Theme leads: the strategy “Building Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River” is encouraging. To achieve this important strategy, what key breakthrough should Yichang do?  “Perseverance” was put forward by Li Lecheng, the Mayor of Yichang Municipal People\'s Government, in the program of “the Online Interviews” of the provincial government web portals on April 12th.

Host: The Three Gorges Dam, a world famous project, by which people all over the world got to know the city---Yichang.

Today, the area of more than 100 kilometers along the Yangtze River, from the Three Gorges Dam, Yichang urban area to Zhijiang City, will be built into a modern industry gathering area whose annual output value will be over trillions with focused elements, outstanding characteristics, rational distributions. So people may remember a majestic and powerful name---“Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River”!

Today, we invite Mr. Li Lecheng, the Mayor of Yichang Municipal People\'s Government to our program “Interview Online”, he will tell us something about Yichang Building Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River. First of all, Mayor Li, would you please give us an introduction to the strategic goals of “Building Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River” in Yichang? Mr.  Li Lecheng: Building Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River has been written in the work report of Yichang Fifth Congress of Party Representatives, and in the government work report of the 1st Session of the 5th Congress of People’s Representatives. As a strategic vision, it combines the public opinions and scientific decisions, receives unanimous approval of the social circles, and will be a common goal for all people of the city in the coming period. There are many countries and regions at home and abroad promoting their economical development along major rivers, and then develop regional economy. For instance, industry concentrated belts like the Mississippi River Basin of the United States, Rhine Valley of Germany, Danube River Basin in Europe etc., they all play important roles in their economic development. In China, riverine developments are also found in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta which formed a economic belts mode of “point-axis-area” along rivers. At present, the Yangtze River Basin development is advancing from the Yangtze River Delta to depth, the Yangtze River economic belt will be the space spindle in the shift development of the eastern industry and capital to the Midwest in the coming future. Therefore, Building Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River in Yichang can be considered as the compliance of time and trend.

For our own developing situation, Yichang City was built near the port, and became prosperous because of the river. The Yangtze River passes through the city, and the city’s terrain transits from mountain, hill to plain along the River. Downside the dam area more than 100 kilometers, the region along the Yangtze River has a convenient transportation and open terrain. In addition to the Yangtze River golden waterway, there are railway lines, expressways and airport as well. The superiorities of geography and transportation are the perfect development platform given to Yichang by nature. Also, we believe that the advantage, potential and hope of Yichang lie in the riverside region. As early as 2009, by combining the overall strategies deploy “two circles and one belt” of our province and over intensive study of distribution of productive forces of the riverside region, we began to plan developing thoughts of the coming period and put forward to focus the industrialization and urbanization on the riverside region, built trillion economic corridor along the Yangtze River, try to catch the opportunity in the new round of opening up and development in Yangtze River economic belt.

Compere: Mayor Li, could you tell us the main connotation and industry distribution of this planning?

Li Lecheng: the “Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River”, mainly refers to the region from the Three Gorges Dam, Yichang urban area to Zhijiang City of more than 100 kilometers along the Yangtze River.

In the coming future, we’ll actively encourage advantageous industries to concentrate along the river area, industrial projects to concentrate in development zone and production elements to concentrate on advantageous industries, accelerate the establishment of billion zones, billion industries and super port of hundreds million tons, and make the river area a modern industry gathering area whose annual output value will be over the trillions with focused elements, outstanding characteristics, rational distribution.

As showed in the striding development blueprint of Yichang City, the region along the Yangtze River is taken as the core growth pole. And the industrial layout in this area can be divided into three parts. Generally speaking, they are “developing tourism in the upstream area of the Yangtze River, developing service industry in the midstream area of the Yangtze River and developing industry in the downstream area of the Yangtze River.” Specifically, the upstream area of the Yangtze River, which covers the region from the Three Gorges Dam to the Gezhouba Dam, should take its advantage in developing tourism industry. Because within this area, there are two world-class brand tourist attractions— the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River and the Three Gorges Project, two 5A scenic spots— the Three Gorges Project and the Sanxia Renjia, nine 4A scenic spots. And all the spots are mostly centralized and distributed in the Xiling Gorge region. Our Yichang City Government would take this region as a platform, based on which a regional tourism form will be built instead of the traditional spot-tourism and line-tourism. And we also plan for an ecological tourism zone that involving the Xiling Gorge as the axis and developing its surroundings as an environmental tourist area. As for the midstream area of the Yangtze River where is the main urban area, it should focus on the layout of modern service industry to meet the needs of new industrialization. Actions should be taken to develop productive service industries, such as logistics industry, financial industry, information service industry, outsourcing service industry and so on, to expand industry scale, perfect system, build a modern service industry accumulation area and enlarging the influence and driving force of Yichang as a provincial sub-center city.

