron ore.

The Shilu Iron Ore Mine has accumulated proven reserves of approximately 466 million tons, accounting for about 71% of the nation’s reserves of high-grade iron ore. The average iron content in the ore reaches 51.2%, with the highest grade peaking at 69%, earning it the reputation of being “Asia’s richest iron ore deposit.” Yet, little known is the fact that during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, this site was subjected to frenzied plunder by Japanese invaders. Recently, a reporter from China News Service visited the Shilu Iron Ore Mine to trace this painful and tear-stained past.

Xie Lailong, former director of the Party History Research Center of Changjiang County Committee, introduced that in February 1939, after the Japanese army occupied Hainan Island, it immediately dispatched geological and resource survey teams to explore the island in order to achieve its goal of “sustaining warfare through warfare.” The teams discovered that the Shilu iron ore deposit was exceptionally rich in resources and boasted an unusually high grade—qualities rarely found elsewhere—and promptly began to plunder it. The Japanese military’s exploitation of the Shilu iron ore was based on military occupation and carried out through means such as infrastructure development and the establishment of colonial administrative institutions.

In order to quickly plunder the Shilu iron ore resources, the Japanese army successively deceived and forcibly conscripted over 60,000 people—including students, workers, farmers, and civilians—from various occupied regions such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao, Xiamen, and Hainan Island. These individuals were then assigned to perform grueling labor at mines, docks, along railway lines, and other sites. By the time the Japanese surrendered, only 5,803 of these laborers had survived, while the Shilu iron mine had been stripped of more than 690,000 tons of high-quality iron ore.