Jilin Special: Jilin plans to revitalize economy and livelihoods

Jilin province has become a focus of development as the nation lays out plans to revitalize northeast China.

During a tour of the province Sun Zhengcai, Party chief of Jilin said: "We must grasp the development opportunity on one hand and maintain a harmonious and stable social environment on the other."

In recent years, the province has witnessed sustained and rapid economic development. Sun said that the province should retain its own character, and establish a regional development plan that takes into account local realities and needs.

"We should attach importance to urbanization, to overall planning, to developing small, medium and large towns and give attention to development within, and between those towns," said Sun.

Sun and his colleagues have undertaken several field trips and investigations since the end of last year and are drawing up development guidelines to help improve people's lives, promote social harmony, and create fast and sustainable development.

Agricultural concerns

Sun, the former minister of agriculture, was appointed Party chief of Jilin province in November 2009. He was born in 1963 in Shandong province and studied agriculture at the Beijing Agriculture and Forestry College. Sun holds a PhD in agronomy and has special concerns regarding agriculture in Jilin.

Sun has pointed out that the province has a good foundation to develop its agricultural product processing industry.

"The province must deal with the relationship between ensuring national food security and promoting regional development," Sun said.

"We should develop the agricultural product processing industry to achieve new breakthroughs, and enable more farmers to get rich," he said.

Innovative projects

Sun recently visited the Hatta Mountain hydro project, currently under construction, and part of the 11th Five-Year (2006-2010) plan.

The project focuses on supplying water for industrial and agricultural production and daily life. It highlights Jilin's efforts to generate power in an environmentally friendly way.

When the project is completed later this year, its irrigation area will be 190,000 hectares.

Hatta Mountain hydro project will help Jilin to increase grain production to 5 billion kg. The amount of grain produced has a direct relationship with the economic and social development of the province's western regions.

Sun also recently visited the Jiangnan Pumping Station in Songyuan city, to inspect the construction of the 288-million-yuan project, which began construction in May, 2009, and has now begun to supply heat on schedule.

After it is fully completed later this year, 77 small heating boilers with low efficiency, high energy consumption and heavy pollution will be closed down, so as to reduce dust, carbon dioxide and other pollutant emissions.

Sun said it is necessary to increase the use of energy-saving environmentally friendly heating equipment.

Sun also emphasized the need for technological innovation and equipment upgrading, as well as safety in production processes, when he visited the Jilin Oilfield Company recently.

The company's Fuyu Oilfield, with the capability of processing 1.2 million tons of crude oil annually, has been renovated, so that its annual handling capacity has increased by 550,000 tons and the integrated efficiency of the system has increased by more than 22 percent.

Improving local lives

Besides large enterprises, Sun noted that the development of a private economy is of great significance for expanding the overall economy, and improving people's lives.

The right supportive policies are needed, as are better services, to help solve problems and accelerate the development of a private economy.

Sun added that Jilin province will continue opening-up and participate fully in foreign trade events and exchanges, including the Sixth Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo which will be held in September 2010.

"Everyone should benefit from the fruits of reform and development in Jilin," said Sun who is China's youngest provincial Communist Party chief.

When he was elected chairman of the Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee at the third plenum of the 11th Jilin provincial legislature in January, Sun pledged to improve people's livelihoods.

(China Daily 03/19/2010 page17)