And then comes to the third part, the downstream area of the Yangtze River, with the carrier of development zone, the advanced manufacturing industries should be greatly developed. Yichang National New-high Technology Industrial Development Zone, batch of provincial-level development zones and the unique feature development zones are almost concentrated in this area. The downstream of Yangtze River is the major area of establishing new industrialization; in addition, we should make efforts to strongly promote the construction of powerful industry city, raise the industry level comprehensively, push forward the high-tech oriented development of the superior industry, realize large scale of the new industries, and brand the traditional industry. Besides, we should build a reliable backbone of the city’s industry by upgrading the four following pillar industries—electricity, chemical, food and medicine, and manufacturing industries. Moreover, we should also endeavor to make breakthrough in new industries as biological industry, energy-saving and environmental protection industry, solar photovoltaic industry, new material industry and so on and try to seize the commending heights of development. And as we may see, the industry development in the downstream area of Yangtze River will definitely accelerate the modernization process and urbanization process of Yidu City and Zhijiang City and further promote the formation of integration of rural and urban areas.

Compere: That is really inspiring and encouraging. Then Mayor Li, would you please show us the significance of this strategy in promoting scientific development of Yichang City?

Li Lecheng: The scientific development requires not only rapid economy development and industry coordination but also coming along with energy resources conservation and harmonious co-existence between human and nature. In the process of building Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River, we should abide by the development rule of the regional economy， concentrating production factors to the superior areas. Complying with the scientific development concept will effectively promote comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development of Yichang; and the significance of which is mainly embodied in the following three aspects:

Firstly, it helps to accelerate the implementation of the “two circles and one belt” strategy. The Yangtze River economic belt of Hubei Province is the spatial carrier and transmission spindle of promoting interaction between the “two circles”. And the strategy will bring transverse layout of the economy distribution which extends to hinterlands along both sides of the Yangtze River to achieve the coordinated development of the region. At present, Wuhan City, located in eastern Hubei Province, is building a national central city, and is striving to create a locomotive city in Wuhan City circle even in the middle Yangtze River delta cities. Efforts should be carried out in Jingzhou City that located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and we should try to make it as a powerful supporting strength of the Yangtze River economic belt of Hubei Province. In order to become a regional central city in western Hubei, Yichang should practice the strategy of building Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River. And in the coming period, we will maximize and magnified the comprehensive comparative advantage in the region along the Yangtze River to make the regine an important accumulation area of new industrialization in southwestern Hubei and a crucial growth pole in the development and opening up in the Yangtze River economic belt of Hubei Province.

Second, it helps to accelerate the process of harmonious development in industrialization and urbanization. The development of the supporting industry will determine whether a city will rise or decline. Thus, the relevant industries should shoulder the supporting role in the progress of urban modernization. The development strategy of Yichang is to highlight the characteristics of landscape garden along riverside, pushing forward the distribution of cities and towns along the river to form a riverside ecological belt. And in addition, building the Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River and identifying the combining point of industrialization and urbanization and avoiding unbalance development between them will bring the realization of harmonious and coordinated urban construction and industrial development. For example, the constructions of biological industrial park and logistics park in Yichang East Railway Station contribute to the formation of the new ecological district in the eastern of the city; and the construction of the tourism projects like the Three Gorges Cruise Center and the Pinghu Peninsula laid a foundation for building the Three Gorges national tourist resort. Besides, along with the construction of the Trillion Economic Corridor, a group of new industrial districts and livable new cites will make their presence along the Yangtze River.

