Shaanxi Ready for Five-Year Take-offShaanxi, a poor inland province in Northwest China, plans to build itself into an economic powerhouse on the back of the government's western development strategy."We will lay a solid foundation for the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05)," said Cheng Andong, governor of Shaanxi provincial government. The province's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at 10 per cent annually in the following five years and is planned to reach 7,100 yuan (US$855) per person by the end of the period. In order to fulfill the target, the province will concentrate its efforts on developing its infrastructure and environment, and further adjust its economic system and open wider to the outside world, Cheng said. "Shaanxi has many skilled people and tourist attractions. We will further make use of these advantages to build world-renowned, high-tech industries and the hottest tourist destination in the world in the next five years," the governor said. Shaanxi, with a large number of ancient sites, buildings and ruins, has become a world-renowned tourist spot, and it has the third highest number of scientific and technical personnel after Beijing and Shanghai. "The Qin Dynasty Terracotta Warriors, considered the eighth wonder of the world, have received foreign presidents and millions of visitors from both home and abroad," the governor said. This year is the first year of the 10th Five-Year Plan period and Shaanxi plans to receive 182 billion yuan (US$22 billion) of this year's national GDP, 9 per cent more than last year, and put 85 billion yuan (US$10.24 billion) into fixed asset investment, according to the governor. He said the province will also speed up the development of high-tech industries and pay more attention to creating high-tech products with their own intellectual property rights. "In 2001, we will concentrate efforts to develop 20 key high-tech projects, including digital telecommunications, computer software and green chemical products," Cheng said. |
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