China will develop the region opposite
Taiwan to create another economic hub, which it has anticipated
could compete with the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas.
Officials from southeast China's Fujian
Province said they've prepared a proposal for a free trade zone
in Xiamen, for example, to realize the central government's
proposal of building?a Western Shore Economic Zone of the
Taiwan Straits.
The scheme was included in the nation's
11th Five-Year Guidelines for National Economic and Social
Development (2006-2010), which is currently under discussion by
lawmakers attending the Fourth
Plenary Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC).
"I believe it's a wonderful gesture for our highest leadership
to promote peaceful reunification," said Lu
Zhangong, secretary of Fujian Provincial Committee of the
Communist Party of China (CPC).
The move comes as Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian has been pursuing
a more radical secessionist path by putting an end to the
operation of the "National Unification Council" and
the?application of the "National Unification
Guidelines."
"We are making our best efforts to realize peace and stability
across the Straits but we are prepared to go to the front line if
our goodwill and serious efforts fail," Lu told a?panel
discussion on the 11th Five-Year Development Guidelines.
President Hu
Jintao, in showing his support for the new economic zone, said
China welcomed more business people from Taiwan doing deals with
the mainland. He made these comments during his recent tour of
Xiamen.
According to Lu, the western shore plan is part of the country's
regional development strategy for coastal China with the Pearl
River Delta in the south, the Yangtze River Delta in the east and
the pan-Bohai Sea?economic zone already becoming development
engines.
Compared with these economic zones, Fujian has fallen behind in
recent years. "I think building the Western Shore Economic Zone is
just a start. In the future there will be an economic zone across
the Straits to boost China's further development," Lu said.
An urban cluster featuring Fuzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou will be
designed in the province to boost its urbanization, he said.
"But the western shore scheme is not just the business of
Fujian," said Lu. He added that?east China's Jiangxi
Province, for example, would also be involved in the
development plan.
Lu added that the entire province is prepared to become an
investment destination for Taiwan residents soon -- even though
only four cities in Fujian are currently open to Taiwan
investors.
Zhang Changping, mayor of Xiamen, said yesterday that he's
trying hard to include Xiamen on the central government's list of
free trade ports.
The mayor said the central government had been preparing to turn
Shenzhen, Shanghai and Tianjin into free trade zones to facilitate
economic activities with the rest of the world.
"I'm suggesting that Xiamen should become a free trade zone with
Taiwan," Zhang said, "and we are going to seek approval from the
central government."
(China Daily March 8, 2006)