Figure 5.
Added Value of the Service Sector
Development among different regions continued to be more balanced. A total of 55.6 billion yuan from the central government allocations for development projects for the year was spent in the western region, 4.1 billion yuan more than the previous year. Policy-related support for border areas and ethnic minority areas in the region also increased last year. Construction was started on ten key projects in the region, bases were set up to help develop industries to take advantage of local characteristics and strengths, a number of well known, high quality brand names were established and human resource development in the region made significant progress. In northeast China, fresh progress was made in developing the equipment manufacturing, raw material processing and non-staple agricultural product processing industries. The pace of reorganization and restructuring of enterprises in key industries was accelerated. Initial success was attained in transforming the economies of cities formerly reliant on natural resources. Efforts to control sinkholes in coalmining areas were accelerated. A total of 27.2 million square meters of shantytowns were turned into proper residential areas in northeast China. The guidelines for boosting development of the central region were implemented. The guidelines specified which areas of the six provinces in the central region would best fit the northeast China revitalization model and which ones would best fit the development model of the western region. Further progress was made in developing grain production bases in the central region, steady progress was made in strengthening bases for energy and raw material production and centers for modern equipment manufacturing, and significant progress was made in developing integrated transportation hubs for the central region. In the eastern region, the pace of improvement in the pattern of economic development was accelerated, development of high-tech industries and modern services was accelerated, and the capacity for independent innovation was enhanced in the equipment manufacturing, information technology and biotechnology industries. Clusters of cities in the Yangtze Delta and the Pearl River Delta and in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area made steady improvement in their ability to pool resources and lead the nation in development.