The Western development strategy (This is China, Episode 73)
张维为《这就是中国》第73期：西进西进
On September 14th, in the 73rd issue of Dragon TV’s “This is China”, Professor Zhang Weiwei, Dean of the Institute of Chinese Studies at Fudan University, and Yan Yilong, Associate Dean of the Institute of National Conditions of Tsinghua University and Associate Professor of the School of Public Administration of Tsinghua University, interpreted China In the economic sector, we will discuss the new connotations of the western development strategy. The following is the text of the program content.
Zhang Weiwei:
Recently, facing the unfavorable external environment brought by the COVID-19 epidemic, Chinese leaders put forward the idea of “double circulation” of China’s economic development, “a new pattern of double circulation development with domestic circulation as the mainstay and international and domestic mutual promotion”. Among them, I think an important link is the development of the western region. As we all know, the western development was put forward 20 years ago. In May this year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued a new guiding document on the western development, which can be said that the western development ushered in a new accelerated period. I want to talk with you about the implementation of this strategy in the past 20 years, and then talk about the special significance of this new guidance document.
Great achievements have been made in the western development in the past 20 years, and earth-shaking changes have taken place in the western region. People who have been to the central and western regions in these years will feel this way. I remember that a few years ago, Americans were spreading rumors that people in western China were eating grass, which made some people in China very excited. But suddenly, Americans found that the rapid rise of central and western China, coupled with the implementation of the the belt and road initiative, worried that what they called the “land power order” led by China would soon appear in the world, subverting the “sea power order” led by the United States. Frankly speaking, they think too much. I’ll talk about this topic later.
Generally speaking, in the past 20 years, the economic growth rate in the central and western regions has surpassed that in the coastal areas. I always think that to understand China, we should have the concept of plate, and then look at the interaction between plates. The west in the western development refers to the central and western regions of our country, including Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi and other 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, with 71% of the country’s land area, 27% of its population and 20% of its GDP. Due to historical reasons, we all know that there is a big gap in the development degree between the central and western plate and the eastern plate, but the gap is also an opportunity. The highly benign interaction between the eastern and central and western plates is one of the main reasons for the rapid rise of the central and western regions. For example, the central and western regions have undertaken a large number of industrial transfers from the east.
In the 1980s, when we talked about the East Asian model, we often mentioned a concept called “geese flying model”, that is, the appearance of geese flying in the sky, with head geese, middle geese and tail geese forming a flight matrix. At that time, this model specifically refers to the gradient transfer of manufacturing industry in East Asia. The first geese were Japan, and the Japanese manufacturing industry was transferred to the “Asian Four Little Dragons”, which was called Zhongyan, and then transferred from the “Asian Four Little Dragons” to China’s coastal areas, so China was called Tail Goose at that time. In the past 20 years, China has actually experienced industrial gradient transfer similar to the geese model. It can be said that the east is the head geese of China’s economy, which has changed to capital-intensive, while the central and western regions are the middle geese and tail geese that undertake the transfer of labor-intensive industries in the east, but this is only part of it. Now the growth driven by internal factors in the central and western regions is constantly increasing.
The gains brought by the western development strategy to the local people are concrete and real, and the people have a strong sense of gain. Last year, I went to Yinchuan, Ningxia to attend a seminar on “the belt and road initiative” and China-Arab cooperation. Ningxia (Yinchuan) is probably the lowest-key provincial capital in China, but the city is clean, beautiful and modern. At that time, there were many Arab guests, some of whom from rather rich countries. They couldn’t believe that it was one of the poorest provinces in China’. They felt that Yinchuan, the provincial capital, was very developed. This is a city with a largeaffluent class and people living and working in peace and contentment.
