TheauthorisdirectoroftheJiangsuYangtzeEconomicBeltResearchInstitutePresidentXiJinpingelaboratedonthenationalstrategyofdevelopingtheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltaspartofeffortstoachievenationalrejuvenationinhisApril26speechinWuhan,capitalofcentralChina鈥檚HubeiProvince.Xianalyzedtheproblemsandchallengesfacingthedevelopmentofthisarea.Hestressedthatitmustavoidoverexploitation,developinawell-protectedenvironmentandnevercrosstheecologicalredline.
Confrontingchallenges
TheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltisatypicalbasineconomythatinvolveswaterways,roads,ports,riverbanks,industries,cities,biology,wetlandsandtheenvironment.ItspopulationandGDPbothaccountfor40percentofthecountry鈥檚total.Thebeltpassesthrough11provincesandmunicipalities,withhundredsofbig,mediumandsmallcities,linkingChina鈥檚north,south,westandeast.Inthe1990s,eachcitylauncheditsowndevelopmentplan.Thougheconomiccooperationzonesandcitycircleswereestablishedincertainareas,enthusiasmforintegrativedevelopmentofabroaderareawasnothigh,which,tosomeextent,resultedinhomogenizedandfragmentedindustries.
Inrecentyears,theYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwasover-burdenedwithshipping,hydraulicengineering,miningandelectricitygeneration,amongotherfunctions.Industrialparksandheavychemicalindustrieswerebuiltandhazardouschemicalsshipped,bothofwhichposedhiddendangerstothearea.Theseproblemsarecloselylinkedwithpublicsafety,economicdevelopmentandsocialsecurity,callingforachangeinthecurrentdisjointedmanagementmodealongthebelt.Moreover,thereisstillgreatpotentialalongtheYangtzeRiver,withlessthan20percentofitscapacitytapped.
TheYangtzeRiverDeltapoolsmanytalent,universitiesandresearchinstitutions,givingitatechnology-andknowledge-intensiveeconomy.Thenextstepistoprioritizetheserviceeconomy.Theothertwocross-regionalcityclusters,themiddlereachesoftheYangtzeRiverandChengdu-Chongqing,andthetworegionalcitygroups,centralGuizhouandYunnan,lagbehindinthesecondaryandtertiaryindustries.IntheupperreachesoftheYangtzeRiver,industrializationandurbanizationremainthefocus.Thisregionalimbalanceisanobstacletotherealizationofgreendevelopmentalongthebelt.
Sustainabledevelopment
Atthe2014CentralEconomicWorkConference,theconstructionoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwaselevatedtoanationalstrategy.Sincethen,ithasembarkedonthepathofcoordinatingecologicalprotectionwiththegoalofgreenandsustainabledevelopment.
Notableresultshavebeenachievedinecologicalprotectionandrestoration.Waterqualityin22keysectionsalongtheYangtzeRiver鈥檚mainstreamallmeetsorexceedsthethirdgrade,astandardforthesourcesofdrinkingwater.ThePM2.5andPM10concentrationineightprovincesandcitiesalongtheriverdropped,withmajorpollutantsinsixprovincialcapitalcitiesreducedby2percentyearonyear.Thegreendevelopmentindexin11provincesandcitiesaveraged80.4in2016.Theareahasalsotakingtheleadnationwideinsevenrealms,includingresourceutilizationandenvironmentalmanagement.Theannualrankingsinecologicaldevelopmentofsevenprovincesandcitiesmadeittothetop10nationwide.
China鈥檚independentinnovationcapabilityisalsocontinuouslyimproving.Whileplanningthelayoutofanationalcenterformanufacturinginnovation,thecountryhasalsospedupthebuildingoftheShanghaiZhangjiangComprehensiveNationalScienceCenter,theHefeiComprehensiveNationalScienceCenterandnationallaboratoriesformarineengineeringandairpollutionmonitoring.
