Officials from five provinces and one municipality in Southwest China gathered in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region together for the 18th time to share views on economic cooperation and mutual development.
The mention of Western China often conjures up pictures of poverty and backwardness in people's minds. This image was once true and the Western part of China is indeed lagging behind Eastern provinces and regions in economic development due to its distance from the main economic centers, as well as other factors. Without sufficient contact with the outside world, people there may have been quite content with their life for some time, but this is no longer true today. China has launched the grand "Western development project" in an attempt to boost the development of the Western Regions, and to help them to catch up with coastal areas. But people there are not relying solely on support from the government, they are themselves taking action to hasten the realization of this common goal.
This time, delegates from Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, and Guangxi discussed possible ways to quicken the pace of mutual development. Also on the agenda was the opening up of new areas of activity for the regional economies. Each province brought different problems for discussion.
Vice governor of Sichuan Province, Li Dachang said, “I am most concerned about how to display our collective strength to the ASEAN countries, how we should strengthen ties with ASEAN and further the establishment of a Free Trade Zone between China and ASEAN, and the expansion of our economic cooperation with these countries.” And Vice Chair of Tibet Autonomous Region, Ciren Zhuoga said, “The key aim of this conference is to reinforce ties between southwestern provinces and cities by establishing economic brands for economic expansion.”
For the past 18 years, substantial achievements have been made in cooperation in the transportation, communication, infrastructure construction, tourism, ecology, and science and technology fields. The opening of the Nankun Railway and the Southwest highway to the sea has played a major role in regional economic development and assisted in increasing contact with the international economy. The construction of hydro-power stations in Tianshengqiao, Ertan, Daxinshan, Xiaowan and Panxian County have laid a solid foundation for the country's "channeling electricity from west to the east" project. Kunming Export & Trade Fair and the World Expo promoted further opening up of this region. The establishment of a forest ecological system in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze and Zhujiang rivers laid a solid foundation for sustainable development in the Southwestern Region. Delegates present at the conference reported their achievements in regional economic cooperation.
After careful deliberation, the conference agreed upon four major subjects for discussion this year. They are: Jointly pushing forward the construction of a South Guizhou-Kunming Economic Zone; Jointly quickening the restructuring of regional industries in this region; Jointly expediting protection of the environment in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangzte and Zhujiang Rivers as well as comprehensive development of ecological tourism in this region and; Jointly stepping up construction of transportation and communication networks. To improve transportation routes leading to the sea and the outside world is especially important to this region to implement a "going outside" strategy, and therefore is a common concern of all delegates. The Southwestern highway to the sea had been under construction for 14 years and finally opened to traffic in December 2001. It is the first high quality highway in the Western region, it runs for 1709 kilometers through Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi and ends at Beihai. However, road conditions in some parts still need to be improved.
Many delegates at the conference agree that it is of vital importance to build an extensive transportation network in the southwestern region. Things must be done to increase the efficiency of water transportation, to construct shipping ports, to improve civil air transportation with well-positioned main and minor airports, and to strengthen the present railway network, while at the same time maintain the relative level of the auxiliary facilities. Delegates also presented their opinions on topics relating to the betterment of economic zones, the city planning of the five kernel cities in Chengdu, Nanning, Guiyang, Chongqing and Kunming, and the findings of key research projects.
Finally, delegates have reached consensus on the four main subjects as well as presenting reports and a summary of the conference to the Central government and the State Council.
(Sept.16,2002)
Editor: Wang Yin
|
