In the morning, the morning sun leaps over the Three Gorges Kuimen, illuminating the magnificent mountains and rivers in the west. The 12 provinces, regions, and municipalities in the western part of China, which account for more than 70% of the country's land area, are seizing historical opportunities and shaping a new pattern of high-quality development, accompanied by the continuous waves of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has attached great importance to the development of the western region. In May 2019, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Western Development in the New Era and Forming a New Pattern, making comprehensive arrangements for this century project. On April 23 this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on promoting the development of the western region in the new era in Chongqing and delivered an important speech, pointing out that in the construction of Chinese style modernization, we will strive to write a new chapter in the development of the western region.
A new pattern of "great protection, great openness, and high-quality development" is taking shape in the western region, which is more beautiful, open, dynamic, and strategically important.
Innovative Western Regions: Continuously Advancing towards High Quality Development
The vast western region covers 72% of the country's land area and has a population of 382 million. The West, which used to be synonymous with desolation, is now a hotbed of innovation.
The reporter arrived in Deyang, Sichuan and saw a heavy-duty gas turbine test bench that was constantly running. The first domestically developed F-class 50 MW heavy-duty gas turbine (G50) born here is known as the "pride machine" due to its ability to surpass multiple limits. Cheng Guoqiang, a senior engineer at Dongfang Electric Group, introduced that a series of products and new scientific research projects are queued up for testing.
This is a microcosm of technological innovation breakthroughs in the western region.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has made arrangements for the formation of a new pattern in promoting the development of the western region in the new era, such as the "East Calculation and West Calculation", the Baihetan million kilowatt hydropower unit, and the "China Circulation No. 3" controllable nuclear fusion research device. In the past five years, the cultivation of new quality productive forces with scientific and technological innovation as the core element has been one of the distinctive features of high-quality development in the western region.
Sichuan is planning and implementing major science and technology projects around artificial intelligence, aerospace, and biomanufacturing, with a focus on developing new quality productive forces to promote high-quality development. Recently, there has been a special study on the development of low altitude economy; Chongqing focuses on developing industries such as intelligent connected new energy vehicles, new generation electronic information manufacturing, and advanced materials; Shaanxi has launched the construction of Qin Chuang's original new driving platform and established a technology innovation investment alliance... Western provinces, regions, and cities have seized opportunities and high ground, and a series of policy measures have been introduced one after another, promoting the transformation of productivity through the surge of innovation.
In Liangjiang New District, Chongqing, over 3000 robots from the Seres Super Factory have started intelligent collaborative operations, and a new energy vehicle can be produced in as fast as 30 seconds. In Sichuan, industrial drones such as AVIC's "Yilong" and Tengdun's "Double tailed Scorpion" have established a leading advantage in global drone competition.
The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission stated that a number of strategic emerging industry clusters such as electronic information, new energy vehicles, new materials, energy and chemical industry, biomedicine, integrated circuits, and aviation industry have been cultivated and formed in the western region.
In the past five years, the average annual growth rate of the gross domestic product in the western region has been 4.9%, ranking first among the four major regions of the east, central, western, and northeast. In 2023, the regional GDP will reach 26.9 trillion yuan, accounting for 21.5% of the national total.
The 'new' productivity drives the 'prosperity' of cities and builds a new highland for high-quality development. In the past five years, the urban agglomeration in the western region has continued to develop and grow. The Chengdu Chongqing urban agglomeration, the Guanzhong Pingyuan urban agglomeration, the Lanxi urban agglomeration, the Beibu Gulf urban agglomeration, and the Qianzhong urban agglomeration have begun to take shape.
Taking the Chengdu Chongqing urban agglomeration as an example, the dual city economic circle in the Chengdu Chongqing region achieved a regional GDP of 4036.57 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%, accelerating its approach to the Beijing Tianjin Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Greater Bay Area.
The important growth pole function of high-quality development in the western region has emerged, further consolidating the strategic turning space for national development.
Green West: Building a Strong Ecological Barrier
Pink blue Jacaranda, gorgeous Gesang flowers, lush forests, rushing rivers, continuous mountains... The western region is known as an endless distant and colorful "horizon", and also an important ecological barrier in China.
Fengjie, located in the hinterland of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area in Chongqing, was formerly known as Kuizhou. Surrounded by clear waters since ancient times, it was once shrouded in dust due to its extensive development.
