Ambitious plans both at home and next door over the next five years

China's Jilin province has had some real success in improving its economy, ecology, society, and culture over the last five years, so its Party committee has come up with plans to continue the economic and social development over the next five years.

"These are overall guidelines for Jilin's development under the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-1015) and beyond," said Li Fuchun, one of the drafters of the plans and director of the provincial development and reform commission.

Work on the document began last October as a joint effort by provincial policy makers and local people.

Li said the document pointed to the many opportunities the province has over the next five years, by saying that it had "a preferential position, internationally, in the first place."

Jilin stands out because of its advantageous geographical location. And, closer business ties with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, next door, and greater cooperation with Russia's Far East "provide good conditions for the province to develop partnerships with neighboring countries."

At the same time, Jilin, which was one of China's earliest industrial bases, has got a lot of attention from the central government, which is trying to help revive its infrastructure and major industrial sectors.

This is because, although Jilin has seen plenty of growth and development, there are still problems in many areas like economic and industrial structure, infrastructure, and commercialization of technologies.

In addition, people's incomes have failed to keep up with the growth in the economy.

So, the local government has set some goals for the next five years by pointing to possible areas of economic growth, integrated industrial structures, and increased income.

The province has come up with a people-oriented developmental model that balances urbanization, industry, and agriculture and focuses on improving the standard of living in both urban and rural areas.

Its per capita GDP was above 40,000 yuan ($6,000) last year, and that is expected to double over the next five years and, "make the cake bigger and better", according to Li.

Zhu Yongzheng, a provincial Party committee policy researcher, explained, "That is to say, we will be paying attention not only to GDP growth, but also to GDP structure."

High-tech industries, modern services, and emerging strategic sectors are expected to contribute a larger part of the province's GDP over the next five years, according to Zhu.

To do this, the government has a number of major projects in line to attract investment and help develop key industrial sectors. It will also push a green, circular economy, one with low-carbon emissions, low pollution, and more efficient energy use.

It also plans to look for more innovative management methods, while encouraging the development of the culture industry.

The local government also believes that they need more modern agriculture, since agriculture is at Jilin's very foundation.

(China Daily 01/26/2011 page5)