Thirdly, it helps to accelerat transformation of the mode of economic development. Building the Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River will promoting the change of industry layout from scattered allocation to characteristics focus allocation and to optimize production elements configuration and maximize the industry gathered function and intensive benefits of the area along the Yangtze River for achieving the transformation and upgrading of the industrial development and economical and intensive utilization of resources. Concentrating the industrial to the development zone and park along the Yangtze River will help to save energy and reduce emission, improving efficiency in resources utilization and stimulating the development of Circular Economy. Meanwhile, the poverty area, ecological sensitive area and the region along the Yangtze River carry on the model of enclave economy to gain their financial income and set up the path of ecological compensation in development for better protection and construction of the ecological environment. So we can see that the environment protection keep pace with the progress of industrialization in Yichang and Yichang also wins the title of the “National Environment Protection Model City”. Up to now, the forest coverage of Yichang City reaches 58% and river water quality within the region is good. In addition, the realization of pure flow ensures the clear water in the reservoir area.

Compere: From your introduction we know that building the Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River is not only important to the scientific development and leapfrog development of Yichang City, but also contributes a lot to promote the construction of economic belt of the whole Hubei Province. While, would you please tell us what kind of prominent advantages and basic conditions Yichang has?

Li Lecheng: At present, Yichang is in a period with golden opportunity of development, urban fast expansion and economy acceleration. Multiple policies and opportunities are producing synergistic effects in this area and the internal conditions are already satisfied for promoting the development. And all of those will build a strong force for supporting the construction of the Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River.

As for the leaping development we can talk about it in three fronts: one is that we’ve got increasingly thick atmosphere in the leapfrog development. The provincial government attaches high importance and vigorously supports Yichang’s leapfrog development. And it also puts forward to promote the leapfrog development of Yichang as a significant breakthrough of the whole province spatial layout adjustment. And the provincial government also points out as a crucial supporting power in the provincial scientific striding development process; Yichang should exert its contribution for Hubei Province to the foundation of an important strategic fulcrum of boosting the development of the central region. In April 2011, the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government jointly issued a special documentation in favor of Yichang’s development and summoned “Yichang Working Conference with One Center and Two Sub-centers " (one center: Wuhan City, two sub-centers: Yichang City and Xiangyang City) , and it was decided on the conference that all provincial departments should spare no efforts in constructing Yichang into a provincial sub-center city. And in particular, in November last year, the presence of the main leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government at the Three-Level-Cadre Conference, the theme of which is leapfrog development of Yichang, was a great inspiration and stimulation to arouse people’s enthusiasm towards Yichang’s development and activate the energy and power in promoting Yichang’s leapfrog development.

The second is that the foundation of the striding development grows solid. In recent years, the economy development of Yichang has been always maintaining high speed increase with its economic outputs successively broke 100 billion RMB and 200 billion RMB and the comprehensive strength of Yichang ranked in the front of the similar cities along the Yangtze River and the central region. As a provincial sub-center city, Yichang’s influence and competition ability are greatly enhanced. So far, the leading industry and new industry are enjoying sound momentum and bright prospective in their development. The output values of equipment manufacturing industry and chemical industry will be able to surpass 100 billion RMB and the output value of food and pharmaceutical industry is expected to exceed 100 billion RMB next year. At the same time, new industries of biology, new materials, electronic and information, new energy, energy-saving and environmental protection and so on are fast-rising in Yichang. There are already 6 ten-billion enterprises in Yichang, and it is likely to add one to two members of it in this year. In need of special note here is that the majority of Yichang’s industries is clustered along the Yangtze River Basin whose industrial added value takes more than 80% of the entire city. In the course of future development, a group of new projects and industries will emerge along the Yangtze River. And all practices above lay a solid foundation and constitute a strong power of building the Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River.

