Central China Economic Zone Eyes Future

The blueprint of Central China Eco-nomic Zone has been unfolding since it has been upgraded as a national strategy by the State Council in 2011. Central China’s Henan Province， the major component of the zone， is longing for further all-round development under the blueprint.

The economic zone is centered in Henan and radiates to its adjacent areas. It covers mainly Henan province and parts of neighboring Shandong， Shanxi， Hubei and Anhui provinces， with a population of about 150 million， or one-tenth of China’s total.

Henan has set its goals which are to be achieved by two steps: first， the zone is to highlight its advantages in the 5 years to come; second， within another five years， the zone is to rise to play a significant role across China.

The recent Henan Province’s Construction Outline of the Central China Economic Zone(Draft) submitted to the provinces’ government conference indicated that， by 2015， the zone will preliminarily take shape as an economic region with vitality and strong growth; by 2010， the zone will see prosperity in urban and rural economy， well-being of the people， good ecological environment and social civilization and harmony.

The goals， with strong orientation and in line with the current situation and development momentum of the zone， will finally be achieved through great efforts， said Li Ke， vice provincial governor of Henan Province.

In September 2011， the state council promulgated a guideline on supporting Henan Province’s efforts to speed up the development of the Central China Economic Zone， signifying that it has turned into a national strategy. Before that， the zone had been listed in the nation’s major functional zones and in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).

The Central China Economic Zone will serve as a test for the country’s balanced development of industrialization， urbanization and agricultural modernization.

The guideline clarified the positioning of the zone: the nation’s key bases for food production and modern agriculture; the demonstration zone with coordinated development of new urbanization， industrialization and agricultural modernization; the nation’s important economic pillar; the nation’s strategic fulcrum for regional coordinated development and modern integrated transport hub; the innovation area to inherit China’s rich history and culture.

The special layout of the zone is to follow the principle of “The core takes the lead with the development of the axis belt and its adjacent areas”. The core means the provincial capital Zhengzhou should play a leading role by upgrading its service functions of transport hub， business， logistics and finance， and promote the integrated development of“Zhengzhou-Kaifeng” and the “ZhengzhouLuoyang Industrial Corridor”， thus increasing its leading ability in the regional development. Besides， the zone should enhance its relations with neighboring provinces and economic zones to promote the syncretic development of the region， and complement each other’s advantages.

In the blueprint， the central city group will give full play to its capabilities. Thanks to its increasing innovation ability and creativity， its comprehensive competitiveness has topped in the Midwest city groups and hence become the frontrunner in the rise of Central China.