Mayor to build Guilin into ideal tourist city

City to embrace innovation, sustainable development, links with Bay Area

Guilin, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, will put more effort into innovation-driven and green development to build itself into a world-class tourist city, according to Mayor Li Chu.

He said the city will also concentrate on developing "new quality productive forces" and accelerate the building of a modern industrial system to pursue quality development.

Innovation is one of the most important driving forces for development, and the formation and development of new quality productive forces cannot be achieved without continuous technological innovation and scientific advancement, said Li, who is also a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress.

Guilin has rich technological and education resources and is ranked in the first tier in terms of the number of universities, he said in an interview at the recently concluded annual sessions of the NPC and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The city will focus more on technological innovation, put more efforts into achieving breakthroughs of core technologies in key industries, and promote the deep integration of enterprises, universities and research institutes, and government, he said.

As the city boasts unique water and mountain scenery, a good environment is one of the most important resources for Guilin, Li said.

The city has attached great importance to protecting the local environment by developing high-tech industries with less pollution and energy consumption, he said.

Bearing in mind that lush waters and green mountains are invaluable assets, the city will accelerate the application of green technology, and promote the development of new industries with high technology, good economic returns, and less energy consumption and pollution, he said.

Guilin will also build itself into an ideal place for investment by market entities at home and abroad, Li said.

As a hinterland linking the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia, it only takes around three hours to travel from Guilin to Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Hong Kong.

Last year, the city introduced 96 projects from the Greater Bay Area with total investment exceeding 73 billion yuan ($10 billion), he said.

The city will make full use of its unique advantage as a window for opening-up and further open itself to domestic and international markets. It will also accelerate the building of a freight and waterway transportation project to make it more convenient to travel between the city and the Bay Area, he said.