China will develop the region opposite Taiwan to create another economic hub, which it has anticipated could compete with the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas.

 

Officials from southeast China's Fujian Province said they've prepared a proposal for a free trade zone in Xiamen, for example, to realize the central government's proposal of building a Western Shore Economic Zone of the Taiwan Straits.

 

The scheme was included in the nation's 11th Five-Year Guidelines for National Economic and Social Development (2006-2010), which is currently under discussion by lawmakers attending the Fourth Plenary Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC).

 

"I believe it's a wonderful gesture for our highest leadership to promote peaceful reunification," said Lu Zhangong, secretary of Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

 

The move comes as Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian has been pursuing a more radical secessionist path by putting an end to the operation of the "National Unification Council" and the application of the "National Unification Guidelines."

 

"We are making our best efforts to realize peace and stability across the Straits but we are prepared to go to the front line if our goodwill and serious efforts fail," Lu told a panel discussion on the 11th Five-Year Development Guidelines.

 

President Hu Jintao, in showing his support for the new economic zone, said China welcomed more business people from Taiwan doing deals with the mainland. He made these comments during his recent tour of Xiamen.

 

According to Lu, the western shore plan is part of the country's regional development strategy for coastal China with the Pearl River Delta in the south, the Yangtze River Delta in the east and the pan-Bohai Sea economic zone already becoming development engines.

 

Compared with these economic zones, Fujian has fallen behind in recent years. "I think building the Western Shore Economic Zone is just a start. In the future there will be an economic zone across the Straits to boost China's further development," Lu said.

 

An urban cluster featuring Fuzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou will be designed in the province to boost its urbanization, he said.

 

"But the western shore scheme is not just the business of Fujian," said Lu. He added that east China's Jiangxi Province, for example, would also be involved in the development plan.

 

Lu added that the entire province is prepared to become an investment destination for Taiwan residents soon -- even though only four cities in Fujian are currently open to Taiwan investors.

 

Zhang Changping, mayor of Xiamen, said yesterday that he's trying hard to include Xiamen on the central government's list of free trade ports.

 

The mayor said the central government had been preparing to turn Shenzhen, Shanghai and Tianjin into free trade zones to facilitate economic activities with the rest of the world.

 

"I'm suggesting that Xiamen should become a free trade zone with Taiwan," Zhang said, "and we are going to seek approval from the central government."

 

(China Daily March 8, 2006)