During his inspection tour of central China’s Hunan Province this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Hunan to adopt a realistic and pragmatic approach to ‘playing its own role’ in advancing China’s modernisation, and called for solid efforts to bring the country’s central region to a higher level.
This is the first local inspection trip by Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, after the two national meetings. Economists said the trip underscored central China’s crucial role in the country’s pursuit of high-quality development, as well as its great potential in building the “new productive forces” that Xi stressed at the meetings.
Chinese economists believe that the rise and continued opening-up of China’s central region could create greater opportunities for the country as it sends more and more high-quality products to overseas markets and attracts multinational companies to invest and expand in the region.
During his inspection tour, which lasted from Monday to Thursday, Xi urged Hunan to adhere to reform and innovation and take a realistic and pragmatic approach to playing its own role in advancing China’s modernisation, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Xi presided over a symposium on giving more energy to the central region in the new era, noting that the central region plays a very important role as the country’s major grain production base, energy and raw materials base, modern equipment manufacturing and high-tech industrial base, and comprehensive transportation hub.
China’s central region comprises six provinces – Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan – and accounts for a tenth of the country’s land area, more than a quarter of its population and more than a fifth of its GDP. The region plays a crucial role in China’s drive to modernise. According to official data, the central region’s total GDP will be 26.99 trillion yuan ($3.75 trillion) in 2023, with a growth rate of 4.9 per cent, slightly below the country’s GDP growth rate of 5.2 per cent.
Xi told the symposium that the region’s development has reached a higher level since the previous symposium on “Energising the Central Region” was held five years ago. He also noted that the further development of the central region still faces many difficulties and challenges, which require practical research to solve.
In particular, the Chinese President called for greater efforts to promote industrial innovation under the leadership of scientific and technological innovation and to actively cultivate new productive forces. He also called for forward-looking plans for future industries and faster modernisation of the industrial system, supported by advanced manufacturing.
Economists stressed that the Chinese leader’s remarks and the inspection tour of Hunan not only underscore the importance of the central region, but also point to its huge potential for the development of new quality productive forces and high-quality development in the country.
“From the perspective of China’s coordinated regional development strategy, the rise of the central region is of great significance to China’s modernisation,” Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday. It can make full use of its comparative advantages to develop and strengthen its advanced manufacturing industries and seize opportunities to cultivate and develop new quality productive forces.
Coordinated regional development is a national strategy in China. The Government Work Report 2024, adopted at the two sessions earlier this month, also pledged to pursue better coordinated regional development. China will comprehensively implement strategies to accelerate the rise of the central region, the report said. The concept of “new productive forces” was highlighted at the two meetings.
During his inspection tour in Hunan, Xi also learned about local efforts to accelerate the development of new productive forces and promote high-standard opening-up.
High-standard opening-up has also been set as a top priority for the development of the central region. At a symposium on Wednesday, Xi urged the region to promote deep reform and high-standard opening-up in a coordinated way to become a more competitive domestic opening-up leader. During his inspection tour, Xi also visited BASF Shanshan Battery Materials Co, a joint venture (JV) between German chemical giant BASF and Chinese lithium battery materials maker Ningbo Shanshan Corp, reaffirming the country’s determination to open up and develop new high-quality manufacturing capabilities.
It was noted that the region has also increasingly attracted foreign investment, especially in high-tech fields. In 2023, Hubei saw foreign investment of over 19 billion yuan, up 11.39 per cent year on year, ranking first among central provinces. According to official data, foreign investment in high-tech fields accelerated, with information transmission, software and information technology services growing by 45.66 per cent and high-tech manufacturing by 76.35 per cent.