The last aspect is that the striding development environment of Yichang becomes better and better. In recent years, transportation condition of Yichang changed dramatically and an integrated transportation pattern consisting of waterway, highway, railway and aviation has been set up which plays as a regional comprehensive transportation hub. During the continual improvement of hard environment, we also took an active part in optimizing the soft environment in which we took action in streamlining administrative approval items for 5 times, implementing the administrative approval procedure rebuild that reducing 20% of the links in examination and approval, whittling down 81% of the approval items, shortening 68% of time needed for approval. Concepts of “Abiding by laws and regulations, freeing from old conventions, dealing with special things in special ways and serving in high-qualities” has transformed into an actual self-conscious behavior of cadres and the masses. And owing to the government’s all-round service that paves the way for smooth development of enterprises and projects. All those mechanisms and concepts constitute the core of Yichang’s soft strength and a favorable ecology state. The entrepreneurial passion, embodied by the well-known local enterprises such as Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Yichang Xingfa Group Co., Ltd., Hubei Daohuaxiang Liquor Co., Ltd, Angel Yeast Co., Ltd., and so on, is known as “Yichang Phenomenon”. Moreover, we Yichang City has won the titles of the “National Health City”, the “National Environmental Protection Model City” and the “National Civilized City”. And Yichang has become a terrific place for living, travel and business.

Compere: So, in the future, what kind of measures should be adopted to implement this major strategy?

Li Lecheng: Well, it mainly contains 4 points: First, adhere to big projects introduction. We should focus on the industry cultivation and structure upgrading; in addition we should also striving for achieve more than ten 10-billion RMB investment projects in annual investment plan, and ensure the implementation of batch of major projects in every counties and cities along the Yangtze River. This year, the amount of investment of project repertory of Yichang excesses 2 trillion RMB. With actions of vigorous investment promotion, introducing a big project and developing a great industry, the funds available of the yearly investment promotion will reaches more than 100 billion RMB. Since the beginning of this year, Yichang City has taken the opportunity of the provincial policy of “the Year for Major Projects Construction” to raise projects construction upsurge promptly. From January to February, more than 200 billion-investment projects were under construction and among which there were three 10-billion-investment projects. In the activities of Yichang-Central enterprises mutual communication, Yichang City signed the cooperation agreements with 6 central enterprises and obtained nearly 20 billion RMB of investment.

Second, adhere to big enterprise cultivation. In this process, the government should firmly establish a concept of attaching importance to industries and enterprisers, serving the enterprises with heart and soul, caring but no intervention, helping but no disturbance, tolerating but no demanding, guiding but no obstructing. Only by doing so can enterprisers feel free in their business and development, thus Yichang can be a real good place for entrepreneurs. And furthermore, the government should guide the key enterprises to make their striding development plan scientifically, promote enterprises to a certain scale and level, accelerate the expansion and striding promotion of enterprises. And by the year of 2016, we are expecting to achieve 2 enterprises with each one’s annual sales revenue exceeding 100 billion RMB, 10 enterprises with each one’s annual sales revenue exceeding 10 billion RMB, more than10 enterprises with each one’s annual sales revenue exceeding 5 billion RMB, and more than 100 enterprises with each one’s annual sales revenue exceeding 1billion RMB.

Thirdly, adhere to splendid park construction. In the process of building the Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River, we should focus on the construction of 100-billion parks and 10-billion parks. Besides we should give full play to the leading role of Yichang as the national high-tech zone in promoting construction of parks in various levels of development zones along the Yangtze River, and gathering high-tech elements to develop the high-tech industry. And by the year of 2016, we are expecting to realize the output value surpassing 100 billion RMB respectively at Xiaoting Park in Yichang High-tech Zone, Shenzhen Industrial Park, Baiyang Industrial Park, Biological Industrial Park and so on; and the output value of the development zones in areas surpassing 100 billion RMB involving Yidu City, Yiling District, Dangyang City, Zhijiang City and so on. And Yichang City is so familiar with the reasonable layout of the characteristic parks that contribute a lot in realizing one leading industry in one park and build a characterized industrial cluster. For example, we have successfully built the well-known phosphorus chemical industrial parks, such as Hubei Xingfa Chemical Group Co., Ltd., and Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., the first Magnetic Electronic Industrial Park, the Photovoltaic Industry Park in Yidu City, the Building Ceramic Industrial Park in Dangyang City, the Food Industry Park in Zhijiang City and so on; and each of them has an important impact in Hubei Province. We will continue to abide by the strategy of differentiation development and malposition development and accelerate the construction of a group of 10-billion specialized parks that are influential in Hubei Province and even all over the country.

