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New funds flow to the west (11/13/2002)
The central government has vowed to attract heavy investment into
environmental protection work and development in its vast western
regions, following Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin's call to
build China into a "well-off'' society within two decades.
The government plans to invest more than 500 billion yuan (US$60.5
billion) in planting trees and restoring grasslands in its 12 western
provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities by 2010, said Li
Zibin, vice-minister of the State Development Planning Commission.
"Such great efforts to improve ecology are rare in the world
and will consequently go down the history,'' Li, also vice-director
of the Western Development Office under the State Council, told
a press conference held yesterday at the Party congress.
Li said environmental protection is the most urgent task for the
development of the west regions, and is a concern of the whole Chinese
nation.
The ambitious ecological protection plan is part of the government's
"go-west'' campaign, which was launched in 1999 to jump-start
the economy and improve the environment of the western regions.
The west is rich in natural resources, spans almost three fourths
of the nation's territory and is home to one-fourth of its population.
But its gross domestic product (GDP) only accounts for 40 per cent
of that of the booming eastern regions.
Li said the government has invested a lot in building roads, railways,
power grids, oil pipelines and airports in the area, to create a
better environment to attract more investment.
The vice-minister hosted the conference yesterday with leaders
from four western regions: Tibet and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions,
Shaanxi Province and Chongqing Municipality.
When asked about the whereabouts of the boy that was nominated
by the Dalai Lama as 11th Panchen Erdeni in 1995, Raidi, deputy-secretary
of the Communist Party of China in Tibet, said: "He is as fine
as other boys in Tibet.''
"I can tell you that just a few days before I came to Beijing,
I sent people to see the boy's family. The boy now is 1.6 metres
high, and 65 kilograms in weight. He studies well, and his parents
are happy (with him),'' he said.
Raidi said the Dalai Lama's choice of the boy as 11th Panchen
Erdeni violated Buddhist rituals and historic precedence, and is
"illegal and invalid.''
At yesterday's conference, Raidi said the past 13 years had witnessed
the most rapid development in Tibet's history.
Government support has enabled Tibet's GDP to grow annually by
more than 11 per cent during the period.
"In my home town, people now ride motorcycles to herd, while
13 years ago they had not even seen bicycles,'' said Raidi, adding
that he expected the region to develop even faster with the government's
west development campaign.
Satisfied with the progress of the western development programme,
Li said development in the western regions maintained its strong
momentum this year.
GDP in western regions maintained a growth rate of 9.6 per cent
in the first nine months of this year, higher than the nation's
average of 7.8 per cent, according to Li.
The construction of major infrastructure projects is well on track,
including a 1,000 kilometre-long railway from Qinghai Province to
Tibet, a 4,000 kilometre-long oil pipeline from Xinjiang to Shanghai,
and electricity transmission from western to eastern regions.
(China Daily)
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