Energizing of central region highlighted

A meeting of the Communist Party of China's leadership called on Monday for new breakthroughs in propelling the rise of the nation's central region, pledging tailored approaches to cultivate new quality productive forces, expedite the establishment of a modern industrial system and fortify the real economy.

The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the Party's core leadership, also reviewed a pilot regulation concerning accountability for failing to prevent and defuse financial risks.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting.

The meeting was held two months after Xi made a fact-finding trip to Changsha, Hunan province, where he presided over a high-level symposium on energizing the central region, comprising Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the central region's GDP grew 4.9 percent year-on-year to 26.99 trillion yuan ($3.75 trillion) in 2023, accounting for 21.4 percent of the national total. The region's growth rate was lower than last year's national average of 5.2 percent.

Participants in the meeting underscored the pivotal role of the central region as a hub for food production, energy resources, modern manufacturing, high-tech industries and comprehensive transportation networks.

They called for authorities to fully leverage the strengths of the region in scientific and educational resources to drive innovation and bolster original technological breakthroughs.

It is important to make coordinated efforts in transforming and upgrading traditional sectors, fostering and building up emerging industries, and planning the development of future industries, said a summary of the meeting.

Modernizing the transportation infrastructure was deemed essential to facilitate the efficient and seamless flow of production factors and to enable the region to better integrate into the new development paradigm. The meeting called for coordinated efforts on environmental protection and ecological preservation, as well as green and low-carbon development, as part of broader efforts to construct a beautiful central region.

Moreover, the participants underscored the imperative of rural-urban integration and steadfast progress in the comprehensive vitalization of rural areas, calling for the region to bolster its capacity in ensuring food and energy resource security.

As for the prevention and defusing of financial risks, the meeting underlined work in this regard as essential to national security, the nation's overall development and the safety of people's assets.

The rollout of the pilot regulation is intended to spur officials at various levels to establish a correct view on how to evaluate their performance and ensure they can strengthen oversight, prevent and resolve risks, and promote high-quality development in the financial sector.

To ensure the implementation of the regulation, the meeting stressed a no-nonsense approach, signaling a commitment to strict oversight and accountability, and enabling financial regulation to truly "have teeth and thorns".

This entails establishing and perpetuating a climate in the financial sector characterized by strictness in tone, measures and atmosphere, the meeting's summary said.