6 WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2011 hebeispecial CHINA DAILY 7 Industrial upgrade helping Bohai area develop By TIAN YANG AND LIU XIANG the end of last year, putting the province in third place in e province handled 600 million tons of cargo last year, e local people have benefited from this modernization the country. about a tenth of the nation’s total, and it now ranks fih and economic growth. Per capita incomes of urbanites, last Hebei province is a key part of the Bohai Bay area that is year, it is planning on spending 65 billion yuan to among all the provinces. year, were 16,190 yuan, a 78-percent increase from 2005, 600 made some real progress in its economic and social devel- add 400 km more. e local government plans to double last year’s spend- and those of rural people were 5,510 yuan, an increase of opment, from 2006 to 2010. Hebei also has a 5,300-km railway network, one of the ing, to 17.6 billion yuan, on six new berths, which will add 58 percent. million tons It has a population of more than 700 million, and had a longest in the country. 42 million tons in annual handling capacity. Over the past five years, the province has created 2.65 of cargo shipment handled at Hebei ports last year GDP of 2.02 trillion yuan ($311.59 billion) in 2010 and a e aviation industry has really taken off in the past Foreign investment in the province has been growing at million more jobs and the urban unemployment rate has per capita GDP of 28,000 yuan, both of these almost double five years, and it now has four major airports at Qin- an average rate of 14 percent over the past five years, and been kept below 4 percent. the 2005 figures. huangdao, Chengde, Handan and the provincial capital, amounted to $17 billion for the 2006 to 2010 period. Monthly per capita retirement payments have been What accounts for the rapid growth? Mainly, major Shijiazhuang. Domestic investors are optimistic about Hebei’s eco- raised to 1,370 yuan, from 2005’s 635 yuan, and 430,000 structural changes: ere were improvements in traditional ey handled 3 million passengers last year, an incred- nomic prospects, with telecommunications giants such as low-income families qualify for low-cost government 2.02 industries like steel, machinery, and petrochemicals; and ible 550-percent increase over 2005. The Shijiazhuang Huawei and ZTE adding facilities there. housing. new industries, such as electronic information, medicines, airport alone handled 2.7 million in 2010, up from 1.3 Hebei’s imports and exports were worth $153 billion trillion yuan and clean energy, were emerging. million in 2009. over the past five years. GDP in 2010 Last year, the added value of technology industrial out- is year, Hebei will spend 4 billion yuan on local air- e urbanization rate increased to 45.5 percent, from BIG NUMBER put amounted to 122 billion yuan, or nearly four times the ports expansion. 2005’s 37.7 percent. But while there is a construction boom 2005 figure. It also plans to spend heavily on its marine transporta- in the cities, local governments are keeping an eye on envi- e service sector also developed rapidly, with added- tion. ronmental protection. value output amounting to 685 billion yuan, in 2010, or The Qinhuangdao, Tangshan and Huanghua ports, Forest coverage now stands at 26 percent and urban air 58 14 nearly double 2005’s figure. already have an annual handling capacity of more than quality is favorable, 334 days out of the year. Transportation has also seen some improvements. 100 million tons each, and are an important part of the e economy in rural areas is also growing, with last percent growth percent rise ere were more than 4,300 kilometers of highways by country’s distribution system. year’s total grain output reaching 30 billion kilograms. in rural residents’ per capita income in 2010 from 2005 in foreign investment over the past five years 78 2.7 percent growth million people in urban residents’ per capita income in 2010 from 2005 handled at Shijiazhuang ariport last year Xibaipo, about 90 km from the provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, is where the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China had its headquarters before liberation in 1949. 