Hunan city cluster to be green test bed
A cluster of three cities in Hunan Province will become an
experimental zone for energy saving and environmentally friendly programs.
The three neighboring cities of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan will form the zone in the home province of Mao Zedong, said Hunan Governor Zhou Qiang yesterday.
"The 70 million people in Hunan have the
reputation of always being the first to try something new. We are honored that our cities will become the country's
experimental field in transforming its mode of development," Zhou told the press in the
provincial capital of Changsha.
In addition to the city cluster in Hunan, the State Council has also approved Wuhan, the
provincial capital of Hubei, as an
experimental zone for energy-saving and environmentally friendly reforms.
China has six
experimental zones so far, starting with Shanghai's Pudong New District in 2005.
Zhou said the three cities in Hunan were chosen because they were part of the country's long-time industrial base, where the lack of resources as well as environmental pollution have impeded their development.
Meanwhile, their locations offer them the chance to be a "pivot", he said, in the nation's planned "rise of Central China" - a national
strategy to boost the economies in the central part of China, which includes Hunan, Hubei and Henan provinces.
Zhou said that the
provincial government will help the three cities build energy-saving, environmentally friendly industries, and make them more beautiful and livable.
Changsha will
coordinate with its partner cities in sectors including infrastructure construction, pollution treatment and energy supply, said its mayor Zhang Jianfei yesterday.
Mayor of Zhuzhou Chen Junwen said his city will protect its farmland and build
leisure industries while increasing efforts to improve the environment.
Xiangtan will encourage the development of its hi-tech industries and make better use of its "cultural resources", said its mayor Yu Aiguo.
The three cities are the engines of Hunan's economy. They contributed 37.6 percent of the
provincial GDP last year, and they hold 19.2 percent of the province's population.
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