Guangzhou sets sights on science

By Zhan Lisheng and Li Wenfang (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-06 06:56

GUANGZHOU -- This city is going all out to become a leader in scientific development within Guangdong, Zhu Xiaodan, Party secretary of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, said recently.

Being the best means leading in scientific development, providing proper living and working conditions, building a modern industrial system, and setting an example for other cities in the province to follow, he said.

"The blueprint calls for new and further development in Guangzhou," Zhu said.

"We plan to spend over the next five to 10 years to achieve that goal."

Zhu told China Daily recently that improving the environment will be one of the city's major tasks.

It calls for innovative planning, improvement of public facilities, traffic infrastructure, and ecological and environmental protection, he said.

The authorities are aiming to develop a garden-like city with an urban green ratio of 55 percent by 2010, compared with 37 percent at the end of last year.

As well as the natural environment, the social environment, especially security, is also important, he said.

Guangzhou has already banned motorbikes in the city because thugs used them to make good their escapes after committing crimes, he said.

The city has also installed surveillance cameras on roads to monitor crime.

In the first half of this year, the number of robbery cases had dropped by almost 30 percent over the same period last year, while burglary cases fell by 13 percent.

The Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences said yesterday that most residents of the city now feel safe.

A survey conducted by the academy last year showed 87 percent of 1,380 respondents felt safe, up 11 percent from 2006. The figure marked the highest satisfaction rate in the past five years.

The improved public perception is attributed to endeavors by the authorities to build Guangzhou into a modern industrial city.

Zhu said the city expects to be a leader in the province in the establishment of modern industrial and service industries.

Logistics, financial, banking, convention and exhibition facilities, design and innovation, intellectual property laws, and software outsourcing are included on the list.

As for manufacturing, the city will develop new and hi-tech industries focusing on electronics, information technology, bio-medicine, software, new materials, online games and animation.

Zhu said improvements will also be made to the city's pillar industries - automobiles, petrochemicals, shipbuilding, and equipment manufacturing.

"The city is actively promoting the 'double transfer' strategy, which means transferring low-end industrial projects and labor to less developed regions so as to give more space and capacity for the development of new hi-tech and advanced manufacturing industries," Zhu said.