CHINA DAILY Wednesday, October 21, 2015 CHINA 5 Q&A WITH LOCAL LEADER Inner Mongolia focuses on stable growth A river runs through the prairie in Dong Ujimqin Banner, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. HASBAGENA BORJIGIN / FOR CHINA DAILY By YUAN HUI Meanwhile, the tourist industry, In the last year, the region’s QuickBiography lives of residents in the region. and DU JUAN in Hohhot logistics and financial information import and export volume grew In the last year,the entire region sectors are developing rapidly. by 21.4 percent compared to the spent 244 billion yuan on improv­ Editor’s note: Despite China’s In the past, Inner Mongolia’s previous year. ing people’s livelihoods. For the economic slowdown, the Inner major economic growth contribu­ first half of this year, we still spent Mongolia autonomous region tor was the coal industry and the What specific plans does the 110.5 billion yuan on the sector recorded better than average eco­ others lagged behind. However, government have in terms of even though financial conditions nomic growth over the last two the structure is quickly shifting to being more open to Mongolia were tight. years thanks to the opportunities a more healthy and reasonable and Russia? Authorities at all levels have provided by the Belt and Road one. Wang: Inner Mongolia has 16 kept the share of spending on live­ Initiative. The region is becoming inland ports, which are responsi­ lihoods at more than 70 percent of more open to the world, especially What are the key sectors to be ble for about 65 percent of land the overall government finances. to Russia and Mongolia to the developed in the future? freight volume between China The latest move is that we plan north. China Daily spoke recently Wang: We will build Inner Mon­ and Russia and up to 95 percent of to invest 80 billion yuan over three to Wang Jun, Inner Mongolia’s golia into a major clean­energy freight volume between China years on improving living condi­ Party chief, to find out more. provider to other places in the and Mongolia. Inner Mongolia tions, healthcare, water quality, country by developing the coal owns the geological advantages in electricity, TV service, and increas­ The Inner Mongolia autonomous chemical industry. Meanwhile, we terms of openness to Mongolia ing the number of convenience region has realized stable econom­ will develop nonferrous metal and Russia. stores in rural areas. Webelieve the ic growth despite the general eco­ processing, equipment manufac­ The government will seize the investment will improve the lives nomic slowdown over the past two turing, livestock product process­ opportunities provided by the YUAN YONGHONG / FOR CHINA DAILY of rural residents. years. How did the region achieve ing and cultural tourist industries national strategy to deepen our Better public service will con­ this result? aimed at improving our economic cooperation with Russia and Wang Jun, 63, of Datong, Shanxi province, is the head of the Inner Mongolia tribute to the stability of urban Wang: The new economic situa­ structure. Mongolia. We have prepared sev­ Party Committee of the CPC and the head of the Inner Mongolia legislature. and rural areas and create a basic tion requires new policies to cope. After 60 years of development, eral official documents on acceler­ He graduated from Shanxi Institute of Mining and obtained a master’s foundation for healthy economic Inner Mongolia is traditionally a Inner Mongolia has had much ating cooperation, which provide degree in philosophy from the Party School of the Central Committee of the development in the future. region based on the energy indus­ experience in those sectors, and guidelines for future actions. CPC. try. Thus, we have been making we have confidence that the The local government also Before he was elected to his current position in 2012, he was governor of Inner Mongolia has a fragile eco­ efforts to adjust the industrial region can make a bigger contri­ established platforms for coopera­ Shanxi province from 2009 to 2012 and the head of the State Administra­ logical system, facing some envi­ structure to ensure stable growth bution by accelerating the devel­ tion. In March, the central govern­ tion of Work Safety in 2008. ronmental problems such as when commodities prices are fall­ opment of those industries. For ment listed Manzhouli, the SOURCE: INNER MONGOLIA GOVERNMENT OFFICE desertification. However, the ing. At the same time, the local instance, clean energy will help biggest inland port to Russia, and region is a draw for both domestic government has put a focus on the country to reduce carbon Erenhot, the biggest inland port to InnerMongoliaataglance and foreign tourists. How can the improving efficiency and quality, emissions. Livestock product Mongolia, as the national­level region balance economic growth and enhancing reform. processing and tourism will meet pilot free trade zone when Inner and environmental protection? For