Inaddition,citiesalongtheYangtzeRiverhavecarriedoutpoliciestosupportthedevelopmentoftheintelligentindustry.InShanghai,intelligentmanufacturingprojectshavebeeninitiated;inWuhan,aCityofRobotsisbeingforgedwithafocusonindustrialrobots;inHefei,aChineseSpeechValleyjointlybuiltbytheMinistryofIndustryandInformationTechnologyandtheAnhuiProvincialGovernmentwillserveasafootholdforthedevelopmentoftheintelligentindustry.
In2015,theproportionofthetertiaryindustryexceededthatofthesecondaryoneforthefirsttimeintheregion,abigchangeintheindustrialstructure.In2016,theratioofthethreeindustrieswas8.10:42.88:49.02,adecreaseof1percentintheprimaryindustry,6.2percentinthesecondaryindustryandanincreaseof7.2percentinthetertiaryonecomparedto2012.
Therapiddevelopmentoftheemergingindustrylendssupporttothedevelopmentofthebelt.Specifically,next-generationinformationtechnologies,suchasintegratedcircuits,paneldisplays,theInternetofThings,cloudcomputing,artificialintelligenceandBigData,havegatheredmomentuminChongqing,Wuhan,Hefei,NanjingandShanghai.TheWuhanOpticsValleyexcelsinphotoelectronics,forexample.
TheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltisthemainbattlefieldforachievinganewtypeofurbanization.Itismovingforwardrapidly,persistingwithgreendevelopment,asteadyincreaseineconomicaggregate,rapidper-capitaGDPgrowthandstronglocalfinance.Bytheendof2016,theurbanizationlevelsinseveralcitiesalongthebeltwerehigherthanthenationalaverageof57.4percent.Shanghaiwasat87.9percent,Jiangsuat67.7percent,Zhejiangat67.0percent,Chongqingat62.6percentandHubeiat58.1percent.InJanuary2016,aninterprovincialconsultationandcooperationmechanismcoveringthewholeriverbasinwasinitiatedandabasicframeworkformultilevelcoordinationwascreated.
Qualitydevelopment
UndertheguidanceofXi鈥檚Wuhanspeech,theYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltisadheringtotheprincipleofprioritizingecologicalprotectionandgreendevelopment.Throughcoordinatedandbalanceddevelopment,itaimstoimprovethequalityofeconomicprogress,increasingitsefficiencyandtransforminggrowthdriverstobuilditselfintoazonewithgoodecology,streamlinedtransportation,acoordinatedeconomy,aunifiedmarketandsoundinstitutions.
MeasurestobeundertakenincludepromotinggreendevelopmentintheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltinacoordinatedandbalancedwayandprotectingitsecologicalenvironment.Jointpreventionandcontrolofpollutionandcomprehensivemanagementoftheenvironmentwillbestrengthened,promotingwaterpollutiontreatment,repairoftheaquaticecologyandprotectionofaquaticresources.Anegativelistwillbeintroducedandthemoststrictregulationsandlawswillbeimplementedtoestablishharmoniousrelationsbetweenpeopleandnatureandagreenecologicalcorridor.
Furthermore,promotinggreen,cyclicandlow-carbonregionaldevelopmentwillalsobeapriority.Thiswillincludemakingfulluseofmarket-orientedmeans;improvingthemechanismsofpricing,resourcesandtheenvironment;upgradingtraditionalindustries;andpromotingtechnologicalinnovationandgreenfinance.
Itiscrucialtoimprovethemulti-modetransportsystemandbuildasafe,convenient,greenandlow-carboncomprehensivetransportnetwork.ThereisastrategytointegratetheconceptofecologicalprogressintotheconstructionofanurbanagglomerationalongtheYangtzeRiverEconomicBelt,includingaworldclassurbanagglomerationecosystemintheYangtzeRiverDelta.Theregionaimstobecomearesource-conservingandenvironmentallyfriendlyareaandanecologicalshieldinthemiddlereachesoftheYangtzeRiver.
