TheThreeGorgesDamviewedfromSandoupingTowninYichang,HubeiProvince.InMay,thewaterleveloftheThreeGorgesReservoirwasreducedto145meterstoleavethestoragecapacityfortheupcomingfloodseason.byZhengJiayu/XinhuaTheYangtzeRiverisconsideredthemotherriverofChinesecivilization,anditcontinuesnourishinglifealongbothbankstothisday.Withatotallengthofmorethan6,300kilometers,itisChina’slongestriver,traversingfromthewest,throughthecentralregionstotheeastcoast.Ithasthegreatestvolumeofwater,thelongestrouteandtherichestwaterresourcesinAsia.
TheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltcovers11provincesandmunicipalitiesincludingShanghai,Jiangsu,Zhejiang,Anhui,Jiangxi,Hubei,Hunan,Chongqing,Sichuan,YunnanandGuizhou,spanningatotalareaofabout2.05millionsquarekilometers.Theregion,whichaccountsformorethan40percentofboththecountry’spopulationandGDP,isnotonlyoneofthemostimportanteconomiccentersandgrowthenginesinChina,butalsoakeyplayerintheBeltandRoadInitiative.
InSeptember2014,theStateCouncilreleasedtheGuidelinesonPromotingtheDevelopmentoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltbyRelyingontheGoldenWatercourseoftheYangtzeRiver.OnMarch25,2016,adevelopmentplanfortheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwasdeliberateduponandadoptedbythePoliticalBureauoftheCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)CentralCommittee.OnApril24,2018,PresidentXiJinpingvisitedthenewmaterialsindustrialparkofHubeiXingfaChemicalsGrouponthebankoftheYangtzeRivertoinspecttherelocationandreformprogressofchemicalenterprisesaswellastheenvironmentalprotectionworkoftheport.byJuPeng/XinhuaBythen,theYangtzeRiverEconomicBelthadbeenformallylaunched.ItisoneofChina’sthreemajordevelopmentinitiativesalongsidecoordinateddevelopmentoftheBeijing-Tianjin-HebeiregionandtheBeltandRoadInitiative.
All-OutEffortsforProtection,NoLarge-scaleDevelopment
“WemustmakerestoringtheecologicalenvironmentoftheYangtzeRiveratoppriority,”stressedPresi-dentXiJinping,alsogeneralsecretaryoftheCPCCentralCommitteeandchairmanoftheCentralMilitaryCommission,settingthetoneforthefurtherdevelopmentoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBelt.
OnApril26,2018,XichairedasymposiumonpromotingthedevelopmentoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltinWuhan,capitalofHubeiProvince.
There,hestressedthatwemustfocusonthelong-terminterestsoftheChinesenation,whichmeansmakingrestorationoftheecologicalenvironmentoftheYangtzeRiveratoppriority.Healsocalledforall-outeffortstoprotecttheYangtzeRiver,sayingthatthereshouldbenolargescaledevelopmentoftheriver.
Theultimategoalistomaketheeconomicbeltintoagoldenseamfeaturingamorebeautifulecology,smoothertransport,amorecoordinatedeconomy,amoreintegratedmarketandmorerationalmechanisms.Themissionistoexploreanewpaththatputsecologyfirstwhilepursuinggreendevelopment,Xisaid.
TheclimateoftheareasalongtheYangtzeRiveriswarmandhumid,withawiderangeofriversandrichresources.
Aftertheintroductionofreformandopeningup,theYangtzeRivervalleywaslistedasoneoftheearliestregionsfordevelopmentinChina.
Withtherapideconomicgrowthandlarge-scaledevelopmentoftheregion,aconsiderablevolumeofindustrialwastewateranddomesticsewagearedirectlydischargedintotheYangtzeRiver,causingseriouspollutionofthewaterinsomepartsandsevereshrinkageoflakeareas.CoordinatingthedevelopmentoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBelttoprotecttheriver’secosystemhasbecomeanurgenttask.