Dawo Community in Qinglong Town, Fengjie County suffered huge damage due to mining. Resident Luo Yifu recalled that the land was contaminated with sulfur, and some places were devoid of any vegetation. In 2015, local polluting enterprises were shut down and more than 6500 acres of trees were planted in barren mountains. Now, the forest coverage rate has recovered to 90%.
With the joint efforts of various regions in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and Yellow River, the water quality of the entire Yangtze River and Yellow River has reached Class II in the past five years. The prevention and control of water pollution in key lake basins such as Dianchi Lake, Erhai Lake, and Wuliangsuhai Lake continue to be promoted. The comprehensive management of key areas in the western region is steadily advancing, with a focus on the Fenwei Plain, Chengdu Chongqing region, Urumqi and surrounding areas, and significant improvements in air quality control.
The green western region is not only an improvement in the ecological environment of "blue sky, clear water, and pure land", but also a barrier to national ecological security.
Along the Yangtze River and Yellow River, heading straight to the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, Qinghai continues to promote the protection of the Three Rivers Source. The "Chinese Water Tower" shelters all living creatures and nourishes the green mountains and waters downstream.
In Xizang, 53000 mu of forests were planted in Ali region to improve the life environment of vast wasteland. In the Hexi Corridor, in order to prevent the convergence and southward invasion of the Tengger, Badain Jaran, and Kumtag deserts, nearly 80% of Gansu's land area has been included in the scope of the national "Three North" project and the first batch of key projects has been launched.
On the southeastern edge of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, vehicles passing through Tudi Ridge in Maoxian County, Sichuan will slow down. Not far away is the "Tudi Ridge Corridor" in the Giant Panda National Park.
According to experts in giant panda conservation, giant pandas are divided into multiple small populations and face the problem of genetic degradation. Sichuan has constructed the "Land Ridge Corridor" through ecological restoration and other engineering measures to make way for the cross population "blind date route" of giant pandas. The Chuanqing Railway passing through this area has implemented a detour, increasing the construction volume by 20%, and the tunnel is buried more than 1000 meters above the ground. Under the care of people, many traces of wild giant panda activity have been detected in the corridor area.
The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission introduced that in the past five years, key ecological projects such as the "Three Norths", the Qinghai Tibet Plateau ecological barrier area, and the Yellow River key ecological area ecological protection and restoration major projects have been continuously promoted, resulting in a "double decline" in desertification and desertified land area; The construction of national parks such as Sanjiangyuan, Qinling, and Giant Panda is steadily advancing, and biodiversity has significantly increased.
The green west has laid the foundation for China's high-quality development and contributed to the realization of Chinese path to modernization in which man and nature coexist harmoniously.
Opening up the West: Connecting the World Across Mountains and Seas
After the cold dew passes, the temperature cools down, but the international atmosphere in the west is increasingly warming up.
Recently, in Xinjiang, the World Media Summit welcomed representatives from 208 media outlets, government departments, and international organizations from 106 countries and regions; In Guangxi, there are 109 signed projects for the China ASEAN Expo, with as many as 93 projects investing over 500 million yuan; At the end of this year, the Global Panda Partner Conference will be held in Chengdu.
This is a vivid silhouette of the western region promoting large-scale development through opening up. More convenient transportation, more perfect rules, and increasingly harmonious environment have made the western region a highland open to the west and south.
"After the opening of the China Laos Railway, our logistics cost from Kunming to Vientiane has been saved by 30%," said Yang Jie, the head of Shanghai Rencheng Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. in Kunming.
Western China borders more than 10 countries. Once the China Laos Railway was opened, it quickly became the "golden line" connecting China and Southeast Asia. As of September this year, the import and export goods of the China Laos Railway had exceeded 10 million tons, and the value of goods had exceeded 40 billion yuan. The cross-border freight transport has covered 12 countries jointly built along the "the Belt and Road", including Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
To the south, the construction of the Western Land Sea New Corridor is accelerating, and landmark projects such as the China ASEAN Information Port and the Beibu Gulf International Gateway Port are advancing at an accelerated pace. The construction of the Pinglu Canal in Guangxi has begun, and the "Shanghai Yunnan Lancang Mekong Line" international freight train has officially opened.