In recent years, Chengdu and Chongqing are both “online celebrity cities” that have been popular all over the country. The closure of the U.S. Consulate-General made Chengdu famous in the world. Sichuan’s GDP exceeds 4 trillion yuan, ranking first among 12 western provinces and cities, and its foreign trade share is one of the top ten provinces in China. Chongqing is known as “a city on four wheels”, with more than ten automobile enterprises and more than 1,000 supporting enterprises. Its automobile output ranks first in China, and one out of every three notebooks (computers) in the world is made in Chongqing. In Guizhou, where there is hardly any flat land, the annual output value of big data industry exceeds 100 billion yuan. In other words, after 20 years of great development, China’s western region or the central and western regions have already taken on a new look.
What are the main contents of the new guidance issued by the central government this time? The requirements are very clear. If I make a long story short, it is to form a new pattern of big protection, big opening and high-quality development, that is, four key words: big protection, big opening, high quality and new pattern.
The first is the great protection, which has many contents, but the core is to strengthen the construction of the “beautiful west” and build a solid barrier to the national ecological security of China. I have always said that China is a civilizational state. The Communist Party of China is not an electoral party in Western electoral politics, but a mission party. It is responsible for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, the continuation of Chinese civilization and the future generations of our nation. Therefore, the whole country has a construction plan for the main functional areas of the country. According to this plan, we must ensure the ecological security of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, protect the ecological resources such as glaciers and wetlands, and promote the ecological protection and construction of the Three Rivers in Qinghai.
The second is opening up. If we look back at the documents of the central government on the development of the western region, you can see that some key words are constantly evolving. At first, they talked about “laying the foundation”, then “developing the western region”, and this time they used “opening up”. This is a leap in strategy and concept. In the “great opening”, the central government requires the western region to move from the “end” to the “front” of national opening. In other words, the so-called “wild goose model” just mentioned is undergoing great changes, but in fact this great change has already started.
With the development of “the belt and road initiative”, we have made great efforts to promote the flow of various factors, and China’s inland has become a frontier from the rear of opening to the outside world. For example, the Eurasian trains have made Xinjiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Xi ‘an, etc. become the frontier of opening up to the outside world. Xi ‘an is building the assembly center of China-Europe trains, forming an important trade and logistics channel and network connecting east and west, north and south, and connecting Europe and Asia. The western region has great potential for opening up to the outside world. For example, the GDP of the whole western region accounts for about 20% of the whole country, but the proportion of foreign trade is less than 7% and the proportion of foreign capital utilization is only 7.6%. In other words, the western region is still a place full of opportunities.
The third key word is high quality, which mainly refers to solving the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development in the western region. The central government has a clear time requirement, that is, in 2020, the western region should work with the whole country to build a well-off society in an all-round way; By 2035, basic public services, access to infrastructure and people’s living standards in the western region will be roughly equal to those in the eastern region. In the past, the advantages of the west were generally land, raw materials, resources and labor, but now there are new advantages such as “the belt and road initiative” construction, free trade zone, big data, cloud computing and high-speed rail.
Finally, there is a new pattern. To put it bluntly, if all the above three tasks can be done well, then a new pattern of western development will be formed.
But we also need to understand the main starting point for realizing the new pattern. I think this is also the characteristic of the Chinese model, which not only has goals, but also has the main means or grasp to achieve them. Here, I will talk to you from two angles:
One is that from the internal point of view of the western region, the promotion of urban agglomerations is a major starting point. In the Central Guiding Opinions, it is proposed that Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration with Chengdu and Chongqing as the core includes 15 cities with a population of 95 million; There are more than a dozen cities with Xi ‘an as the center and the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration with a population of nearly 40 million, which leads the development of the western region and becomes the core engine. And in Nanning, the Beibu Gulf urban agglomeration formed by 12 cities including Nanning. Urban agglomeration is a new growth pole, and the central government requires that there should be positive dislocation of characteristic functional areas in urban agglomeration, so as to realize the characteristic development with division and combination. Therefore, the spatial layout of China’s development is a wonderful part of the Chinese model.