Xielaboratedonthattopic:“Whenwesaythereshouldbenolarge-scaledevelopment,itdoesnotmeanwecannotdevelopatall,butweshouldavoiddevelopmentthatisdestructivetotheriver,andweshouldstriveforgreendevelopmentthatputsecologyfirst.”
Hecalledforstoppingunplanneddevelopmentandcappingtotalpollutiondischargebyrelentlesslyandseverelycrackingdownontheillegalsewagedischarging,sand-miningandotherdestructiveactivitiesthatunderminetheecosystemalongtheriver,andkeepingsucheffortshighontheagenda.
Byfocusingongreendevelopmentbypromotingecologicalimprovement,theYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwillachievesustainabledevelopmentinthefuture.
LeadingtheChineseEconomyforCenturies
TheChinesecivilizationoriginatedintheYellowRivervalley.Accordingtohistoricalrecords,frequentfloodingandwarsalongtheYellowRivercausedthreelarge-scalepopulationmigrationssouthward.
DuringtheSongDynasty(9601279),theYangtzeRivervalleysupplantedtheYellowRivervalleyastheeconomicnucleusofChina.
Sincethen,theareasalongtheYangtzeRiver,especiallythemiddleandlowerreachesoftheriver,haveremainedthemostprosperousregionsinChinaforalmost1,000years.AsearlyastheSouthernSongDynasty(1127-1279),awell-knownsayingclaimedthatifHuzhouandSuzhou(inthelowerreachesoftheriver)hadagoodharvest,theycouldfeedthewholenation.
Inmoderntimes,theYangtzeRivervalleypioneeredChina’sindustrialdevelopment,constantlyrefreshingandadvancingtheindustrialmode,politicalsystemandideologyofthenation.
In1865,LiHongzhang,governor-generalofLiangjiang(coveringtoday’sJiangsu,AnhuiandJiangxiprovincesandShanghaiMunicipality)intheQingDynasty(1644-1911),openedtheJiangnanMachineryManufacturingBureauinShanghai,markingtheestablishmentofthelargestwesternizationbusinessinmodernChinawhichservedasapreludetothecountry’smodernindustrialrevolution.
In1899,ZhangJian,notedforachievingthehighestscoreinthe1894imperialexaminationoftheQingDynasty,foundedtheDashengCottonMillinNantong,JiangsuProvince,inthelowerreachesoftheYangtzeRiver,whichwasoneoftheearliestcottonmillsinChina.
Subsequently,morethan20industrialandminingenterprisesfoundedbyZhangJianformedacompletelight-industrychain,promotingthedevelopmentofmodernindustryinChina.
Inthe20thcentury,Shanghai,locatedattheestuaryoftheYangtzeRiver,becametheeconomicandfinancialcapitaloftheFarEast.AsaparadiseforadventurersandthelargestexchangeplatformbetweenChinaandWesterncivilization,itwasthefirstplaceforEuropeanfashionandideastobeimportedandspreadtootherpartsofChina.
After1949,citiesalongtheYangtzeRiversuchasShanghai,Wuhan,NanjingandChongqinghavecontinuedoccupiedpivotalpositionsinChina’seconomicmap.
NightviewofYuzhongPeninsulainChongqing,China’syoungestmunicipalitydirectlyundertheadministrationofthecentralgovernment.LocatedinthesouthwesternhinterlandsofChinaandtheupperreachesoftheYangtzeRiver,Chongqinghasdevelopedintoaleadinginlandopeneconomybecauseoftheconnectionsfacilitatedbytherivertothecentralandeasternregions.byLiuChan/XinhuaIn1990,theCPCCentralCommitteedecidedtoopenanddevelopthePudongDistrictofShanghaitopromotetheeconomicdevelopmentoftheYangtzeRiverDeltaandthegreaterYangtzeRivervalley.
Sincethen,theYangtzeRiverDeltahasremainedattheforefrontofChina’sreformandopeningup.ThedevelopmentofPudonghascarriedatorchforthecomprehensivedevelopmentoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBelt.
Overmorethan20yearsofdevelopmentandconstruction,theindustrialdevelopmentadvantagesoftheregionhavebeencontinuouslystrengthened,thestrategicpatternofregionalurbanizationhastakenshape,anditsstrategicpositioninChina’sdevelopmentlandscapehasbecomeincreasinglyimportant.