To the west, breakthroughs have been continuously made in railway projects such as the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway, which connects the northwest and southwest through major railway channels such as the Lanzhou Chongqing Railway. In the past five years, a total of 35000 China Europe freight trains have been operated in the western region.
Towards the cloud, passenger and freight routes remain busy. Urumqi Diwobao International Airport has opened over 10 international cargo routes to Kazakhstan, Georgia, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Poland, and other countries. Guizhou opened its first intercontinental freight route in the province in July this year. Within an hour's high-speed train ride, the three international airports of Chengdu Shuangliu, Chengdu Tianfu, and Chongqing Jiangbei operate frequently, moving towards the goal of becoming a world-class airport cluster in Chengdu and Chongqing. At present, Chengdu has 375 passenger and freight routes.
In the past five years, the opening up of the western region has yielded fruitful results. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has been fully implemented, and the first China Central Asia Summit was successfully held in Xi'an. The construction of the core area of the Xinjiang Silk Road Economic Belt has achieved remarkable results. The attractiveness of national level exhibitions such as the China Arab States Expo, the Silk Road International Expo, the China ASEAN Expo, the Western China International Expo, and the Western China International Investment and Trade Fair continues to increase.
The vast western region has formed an open pattern that spans mountains and seas and connects the world.
Happy West: Creating Common Prosperity
For thousands of years, the western region has been vast but suffering from poverty. With the victory of the battle against poverty and the connection with the overall revitalization of the countryside, the people of the western region are sharing the fruits of development with the people of the whole country.
To become rich, first build roads. Guizhou, separated by mountains, has become a crossroads for southwest transportation in recent years with thousands of bridges flying overhead; 80 counties in Gansu are connected to highways, and over 90% of natural villages and groups have hardened roads; The length of Sichuan's highways, which are difficult to navigate, has exceeded 10000 kilometers; The number of regional airports in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Sichuan ranks among the top three in the country, and with the rapid construction and networking of high-speed railways in various provinces, regions, and cities, the distance in time and space in the western region has been greatly shortened.
Huopu Village, Jiefanggou Town, Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, Yi language means "the top of a mountain peak". In 2014, the poverty incidence rate here was 34.8%, and villagers could only grow some potatoes and oats. Now that the road is open, Huopu Village has successfully lifted itself out of poverty by developing the blueberry industry and distinctive cultural tourism. Walking along the industrial trail, vibrant blueberry trees, tall red maple trees, and blooming Soma flowers make a rustling sound throughout the mountains and fields.
The western region used to be the main battlefield of the poverty alleviation campaign, with 12 out of 14 concentrated and contiguous areas facing special difficulties located in the west, and all the "three districts and three states" of deeply impoverished areas located in the west.
50.86 million impoverished people in the western region have been completely lifted out of poverty, and all 568 impoverished counties have been removed from poverty. In 2023, the per capita disposable income of residents in the western region will exceed 30000 yuan.
The Party Central Committee requires further consolidation and expansion of the achievements in poverty alleviation, and continued promotion of the development of poverty-stricken areas and comprehensive rural revitalization. In 2023, 8 provinces and cities in the eastern region will invest 23.19 billion yuan in financial assistance to 10 provinces and cities in the western region. Both sides will exchange 3045 party and government officials and 25000 professional and technical personnel, and a large number of assistance projects will be implemented and effective.
The western region is also actively exploring the path of common prosperity. Panzhihua City, located adjacent to Liangshan Prefecture in Sichuan Province, is developing and constructing a pilot zone for common prosperity with high quality, exploring ways to narrow the "three major gaps" of regional, urban-rural, and income, and hoping to attract more low-income groups to enter the ranks of middle-income groups.
The creativity of comprehensive rural revitalization is constantly being stimulated. Guizhou's "Village Supermarket" and "Village BA" are booming nationwide, Turpan in Xinjiang has seen the rise of sand therapy, Shahu tourism in Ningxia is booming, and filming short videos in Inner Mongolia's agricultural and pastoral areas has become a new trend
The vast western region, which is bursting with vitality, has embarked on a new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modernized country together with the whole country. The 12 provinces, autonomous regions and cities in the west will also strive to write a new chapter in the development of the west in the process of Chinese path to modernization.