Zhu calls for industrial readjustments, development of west China (03/05/2003)

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has called for aggressively pushing forward the readjustment of the industrial structure and the development of the western region.

The premier made this call when delivering the Report on the Work of the Government at the opening of the First Session of the Tenth National People's Congress Wednesday.

China should speed up the readjustment of the industrial structure according to the need for a new approach to industrialization, the report says, adding vigorous efforts should be made to develop high and new-tech industries that can greatly spur our economic growth.

"We should energetically promote IT application and use IT to propel industrialization. We should make extensive use of advanced adaptive technologies to transform traditional industries and invigorate our equipment manufacturing industry. We should do a good job in planning and readjusting the development of our steel, automobile and building materials industries to prevent blind expansion and disorderly competition. We should eliminate an even bigger slice of our production capacity that has become obsolete. We should vigorously develop modern services and tourism. We should attach great importance to the development of community- based services," the report says.

The development of China's western region requires sound and persistent efforts. "We should focus on key projects, stress practical results and lay a solid foundation," it stresses.

While continuing to strengthen protection of the ecological environment and infrastructure development, China should effectively restore cultivated land to forests, protect natural forests, and prevent further desertification. The program of restoring grazing areas to grasslands should continue, and relevant legal work should be intensified.

"We should work harder and more effectively on major projects to ensure the progress and quality of construction. Economic activities with local characteristics and competitive industries should be given greater support. We should accelerate the development of science, technology and education in the western region," the report says.

Economic exchanges and cooperation among the eastern, central and western regions should be strengthened, so that they can complement one another and develop side by side, according to Zhu. Measures should be tightened to prevent unwarranted transfer to the western region of discarded, obsolete industrial equipment and polluting enterprises, it says.

The report calls for greater support to the old industrial bases in their efforts to quicken readjustment and technological transformation, encourage cities or areas that are mainly dependent on resource exploitation to develop alternative industries, and helping the old revolutionary base areas and areas inhabited by ethnic minorities to develop more quickly.

(Xinhua)