26 65 Restructuring means growth in creative business percent By ZHANG ZHAO producer, employing more than 4,000 billion yuan and LIU XIANG people and assets worth 200 million of the province’s total area covered with forest earmarked for 400 kilometers highways this year yuan. Movies are big business in Hebei e provincial government is plan- province, and many of its movie- ning some major cultural projects, makers and cinemas have been in with at least 100 billion yuan in back- the restructuring process, along with ing, and a number of which started various publishers and artists. last year. The movie After Shock, based on For its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011- the Tangshan earthquake in Hebei, in 2015), it plans to build more museums 1976, was a big box-office hit last year, and libraries, and encourage more cul- pulling in nearly 700 million yuan ture business reforms. ($107.7 million) in receipts, while It also wants to do more to protect setting a benchmark for the province’s heritage sites, such as the Chengde culture business. summer resort and its outlying And the restructuring has paid off: temples, which are recognized as a Profits of the Hebei Publishing Media UNESCO World Heritage site. Group were up more than 40 percent e province also has plans for key last year, while revenues of provincial projects in next-generation radio and art troupes increased 32 percent. TV networks, a national animation e Hebei Daily Newspaper Group center in the city of Baoding, and made 600 million yuan, up 16.5 per- a ski and tourism base in Chongli Ship loading at Qinhuangdao coal wharf. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY cent from 2009. county. e province counts the Great Wall, e culture industry thinks it can Taihang Mountains, and Bohai Bay contribute more than 5 percent to among its most important symbols provincial GDP by 2015, and have Acrobatic show staged by local performers. and its movies, TV series, folk dramas an average growth rate of more than and books have done quite well. 20 percent in the next five years. The novel “Soldiers Sortie”, and a Culture is also being promoted in TV adaptation of the same name, the countryside, where more than caused quite a sensation, with nearly 12,000 libraries have been built, and 280,000 copies being sold nationwide, many government offices and com- bringing in 9 million yuan. panies have donated around 5 million “Last year, Hebei’s culture industry books. produced the largest quantity of fine An additional 10,000 libraries are works, with the greatest influence planned for the near future. and largest profits,” said a provincial Provincial offices have orga- culture official. nized drama, music, and other art e Quyang Hongzhou Marble Arts performances for the countryside. Co Ltd, a handicras manufacturer, Langfang’s Dachang Song and Dance has seen annual sales grow to more Group is now a national model of than 100 million yuan. grassroots work, and, last year, gave The county of Yixian has an ink- 210 performances and generated 8 stone manufacturing chain with million yuan in profits. nearly 20,000 employees and an The folk handicrafts business is annual output value of around 200 also being encouraged, such the stone million yuan. carvings of Quyang county, paper-cuts e county of Wuqiang has more of Weixian county, elaborate painting than 5,000 people engaged in the of Ningjin county, and the paintings New Year’s painting industry, with of Hengshui city — where pictures annual sales amounting to 350 mil- are put inside semitransparent glass lion yuan. or crystal objects so they are visible Caohe aqueduct of the province’s South-to-North water diversion project. A cold rolled plate factory of Hebei Iron and Steel Group. Musical fountain at Tangshan’s South Lake Park adds a refreshing, relaxing touch to the locals’ summer outings. It is also a major musical instrument from outside. People promote a rich and diversified cultural life in Hebei. Shifting from labor-intensive to tech-intensive Hebei set to sharpen its cultural edge By XU XIAO modernization as part of the provincial To increase economic exchanges, the technology intensive in the five-year Every city will build three to four such By CHEN JIALU Army’s 129th division HQ; wall is the longest, best pre- and is known as the “orientals (1644-1911) dynasty times. AND LIU XIANG 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). provincial government wants to improve period. parks around the downtown area and the Nanzhuang military served section with the most homeland”. In addition, there is Tang- Hebei is a neighbor of the cities of its transportation system to cut travel is will allow the province to address every town will have one or two of Hebei province considers region HQ; site of Nan Yu representative buildings and Hebei surrounds Beijing, so shan, the cradle of China’s Hebei province plans to increase per Beijing and Tianjin and an important times to Beijing. its environmental issues and lack of them nearby. itself to be one of the birth- Anti-Japanese College; and stretches for more than 2,000 it has held a prominent posi- modern ocean industry and capita incomes of urbanites and farmers part of what is referred to as the “capital e plan is to expand the province’s innovation, local officials say, and it is ere are more than 10,000 housing places of Chinese civilization, Langya Moutain.