Balancedandcoordinateddevelopmentalsopromotesregionalpoolingofresourcesforscienceandtechnologyandinnovation.Acooperationmechanismwillbeestablishedandadvancedtoimprovetheefficiencyofcoordinatedinnovation.ItwillgivefullplaytotheleadingroleoftheShanghaiGlobalCenterforScienceandInnovationandbuildacrossregionalinnovationcooperationalliance.Itsgoalistodevelopthecoretechnologiesofintelligentmanufacturing,newenergy,newmaterials,theInternetofThings,BigDataandaerospace.Itwillcollaborativelyconductscientificresearchandindustrializationapplicationdemonstration.Atthesametime,theregionwillstrengthensup-portforinnovativecapital,marketandtalenttofosterandexpandgreentechnologyinnovationplayersandforindustrialtransformationandupgrading.
World-classmanufacturinginnovationcentersandscienceandtechnologythinktanksatimportantnodeswillbesetup.In10provincialcapitalcitiesandmunicipalitiesdirectlyundertheCentralGovernment,anetworkedlayoutwillbedesignedtomakecomprehensivemanufacturinginnovationcentersandbuildamanufacturinginnovationnetworkcoveringthewholebasininordertomeettheneedsofthedevelopmentofregionalinnovationengines.
Additionally,acoordinatedandbalancedmoderneconomicsystemisplanned.Itwillacceleratethebuildingofaunifiedbigmarket.Thiscallsforbreakingadministrativebarriersbetweenregions,acceleratinginterconnectivity,advancingariverporttransportationsystem,buildingacomprehensivetransportationcorridorandimprovingthefunctionsofthegoldenwaterwayandtraffichubs.Industrialtransferandflowofproductionfactorswillalsobeaccelerated.Supportwillbegiventostrategiccooperationinbuildingindustrialparksandindustrialenclavestoforgecomplementaryadvantagesandpromotewin-wincooperationintheregion.
Toadvancesupply-sidestructuralreformalongthebelt,thegovernmentwill,ontheonehand,supportreformandinnovationandfindnewgrowthdrivers.Atthesametime,itwillcutbackwardandexcessproductioncapacity.Itwillendeavortoformamodernindustrialcorridorwithahighdegreeofagglomerationandstronginternationalcompetitiveness.Itwillpromotethecentralizedtreatmentandrecyclingofwasteinindustrialparksandpushforwardindustrialtransformationandupgradingalongtheriver.Concertedeffortswillbemadetoexpandproductionservicesinthebasinandshiftmanufacturingfromproduction-orientedtoserviceoriented.Relyingontheconstructionofatopurbanagglomeration,wheredifferentregionsadvancetheirownrespectiveadvantagestostriveforcoordinatedandhigh-qualitydevelopment,aworld-classindustrialclusterwillbebuilt.
AnewpatternofopeningupoftheYangtzeRiverEconomicBeltwillbeshapedbyharmoniousandbalanceddevelopment.Thebuildingoffreetradezones(FTZ)willbeaccelerated,andasthe11provincesandcitiesalongtheriveroverlapwiththefiveFTZsinShanghai,Zhejiang,Hubei,ChongqingandSichuan,therewillbegoodopportunitiestocreateaninternational,market-orientedandlaw-basedbusinessenvironment.Asaresult,theorderlyopeningupofpublicandproductionservices,financeandtheenhancementofthefunctionsoftheFTZswillbepromoted.Freetradeportswillalsobebuilttoelevatethebelt鈥檚openeconomytoahigherlevel.
AllofthesemeasureswillsynceffectivelywiththemassivetransnationalundertakingoftheBeltandRoadInitiative.Itwillactasacatalyst,complementingactivitythatpromotesdevelopmentundertheinitiative.Itwillbethefoundationuponwhichtheseonce-in-an-eraundertakingswillflourishandreachtheirdevelopmentalpotential.
Abird鈥檚-eyeviewoftheYangluoPortinWuhan,HubeiProvince,locatedinthemiddlereachesoftheYangtzeRiver,onAugust13XINHUAThearticlewasfirstpublishedonChinaTodayCopyeditedbyRebecaToledoCommentsto