During group discussions of the current annual NPC session, Ding Jiemin, mayor of the Taizhou city in east China's Jiangsu province, said the "lowland effect" has in fact become an underlying factor for the development of some cities and regions over the past two decades and such effect should be enlarged in the national perspective.

By "lowland effect", he explained, "it means the ability of a city, a region or a country to amass human, financial and material resources and to turn the resources into motive force for development."

The drain of such resources factors as humans, funds and technology and the hesitation of foreign investors to enter are the central concern of NPC deputies, especially those from the western part of the country.

Some "lowlands" are endowed by nature, such as cities neighboring on Hong Kong in Guangdong Province, which have the natural abilities to amass resources thanks to their geological locations, he noted.

But more "lowlands" have to be created, especially the western part of the country, he said. China is already a late comer in modernization and it is facing the competition from neighboring countries in terms of the "lowland effect".

Ding Jiemin said that a "lowland" should be noted for its openness and transparency, including government policies; it should have "fertile soil" to absorb "water" and can provide the channels for the "water" to flow into it; it must have established conventions and order that will make incoming investors safe rather than giving a feeling of falling into a "trap"; and it must have a good human environment, especially the creditability and high level of moral standards of the local people.

With 20 years'experience of carrying out reform and opening up and unremitting efforts for another period of time to come, China may well acquire these requirements, Mayor Ding said.

(Xinhua 03/12/2001)