TraversingEasttoWest,RadiatingNorthandSouth
TheYangtzeRiverisagoldenwatercoursewiththelargestfreightvolumeamongtheworld’sinlandrivers,andthewaterchannelsoftheriverarethemostimportanteast-westaxisforChina’sregionaldevelopment.
TheintroductionoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBelthasopenedanewchapterforeconomicdevelopmentoftheregion.
TheChinesepeoplehavelongcomparedtheYangtzeRivertoahugedragon:ThecityclusteraroundShanghaiintheYangtzeRiverDeltaislikethedragon’shead,thecityclusteraroundWuhaninthemiddlereachesoftheriveritswaist,andtheChengdu-Chongqingcityclusteritstail.
TheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltcovers110citiesatprefecturallevelandabove.Iftheyrealizecomplementarydevelopment,optimaldivisionoflaborandcoordinationofwork,theeconomicbeltwouldunleashtremendouseconomicpotential.ThelaunchoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwillinjectgreatvigorandvitalitytothe“dragon,”bringingcoordinateddevelopmenttothewholeregion.
LocatedinthemiddlereachesoftheYangtzeRiver,Wuhanisanimportantcityconnectingtheupperandlowerreachesoftheriver.AttheWuhanNewPort,thedirectshippingroutetoShanghai’sYangshanPortisthebusiest,whichenablescargostobetransportedfromWuhantoShanghaiin72hours.TherouteispartofWuhan’sdirectshippingrouteprojectlinkingthemiddlereachesoftheYangtzeRivertothesea,whichhasgreatlycutthetimeittakestoreachtheocean.
ThelaunchoftheWuhan-Europefreighttrainroute,linkingWuhantoWestAsiaandEurope,connectedtheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwithcountriesalongtheBeltandRoad.
StartingfromWuhan,theWuhan-EuropefreighttrainrouterunsthroughtheAlatawPassinnorthwesternChina’sXinjiangUygurAutonomousRegionandfinallyreachesHamburg,Germany,withatotaldistanceof10,324kilometers,traversingmorethanadozencountriesinAsiaandEurope.
“Itusedtotakeabout45daysforseafreighttogettoEurope,butnowitonlyneeds12daysbyfreighttrain,”beamedLinZhengpeng,generalmanageroftheWuhanAOCDisplayTechnologyCo.,Ltd.
OnlytwoyearssincethedevelopmentplanfortheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwasreleased,significantresultshavealreadyemerged.
AftertheimplementationoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltdevelopmentplan,theshareoftheregioninthenationaleconomyincreasedfrom41.2to43.8percent,upby2.6percentagepoints,notedSunChangxue,directorofthestrategicplanningofficeoftheMacroeconomicResearchInstituteundertheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission(NDRC).Theguidingroleofthenationaldevelopmentplanisemerging,hesaid.
TheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltisgreatlysignificantinpromotingcooperationbetweeneastern,westernandcentralChinaaswellascoordinatingtheriver’supperandlowerreaches,providingimportantsupportforChinatotransformfromabigcountryintoapowerfulcountry.
“WehopethattheshareoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwillreachhalfofthenationaleconomy,”saidZengGang,presidentoftheUrbanDevelopmentResearchInstituteatEastChinaNormalUniversity.
Comparedtothecoastalareasandothereconomicbelts,theYangtzeRiverEconomicBelthasthelargestinlandareasandthegreatestdevelopmentpotentialinChina.Withthesupportofthedevelopmentplan,theregionwillsurelybecomeanengineforChina’sfutureeconomicdevelopment.
AninternationalfreighttrainloadedwithelectronicproductsleavesWuhaninHubeiProvinceforFabrycznainPoland,andisexpectedtoarriveatthedestination15dayslater.BeforethelaunchoftheWuhan-Europefreighttrainroute,cargogoingfromWuhantoPolandwasnormallytransportedbydirectto-seashippingroutes,withtransportationtimeofabout44days.byXiaoYijiu/Xinhua