Shaanxi: A pioneer of the new opening-up of China
Liu Guozhong, the Deputy Secretary of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and Governor of Shaanxi Province, made an address at the “2018 China Top 500 Enterprises Summit” (The following is the translated version of the full text of his address)
The China Top 500 Enterprises Summit is held in Xi’an today. Nearly a thousand outstanding entrepreneurs, academicians and scholars have gathered here to discuss the ways to make development. On behalf of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and the People’s Government of Shaanxi Province, I would like to extend the warmest congratulations on the convening of the summit and a sincere welcome to the present guests, and express my heartfelt gratitude to people from all walks of life who care about and support the development of Shaanxi Province!
The China Top 500 Enterprises Summit is a high-level and high-standard event in the business industry of China. It is an important platform for large enterprises and local governments to agglomerate consensus and launch cooperation. With the theme of practicing high-quality development and striving to be world-class enterprises, questions such as how the large enterprises in China grasp the characteristics of the times, how to adhere to the transformation and upgrading of innovation, and how to move toward the high-end industrial chain will be discussed, which will fully reflect the mission of the large enterprises in the new era. The China Eterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association decided to host this summit in Xi’an out of their trust and support for Shaanxi. It is a valuable opportunity for the top 500 enterprises to learn, exchange and seek for common development.
As one of the important birthplaces of Chinese civilization, Shaanxi has a long history of commercial civilization. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, the earliest industrial and commercial management system and the policies about the industries and business were established here. The first master Sima Qian, who lived in Hancheng City in Shaanxi, wrote biographies for the famous businessmen in the Historical Records. Chang’an used to be a veritable world economic and trade center in the glorious age of the Tang Dynasty. The flourishing trade of salt, cloth, and tea formed a prosperous scene that businessmen travelled to have trade in the Southern China and the people in the Southern China traded in the Northwestern China for over 100 years during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, the economic and social outlook of Shaanxi has undergone tremendous changes. I would like to take this opportunity to make a brief introduction to Shaanxi and its development trend.
1. Long history, prosperous culture, and splendid natural landscapes
When General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Shaanxi in 2015, he said, “The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, Terracotta Warriors, Yan’an Pagoda, Qinling Mountains, Mount Hua, and so forth, are the spiritual symbols and natural signs of the Chinese civilization, Chinese revolution, and Chinese geography”. 13 dynasties such as the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties set their capitals in Shaanxi. More than 50,000 sites and over 1 million pieces of precious cultural relics collected in museums make Shaanxi a well-known Natural History Museum of China. Stretching from the Yellow River to the Yangtze River, Shaanxi boasts a diverse climate. The Qinling Mountains, a climate boundary between the north and the south of China, traverses the whole province. Beautiful mountains and rivers and the extraordinary scenery make Shaanxi one of the typical representative regions of the world’s biodiversity, and an important biological gene pool in China. The long and splendid history and culture, and the beautiful natural landscapes complement each other, forming the unique features of the Shaanxi tourism. More than 1.4 billion Chinese and foreign tourists in the past five years have visited Shaanxi, equivalent to one-fifth of the world’s population.
2. Abundant resources promote the development of Shaanxi
Shaanxi now has 138 kinds of minerals, among which 64 kinds are in the top 10 of the country in their deposits. Its coal, oil and gas production rank the top three in the country, and the oil and gas equivalent tops the list in the country. It also has huge economic potential in the value of its mineral resources. Shaanxi is a large agricultural province, and the one and only agricultural free trade zone in China has been set up here. It has the largest output of apple and kiwifruit in the country, and good foundations for tea and vegetables planting and animal husbandry. All of these resources endow Shaanxi a prosperous future in developing modern agriculture.
3. Great potential for innovation driving
Shaanxi is home to more than 1,000 research institutes, over 90 national and key provincial laboratories, 67 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, more than 1.6 million scientific research personnel, 107 colleges and universities, and over one million college students. As one of the innovative provinces, it undertakes the national reform and innovation tasks such as building a pilot zone for comprehensive innovation and reform, independent innovation demonstrations, entrepreneurship and innovation demonstrations, and deep development of military and civilian integration. The technology contract transaction amount of Shaanxi reached RMB92.1 billion last year, ranking fourth in China.
As a key national base for equipment manufacturing, high-tech industry and national defense science and technology industry, Shaanxi has formed several pillar industries including energy and chemical industry, equipment manufacturing, non-ferrous metallurgy, food processing, communication equipment, electronic equipment manufacturing and pharmaceutical manufacturing. In particular, its aviation industry occupies 30% of the national aviation research and manufacture capacity, and the national defense science and technology industry ranks first in terms of the scale and the output value.
4. Favorable opening-up advantages
Shaanxi is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. From Chang’an to the west, Zhang Qian of the Western Han dynasty opened the Silk Road which went through the continents of Europe and Asia. Today, Shaanxi, located at the geometric center of the country, is regarded as a significant point in the Belt and Road construction. Major cities in the middle and western China could be reached from Shaanxi within one-hour by air, 70% of the territory and 85% of the economic resources are covered within a two-hour flight, and people can go anywhere of China on three-hour flights. It also enjoys unique advantages of developing hub economy, gateway economy and flow economy. Shaanxi has established economic and trade relations with over 190 countries and regions and more than 110 Fortune 500 Companies has started their business here in Shaanxi province.
The China (Shaanxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone has found itself on a fast development track. With a growing number of significant economic and trade events, and activities of foreign affairs held here, a more confident Shaanxi is emerging.
5. Continuous growth of comprehensive strength
In the past five years, the GDP of Shaanxi province has grown at an average annual rate of 8.8%. Last year, the GDP reached RMB2.19 trillion, ranking 15th in the country. In the first half of this year, the GDP of Shaanxi province was up by 8.6% year-on-year, ranking fifth in terms of the growth rate in China.
The economy has been improved in general with upgraded structure, enhanced vitality and increased quality and efficiency. Especially the newly registered market entity and capital were up by 42.9% and 23.3% year-on-year respectively in the first half year, which further invigorated the market.
With the deepened implementation of the Grand Western Development Program and the Belt and Road Initiative, Shaanxi has been a pioneer of the new opening-up of China. Currently, under the guidance of the General Secretary Xi Jinping to actively integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative, the whole Shaanxi province is in the process to deepen the policy of streamlining administration, delegating power, strengthening regulation and improving service in an all-round manner, upgrade the business environment, and promote opening-up in a larger scale and to a higher level. Shaanxi now is enjoying an increasing wider development prospect with more business opportunities.
Many of you present here today are business elites who have sharp insights on economic trend and rich experience in industry development. I would like to invite you with all my heart to give your valuable advice on the development of Shaanxi Province and welcome you to invest and start your business here, so we can conduct cooperation and achieve common development.
At last, I hope that all entrepreneurs could visit and go around here to appreciate the charm of Shaanxi Province, and to find cooperative opportunities here. Wish the summit a great success. Thank you!