China has now entered the era of high-speed rail and 5G, which is an important driving force for the development of urban agglomerations. By 2025, the total railway mileage in the whole western region will reach 15,000 kilometers, including 5,700 kilometers of high-speed rail. What is the biggest change brought about by this layer of infrastructure? That is, the development of the city in a group, and the large-scale interaction between urban and rural areas.
If the high-speed rail links the vast western cities and the eastern and western regions, then 5G allows people to jump out of the physical urban agglomeration and understand the development significance of the central and western urban agglomeration from the aspects of virtual economy, innovative economy and urban-rural interaction. In the era of high-speed rail and 5G, the development of urban agglomerations in western China means vast space and opportunities. A few days ago, the BBC interviewed me and asked me what I thought of Britain’s rejection of Huawei’s participation in the UK’s information infrastructure construction. I said that Britain’s rejection of Huawei would delay the landing of 5G in the UK for 2-3 years. What era is this? You have succumbed to the pressure of the United States and are so insensitive to scientific and technological progress. I think Britain will pay a heavy price for this, and we will not wait for you.
Second, from the national perspective, another major focus is the significant strategic coordination between regions, which is the plate interaction I talked about. The central government has explicitly requested to expand inter-regional cooperation. It is required that the development of the central and western regions meet major strategies such as coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, including mutually beneficial cooperation with Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and other eastern and central provinces. The western development originally involves the ecological protection of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River Basin, which coincides with these plans, so it is necessary to further strengthen regional coordination. On the whole, the prospect of mutually beneficial cooperation between regions is very good, because it has already had the foundation of the first 20 years. In addition, it is specifically mentioned that Guangxi should be encouraged to actively participate in the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hainan should comprehensively deepen reform and opening up.
Finally, I also want to talk about a problem, the relationship between the western development and “the belt and road initiative” and geographical civilization. Everyone who studies international politics knows that at the beginning of last century, British geopolitical scholar Mackinder put forward the concept of “world island”. He said that the whole earth consists of two parts: Europe, Asia and Africa constitute a “world island”, and the largest, most populous and richest land combination in the world. At their edge, there are a series of relatively isolated continents, America, Australia, Japan, British Isles and so on. The center of the world island is from the Volga River to the heart of the Yangtze River. He believes that “whoever controls Eastern Europe controls the heart zone; Whoever controls the heart zone controls the whole world island; Whoever controls the world island controls the world. ” Mackinder believes that the emergence of railways makes it easier for a powerful country to dominate the central area. In the past hundred years, the western powers fought for hegemony, from Central Asia to the European battlefield in World War II, to the hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. There was a geopolitical shadow or consideration of “world island” behind it.
In a larger historical perspective, western mainstream narratives have always believed that Columbus’s so-called “great geographical discovery” 500 years ago opened the western-led maritime civilization or sea power order and brought about the rise of the western world. We know that this is a bloody and tearful history full of looting and killing, but it has finally formed what some scholars call the “sea power order” to dominate the “land power order”. Specifically, all the developed plates in each country are almost in each country’s own coastal areas.
It is this narrative of western geopolitics that has existed for a long time. When China put forward the “the belt and road initiative” initiative, many people in the west instinctively thought that China wants to control the “world island” from Europe to Asia, and that China would change the dominance of the western “sea power order” over the “land power order”. In the past few years, I have participated in many “the belt and road initiative” international dialogues, which are unavoidable topics. In fact, the Chinese people’s vision is not like this. The core concept of China’s “the belt and road initiative” is to discuss, build and share. In essence, it is necessary to change the geographical competition used by the West into geographical cooperation and strive to build a new concept of geographical civilization with win-win cooperation. Therefore, the “the belt and road initiative” is an open initiative. We welcome more countries to join. There are already many cooperative projects that are jointly promoted by various countries. We believe that peaceful development and win-win cooperation are the right way for the world.
