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Sichuan Aims to Become Economic Powerhouse
Sichuan officials are planning to lead the province to the forefront of the western economy during the next decade.
The goal is in line with the central government's western development strategy, said Zhou Yongkang, secretary of the Sichuan provincial committee of the Communist Party of China.
Rapid economic take-off of the province, which boasts a population of 85 million and an area of 485,000 square kilometres, would be of national significance, the secretary said.
Zhou said Sichuan is a large province in western China, but not a strong one, despite the fact both its population and GDP account for about one-third of the regional total.
Zhou said Sichuan has inadequate pillar industries. Major firms were formed during the "Third Line Construction" period in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, when China moved its industries from its coasts to the interior for national defence.
Lacking flexible operating mechanisms, the industries are not competitive on the market, Zhou said.
Sichuan has 1.1 million scientists and technicians. But many fruits of their research do not find their way onto the market, Zhou said.
To be an economically strong province in western China, Sichuan will strive to have its per capita GDP match the national average by 2010. Last year, its per capita GDP was only 4,450 yuan (US$537), US$253 less than the national average.
To reach the goal, it will accelerate infrastructure construction, Zhou said.
Sichuan has 800 kilometres of expressways, ranking first in the western regions. There are plans to increase that number to 1,700 kilometres by 2005. High and new technologies will be depended on to build six pillar industries: hydropower, electronic information, mechanical metallurgy, medical chemicals, tourism and foodstuffs, to prop up economic development, he said.
In a recent report, the World Trade Organization designated Sichuan as a prime destination for ecological and cultural tourism in China.
Twenty-four places in China are included on the list of World Heritage Sites of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Three are in Sichuan.
Chengdu, Deyang and Mianyang cities are Sichuan's most advanced regions in terms of economic and technological development. Electronic information, modern medicine and biological products and new material industries in the area are taking shape. Their GDP now accounts for 44 per cent of Sichuan's total. By 2005, that number should rise to 54 per cent to lead economic development, Zhou said.
The Panzhihua-Xichang region holds most of the hopes for future progress, Zhou said.
Covering only 0.7 per cent of China's territory, the region boasts 11 per cent of its water resources, 13 per cent of its iron, 93 per cent of its titanium, 69 per cent of its vanadium and 82 per cent of its cobalt.
However, lack of top-notch talent with management and administration competence and a sense of innovation and foresight is holding back development, Zhou said.
The province must open wider to the outside world to introduce fresh visionaries, he added.
Sichuan has economic and trade ties with 136 countries and regions. Some 311 overseas firms and 13 foreign financial organizations have representative offices in the province. Some 32 Fortune 500 firms have direct investment in area projects and 40 have representative offices.
Sichuan has formulated new preferential policies such as tax breaks and exemptions to encourage foreign investment.
Foreign investors can pass all formalities for approval of their firms in Sichuan within 20 working days if they meet investment requirements, Zhou said.
He said building an ecological screen in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is aimed to ensure Sichuan's own sustainable development and contribute to the middle and lower reaches of the river.
Sichuan, in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, was the first in China to ban logging of primitive forests in 1998.
Some 200,000 hectares of farmland have been turned into forests and grassland. It plans to reclaim another 466,667 hectares and plant 2.9 million hectares of trees during the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05), greatly reducing the amount of silt discharged into the Yangtze, Zhou said.
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