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Jiangsu governor paints blueprint for province

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-07 17:11

Governor Luo Zhijun (third from left) inspects the urban planning in Wuxi on March 29. [China Daily]

Q: In terms of the development of the province, northern Jiangsu still lags behind. How can you attain even development of the regions within the province? And how can you avoid ecological problems in the process of developing northern Jiangsu?

Luo: Northern Jiangsu occupies 52 per cent of the total land mass of the province, and has 44 per cent of its population. Last year, the GDP of northern Jiangsu only accounted for 19.5 per cent of the province's GDP, and its per capita GDP was 29.6 per cent of that of southern Jiangsu.

Northern Jiangsu lags in terms of development for many reasons. The land in Northern Jiangsu is barren. There are frequent natural disasters. It is far from economically developed cities, unlike southern Jiangsu, which benefits from its proximity to Shanghai.

Since the mid-90s, Jiangsu has stressed simultaneous regional development as one of its five major strategies. In recent years, the Provincial Committee of the CPC and the Provincial Government has supported northern Jiangsu in six key areas.

First, in the past five years, provincial departments have invested 156.5 billion yuan in northern Jiangsu, including 66.6 billion yuan transferred from provincial coffers. Second, the province has implemented strategies for development of corridors along rivers, the coast, and the eastern part of Lanzhou-Lianyungang railway. Third, provincial departments, key enterprises, and cities and counties in southern Jiangsu supported 1,011 backward villages in northern Jiangsu in various ways, including sending personnel to hold posts in northern Jiangsu.

Fourth, northern and southern regions built development zones together. Fifth, more preferential policies for farmers and for supporting agriculture were provided for northern Jiangsu. The last was to encourage and support more professionals to go to northern Jiangsu. Last year, Jiangsu appointed 1,011 village-level officials through public recruitment mainly from middle and northern Jiangsu.

The poverty alleviation project entered its final phase to guarantee that 5.27 million poor people in the province with net incomes below 2,500 yuan, would rise above the poverty level within three years.

The development of northern Jiangsu will not be done at the expense of the environment. Environmental protection is a priority and strict standards will be instituted to prevent pollution.

Q: What new strategies has Jiangsu developed for its economy in terms of foreign trade and investment? What about international outsourcing services?

Luo: By the end of last year, $142.3 billion in foreign capital was invested in the province, nearly one fifth of foreign investments in China. More than 300 world-class multinational companies invested in Jiangsu. Our total foreign trade reached $349.7 billion last year, including $203.7 billion in exports. This was one sixth of the total of China's total foreign trade and exports last year.

Jiangsu will further innovate ways of using foreign capital, guiding more foreign capital to high-end manufacturing, R&D, the modern service industry, energy-saving industries and environmental protection industries, as well to the middle and northern parts of the province.

The province will strengthen exports, enhance brand cultivation, increase the proportions of independent-brand products, hi-tech products and products with high added value. We shall also encourage the import of advanced technical equipment and the energy resources that Jiangsu lacks.

The province will provide support for enterprises to establish production bases, resource bases, marketing networks and R&D centers in foreign countries.

Speeding up the development of the international outsourcing industry is one of the key strategies of the Provincial Committee of the CPC and the Provincial Government in order to forge the province into an important base for international outsourcing. At present, the province has three state-level service outsourcing bases, namely Nanjing, Suzhou Industrial Park and Wuxi Taihu Lake Reserve, and more than 1,000 outsourcing services companies of various types.

Q: As the highest administrative officer of a province of 76 million, what do you see as the most urgent problems of the common people?

Luo: Raising people's standard of living is a significant priority.

The first is to improve people's livelihood across the board. The province will provide ways for people to increase their assets through investments and financing, speed up the establishment of a social security system covering both the urban and rural areas, and provide high-quality public service and a stable social welfare system for all people in the province.

In improving people's livelihoods, we need to address key problems, which includes helping the poor find employment, and providing financial support for students from poor families, medical care, housing and help for the elderly.

The government will increase investment in healthcare, by improving medical facilities, especially in rural areas and communities, and push for basic medical insurance.

The province will establish a housing system for low-income households in urban areas, by adding more low-rent housing and expand the construction of affordable housing. With the advent of an aging population, the province will pay more attention to services for senior citizens and speed up the construction of facilities for the elderly, such as the elderly housing.

We must make more efforts to establish a long-term system, and will also set policies and measures to guarantee a welfare system for low-income people.

 

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