Today, Eurasia has 75% of the world’s population, 60% of the world’s GDP and 75% of the known energy. For China, the “two cycles” that we put forward today naturally include the outward radiation of the “inner cycle”, which radiates to the whole Eurasia, including the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the New Eurasian Continental Bridge, etc., so the regional advantages of the central and western regions of China begin to appear. In this sense, under the guidance of the new geo-civilization concept of cooperation and win-win, our western development and the “the belt and road initiative” measures will vigorously promote the rebalancing of land and sea civilizations, which will create a lot of new growth opportunities for China itself and the whole world.
China has a coastline of 18,000 kilometers and a long border and continental passage connecting the whole Eurasia. This special geographical location determines that we can achieve “land and sea aid”. In 2019, 51.9% of China’s GDP came from the eastern region. Now, with the implementation of the western development strategy, the central and western regions are rapidly rising. In this sense, we are achieving a new balance of “land and sea aid” from east to west, from coastal to inland. This process is not only a new growth point for the development of China and the whole Asia-Europe region, but also contributes to promoting a new geographical civilization of win-win cooperation.
For example, since the Sino-US trade war, the trade volume between China and the United States began to decline from 3.95 trillion in 2017 to 3.73 trillion by the end of last year, but the total trade volume between China and the two ends of Eurasia, namely the European Union and ASEAN, has been growing, from 7.66 trillion in 2017 to 9.29 trillion in 2019. Specifically, on the one hand, our trade with the United States has decreased by 200 billion yuan, on the other hand, our trade with the European Union and ASEAN has increased by 1.6 trillion yuan. In 2019, the EU is still China’s largest trading partner, and by the first half of 2020, ASEAN will surpass the EU and become our largest trading partner. Therefore, the new development pattern of “mutual aid between land and sea” across Eurasia has shown great energy, which will play a positive role in the “double circulation” of China’s economy after the epidemic and in stimulating the economic development of the whole world.
In a word, I am optimistic about the development of the western region and the vast space for the development of land and sea. Let’s talk about this today. Thank you all!
Yan Yilong:
Just now, Professor Zhang mentioned western geopolitical thinking, and I would like to share with him a geopolitical development thinking, which is different from western geopolitical thinking, or geopolitical economic thinking of geopolitical development, which is reflected in the western development.
We are not following the thinking of neo-liberal economics, but the market government forms a joint force to narrow the development gap between the east and the west. For example, if developed areas and underdeveloped areas are compared to two pools, the former has a high water level and the latter has a low water level. How to reduce the water level difference between them? According to the idea of “trickle-down economics” of neoliberalism, the water flow in developed areas will automatically seep down, and the development will slowly “drip” into underdeveloped areas like water flow.
The thinking of China’s geo-development political economy is that, on the one hand, we should unblock the passage between the two pools and make full use of the market mechanism to promote the free flow of labor, capital, technology and other factors; on the other hand, we should transfer part of the pool water in developed areas to underdeveloped areas, and promote the construction of the western region through large-scale financial transfer payments to improve the basic public service level in the western region. For example, in 2018, the general public budget expenditure in Tibet was 8.6 times of income, while that in Xinjiang was 3.3 times. The excess of these expenditures over income was mainly compensated by the central financial transfer payment.
The western development is just like the next big chess game. It is not everywhere in Puckilo, but in key areas and key areas, mainly focusing on key cities, urban agglomerations and traffic arteries. What do you do at the point? The point is to develop agglomeration economy, improve economic density, create new growth poles and promote balanced development of different regions. What do you do on the line or on the axis? To promote the smooth flow, shorten the economic distance and reduce the cost of factor flow, we have carried out large-scale transportation and information infrastructure construction in the west, especially in the high-speed rail era, and the wide popularization of 4G signals has actually greatly promoted regional integration, and also promoted the economic integration between the western region and the whole country.
Guizhou used to be regarded as a remote and backward province, but now it has become the most important data center base in China and a comprehensive experimental area for big data in China. As long as it can be accessed, no matter how far it is, it will become zero distance. What do you think is the highest proportion of mobile payment in China? Is it in Shanghai, or Beijing, Zhejiang, Guangdong? Actually, it’s not. It’s in the west. Tibet ranked first for five consecutive years since 2012, and was overtaken by Guizhou in 2017.