Fourthly, adhere to major industries development. We should insist on “the two-wheel” strategy of developing the advanced manufacturing industry and modern service industry at the same time, integrate industrialization and informatization, and accelerate the process of building the modern comparative advantage prominent industrial system. Great efforts should be made in fostering 100-billion pillar industries to ensure output values of the pillar industries of manufacturing, chemical, food and pharmaceutical and so on exceeding 100 billion RMB in the late period of the 12th Five-year Plan. Forcefully implement the succession plan of 100-billion industries and nurse the new 100-billion industries like biological industry, energy conservation and environment protection industry, solar photovoltaic industry and so on, and build a nice development pattern of various industries and take the leading position alternatively. And we should comprehensively push forward the transformation and upgrading of tourism by innovating the system and mechanism, and make every efforts to build the Three Gorges Project into a national tourist resort and Yichang into the first-class and internationally known tourism city. As well, we may make good use of the watercourse of the Yangtze River and the function of the comprehensive transportation hub of Yichang to construct large logistics parks, foster a number of professional logistics enterprises and thus to build a modern logistics center city there. In addition, we should take actions in further promoting agricultural modernization, focusing on the construction on the 6 10-billion industries involving citrus industry, tea industry, vegetable industry, animal husbandry, aquatic product industry and cooking oil industry, gathering the agricultural products processing enterprises in districts along the Yangtze River and endeavor to reach production value of 120 billion RMB in the agricultural products processing by the year of 2016.

Compere: As you mentioned above, economic development and city development mutually promoted; the construction of Yi Chang’s Trillion Economic Corridor will definitely advance the city development. At last, would you please show us the blueprint of the city development in future?

Li Lecheng: Yichang’s economic development is originated from the watercourses and prospered along the rivers, so the fundamental orientation of the development is to take the advantage of the watercourses. We will cooperate with Wuhan City and Chongqing Municipality to form the city group and to promote the development of the city group along rivers, to optimize the urban space layout, to constantly improve the urban carrying capacity, comprehensive service capacity and area influence, to build the nationwide first-rate star city. First of all, to speed up the expansion of city frame, to highlight the landscape feature of Binjiang Park, plan the development of the industry and the city as a whole, promote the urban area expansion to the east and to the south as well as the union on the north, form 200 square kilometers of urban framework in few years. Second, to speed up the completion of urban comprehensive service functions, to implement the strategy of developing the city by the harbor business, integrate the resources along the rivers, improve the collecting and distributing capacity of the harbor, and build Yichang harbor into the Three Gorges hub harbor with dealing capacity surpassing a hundred million tons. For the transportation network, to build expressways and railways, such as Yi-Ba, Bao-Yi, Zi-Yun, to construct bridges, such as Miaozui, Xiangxi, Baiyang Bridges, to constantly complete the transportation network with speedy shifts and seamless joint among watercourses, expressway, railway and airlines. For the urban public service functions, important city facilities such as Yichang Museum, City Culture Center, and City Olympic Sports Center would be newly built, the integration of Telecom, Broadcast and Television Network, and Internet is promoted to strengthen the public service functions. The third is to speed up the urbanization, promote the construction , share public infrastructure, promote the interaction and mutual stimulating of industries, realize the coordinating development among urban center, counties, towns, and villages. To push forward the city such as Yidu, Zhijiang, and Dangyang to stride into the medium level cities, take effort to develop the integration pattern of riverbank city group as “a main city with multiple wing cities” and “a thread with pearls (cities)”, to form the eco-town belt by promoting the development of town group by the Yangtze River, Qingjiang River, Xiangxi River, and Juzhang River. Encourage people to reside in the town, ensuring the urbanization rate surpassing 56% by the year of 2016.

Compere: It seemed that this blueprint will not only bring people the new city prospect in the future, but also provide a feasible way to realize the speeding economic development and the prosperity of city group.

And also we are looking forward to “the Trillion Economic Corridor along the Yangtze River”, which will be another name card of Yichang with the times feature after “the Three Gorges Project”.