the first three quarters of the the growing demand from con­ Mongolia was listed among the Established: 1947 Wang: Inner Mongolia is the year, the region’s GDP growth was sumers and improve living stan­ key regions during the construc­ Land: 1.18 million sq km biggest and most comprehensive 7.5 percent. The region’s fixed dards. tion of Belt and Road Initiative. Population: 25 million (as of 2014). ecological system in northern Chi­ investment grew by 14.4 percent By developing those industries, The authority will establish the Geography:Officially,InnerMongolia na with diversified landscapes compared to the same period last there will be more jobs in the zone with a faster pace. The next isclassifiedasoneoftheprovincial­ from forests to deserts. Its ecologi­ year. The income of urban and region, which will greatly increase move is to expand cooperative leveldivisionsofNorthChina,butits cal safety doesn’t only concern its ruralresidentsincreasedby8.1per­ the income of our residents. agreements. Make them solid. greatbreadthmeansthatpartsofit Hohhot own development, but also the INNER MONGOLIA BEIJING cent and 8.8 percent year­on­year, During the process, we will be belongtoNortheastChinaandNorth­ ecological stability of China’s HEBEI 200 km SHANXI respectively. Inner Mongolia is a frontier for the more actively seeking cooperation westChinaaswell.Itborderseight CHINA DAILY northeastern, northern and Those performance indicators country’s openness to the north. with and openness to Mongolia provincial­leveldivisions,aswellas northwestern areas. are better than neighboring prov­ You have visited Mongolia and Rus­ and Russia. MongoliaandRussia. and contains China’s biggest grass­ A good natural environment is inces and autonomous regions, a sia in the last year. What did the Terrain: The region’s landscape land pasturing area. the best situation for the residents credit to policies the authority has visit achieve? Inner Mongolia has paid much includes mountains, deserts, rivers, GDP: 1.78 trillion yuan ($280.21 bil­ in the region. Thus, we respect maintained. Wang: Inner Mongolia will attention to improving people’s lakes, plateaus and plains. lion) in 2014, up 7.8 percent year­ nature and protect it. During the become more open to those coun­ livelihoods in the recent years. How Economics: Inner Mongolia is rich on­year development of big projects, we Besides the energy industry, in tries. We agreed on cooperation do you view those moves? in mining resources. It has the SOURCE: INNER MONGOLIA GOV­ strictly follow codes to protect the which sectors has Inner Mongolia in mainly three sectors. First, we Wang: We indeed did lots of world’s best reserve of rare metals ERNMENT WEBSITE environment. made progress? will strengthen cooperation on work on this. We have organized a Last year, the region planted Wang: In recent years, the high­ energy exploration and develop­ series of projects to provide sup­ more than 672,000 hectares of for­ tech industry, livestock product ment. Second, all sides would like port to the poor and create jobs. est. Forests cover 21 percent of the processing and equipment manu­ to improve infrastructure con­ For example, the local govern­ residents each winter. We also The government also provides at whole region. facturing sectors all achieved struction to increase communica­ ment decided to provide one offer a 10,000 yuan ($1,572) study least one job to every family with­ higher than average growth in the tion. Third, we will promote metric ton of thermal coal per subsidy for each college student out any income. We hope all Contact the writers at duju­ region. cross­border tourism. person annually to low­income from a poor family every year. those measures can improve the [email protected] CRIME ECONOMY Probe continues into Hundreds of projects HK shopping death to invite private capital By XINHUA By KAHON CHAN in Hong Kong The Hong Kong police arrested [email protected] two alleged attackers on Monday, Seven Chinese provinces 940 identified as a local tour guide announced 287 public­private part­ billion yuan The National Tourism Adminis­ and a mainland tourist. A search nership projects on Tuesday that the total value of 287 public­private tration urged Hong Kong authori­ for the remaining two continued Miao Chunqi, a 54­year­old tourist from the Chinese mainland, died on Tues­ will be open to private investors. partnership projects to be undertaken ties to look into the death of a into Tuesday evening. The case day after a shopping brawl in Hong Kong. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY The projects, collectively worth in seven Chinese provinces mainland tourist after a shopping was listed as manslaughter. The around 940 billion yuan ($148 bil­ brawl, and to safeguard the rights of motive for the attack is under lion), include municipal works, all mainland visitors in the region. investigation. ulatory industry association, the the shop or tour organizer.