HEFEI - The construction of an Industrial Transfer Demonstration Zone in the Anhui Yangtze River City Belt is providing vital opportunities for investors at home and abroad, according to Anhui Party chief Wang Jinshan.
Industrial transfer is a term used to describe the movement of industry from one part of the country to another, or from abroad.
The Wanjiang Economic Zone, which was approved by the central government on Jan 12, is the first national blueprint formulated by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council for inland regions to embrace industrial transfer from home and abroad since the founding of New China in 1949.
In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Wang said the trend toward inter-regional industrial transfers, or the relocation of low-end industries from developed areas to low-cost regions, is becoming increasingly vital in the globalized economy.
"We are formulating new policies to encourage foreign investors to inject funds into advanced manufacturing industries, new and high-tech industries, modern tertiary industries and newly-emerging industries in the demonstration zone," Wang said.
According to Fan Hengshan, director general of the regional economy department under the National Development and Reform Commission, after 30 years of reform and opening up, China's eastern coastal areas and central and western regions are undergoing different changes in their economic structures.
Eastern areas are facing problems such as environmental and resource constraints, along with mounting pressure to upgrade industrially, which all call for industrial transfers for economic restructuring and structural upgrades.
Meanwhile, the vast and resource-rich central and western regions have favorable conditions to undertake the transfers, as well as a need for accelerated development, Fan said.
As the first national-level industrial transfer region, the Wanjiang Economic Zone will play a significant role in bringing the comparative advantages of central and western regions to the fore, which will contribute to exploring new ways to undertake industrial transfers.
It will also help develop a more rational division of regional industrial structures around the country, while maintaining the steady development of the national economy in the midst of a complicated international economic situation, Fan explained.
Covering 76,000 sq km and with a population of 30.58 million, the zone includes 10 cities along the Yangtze River in the eastern province of Anhui, including Hefei, Wuhu, Ma'anshan, Tongling, Anqing, Chizhou, Chaohu, Chuzhou and Xuancheng, as well as two districts in Lu'an city. Anhui has 17 prefecture-level cities under its jurisdiction.
To lure further investment, the province will sponsor a forum on promoting the construction of the demonstration zone in the near future, as well as an economic and trade week in Shanghai, where the World Expo 2010 is being held, Wang said.
In order to ensure the zone develops smoothly and at an even pace, the province will focus on four areas: promoting investment from outside, building transfer platforms, changing the mode of development and optimizing the environment for development, he added.
The province will enhance cooperation with regional governments, development zones and strategic investors from home and abroad to seek a new mechanism in building a group of transfer platforms, Wang said.
Liu Fuyou, chief designer of Anhui Provincial Urban-Rural Planning and Design Institute, affirmed the largest feature of the Wanjiang Economic Zone is the two industrial concentration regions. One stretches from Wuhu, Ma'anshan to Chaohu, while the other covers Anqing, Chizhou and Tongling.
These concentration regions will help lure regional governments, development zones and strategic investors from outside in building "transfer platforms", Liu said.
