City decision-makers key to planning

05/21/2002
China Daily: Guo Hua, Mei Dong

FUZHOU: A senior expert said on May 18 that during the process of urbanization, proper mid- and long-term plans should be made by decision-makers in China's cities.

"It is important for cities to find what reasonable positions their cities should take in the country as a whole," said Liu Shijin, director general of the industrial economics research department under the State Council's research centre.

Liu made these remarks at a Chinese mayors' seminar on how to improve the competitiveness of Chinese cities, which was held in Fuzhou on Saturday.

He pointed out that local officials of some regions are engaged in speeding up the process of urbanization with no regard for whether or not such regions are suitable for undertaking urbanization.

"Such moves usually lead to a waste of resources," he said, adding that while the country is now concentrating on developing the western regions, great importance must be attached to such problems by officials in the west.

Liu's view was echoed by Du Ping, another expert from the State Development Planning Commission, who said urbanization in the last 20 years has been mainly achieved by administrative orders.

"This is a key obstacle for regional development," he said.

"We hold this seminar because the competitiveness of cities has become a top concern of all city officials since China became a member of World Trade Organization," said Tao Siliang, vice-president of the China Association of Mayors.

According to Tao, decision-makers from several dozen cities all over the country attended the seminar and exchanged ideas on how to make their cities more competitive.

Government departments in a city should take the initiative to adjust their operations to international practices, said He Lifeng, Party secretary of Fuzhou, at the seminar.

The days when a city government controls all the economic activities in the city are gone, he said, adding that a transparent administrative system that is governed by legal and economic forces should be established in cities.