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Guangdong officials kicked off a "Develop-The-East" campaign in September with 390 projects worth a total investment of 270 billion RMB and a series of government policies to provide the less-developed eastern region a golden opportunity to improve its social and economic development.
Eastern Guangdong contains four municipalities including Shantou, Chaozhou, Shanwei and Jieyang. Known as the Chaoshan area, the four cities share the same culture and dialect. They also face similar challenges: their economies are developing at slower paces than in other cities in the province.
The "Develop-The-East" strategy was birthed in a provincial planning conference on accelerating the economic and social development of its east wing.
During the conference, Guangdong Communist Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang called on eastern Guangdong to boost industrialization as well as develop private enterprises and adopt modern agricultural methods.
FINANCIAL AND POLICY SUPPORT
The 270-billion-RMB campaign includes plans to develop heavy and light industries, transportation, water cons-ervancy, service industry, social security, urban construction and environmental protection. These are all expected to push local GDP growth in the short term and gather continued economic mo-mentum in the long term.
Among the 390 projects, 129 contain a budget of 56.3 billion RMB to stimulate the development of largescale industry. Provincial planners will focus on dev-eloping petrochemical and electric power services, including building a petrochemical and energy bases along the coastal areas.
More than 20 projects contain invest-ments of 57.1 billion RMB to improve a highway network in the region and accelerate the construction of a cross-border expressway, such as the Mei-zhou-Shantou expressway and the Xiamen-Shenzhen railway.
A total of 1.106 trillion RMB will be invested in 48 projects concerning energy resources, in a bid to make full use of the four cities' geography adv-antages. For example, the Shanwei and Huilai power plants will be constructed during the "11th five-year plan" period (2006-2010). Besides the financial sup-port, a sequence of preferential policies and measures related to population control, education, industrial develop-ment, infrastructure construction and finance will also be added to support the campaign.
MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS
Party leaders in each of the four cities have mapped out broad development plans as follows:
Shantou
1. Develop the city into a modern seaport and regional economic centre.
2. Accelerate development in the manufacturing, coastal industries, ser-vice and agriculture sectors.
3. Improve industry structure and management.
Chaozhou
1. Develop tourism by promoting the city's history and culture.
2. Develop pillar industries in c-eramics and garments and develop a petrochemical base.
Shanwei
1. Become the largest processing industry base in eastern Guangdong.
2. Develop agricultural products and holiday resorts for Pearl River Delta residents.
3. Continue construction of its infrastructure such as transportation and urban construction.
4. Improve basic education.
Jieyang
1. Develop into an industrial city with advanced manufac-turing and modern logistic industries.
2. Hold a forum to attract investment this fall.
3. Speed up energy, trans-portation, water conservancy, environmental protection and culture-related projects.
4. Accelerate the construction of special markets, including metals, garments, textiles and herbal medicine.
5. Making full use of the name of "City of Jade" to promote local famous brands.
Related News: GD to pour RMB 27bn into east wing's development
Guangdong province plans to launch 390 key projects with a total investment of 27 billion RMB in its east wing to help boost local economy, according to the provincial Development and Reform Commission yesterday (Sept.19).
These 390 projects are related to the fields of industry, transportation, resource, water conservancy, service industry, social security, urban construction and environmental protection.
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Editor: Yan
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