The western development is also the opening of the western region. The western region is at the forefront of China’s land opening, and 13 of the 14 countries bordering China are bordered by the western region. By constructing a strategic corridor connecting inside and outside the “the belt and road initiative” in the western region, it can promote the opening of the Eurasian Continental Bridge and promote the economic cycle between China and the “the belt and road initiative” countries.
Some people in western society are keen to interpret “the belt and road initiative” with geopolitical theory. In fact, this view is to “drive a gentleman’s belly with the heart of a villain”. “the belt and road initiative” is not promoting geopolitical expansion, but building a political and economic platform for geopolitical development for the common development of all countries in the world. By carrying out large-scale infrastructure construction, promoting the interconnection of facilities and shortening the economic distance between different development nodes, some inland and remote countries and regions can better access globalization and gain unprecedented development opportunities.
Of course, when we talk about China’s geo-development thinking, it doesn’t mean that China doesn’t have geopolitical thinking, but China’s geopolitical thinking is different from the aggressive, predatory and aggressive geopolitical thinking of the West. China’s geopolitical thinking is to fight back in self-defense. “Friends come with good wine, while enemies come with shotguns.” In the face of invading enemies, China will firmly defend its sovereignty and development interests. The rise of China is not only a peaceful rise, but also an inclusive one. It also creates great opportunities for common development for the world. However, if some countries must push China into an opponent, China will certainly become a terrible opponent. As Nixon predicted in the past, if the United States does not know how to accept China’s goodwill, the United States will have to face “the most terrible and powerful enemy in world history” one day.
I share here today, thank you.
Discussion session
Moderator: Under the pattern of “double circulation”, the development of the western region provides us with a huge space for deep economic strategy. It can be said that this is an important definition for the development of the western region, but many friends may also be concerned. What is the difference between the heavy policy or different formulation of this round of the development of the western region and our development of the western region for so many years?
Zhang Weiwei: First, we reiterate many successful experiences in the past, and the other is to overcome some shortcomings at present. The most obvious successful experience is the growth rate of the whole western region in recent years. I see that the basic data is that the GDP of the western region was 1.5 trillion yuan in 1999, and nearly 21 trillion yuan last year, an increase of 13.4 times. In politics, it is remarkable to crack down on the “three forces” and maintain stability in Xinjiang, which brings peace to the whole country.
The other is the rise of Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi ‘an, which means that the western urban agglomeration, but it does have shortcomings, especially the Sanjiangyuan in Qinghai, which is our important ecological barrier. Now President Xi is talking about new development concepts: innovation, coordination, green openness and sharing. For example, how to make green better, grassland degradation has not been solved, and urban groundwater level has dropped, all of which are new challenges. This document puts forward some ideas on how to solve these problems.
Yan Yilong: In fact, it is very similar to the process of software development, which is to try and make mistakes in practice, patch and upgrade. From this point of view, it is version 2.0 of the western development. Great changes have taken place in its basic focus. For example, in version 1.0, the main focus is to implement the idea of two overall situations and narrow the development gap between the east and the west. Up to now, in version 2.0, the important focus is to regard the west as an important starting point for realizing the goal of socialist modernization and strengthening the country. In addition, great changes have taken place in the international environment. In the past, we were mainly able to integrate into globalization, but now the international environment is highly uncertain, so this is why we should implement the system with internal circulation as the main body.
Furthermore, our regional strategy has also undergone great changes, which is actually a process of upgrading. After the western development was put forward, several strategies, such as the revitalization of Northeast China and the rise of Central China, combined into a regional coordinated strategy. The current regional strategy is very three-dimensional. Besides the overall regional coordination strategy, there are also regional connectivity strategies, such as the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yellow River Ecological Economic Belt, including the high-speed rail, which are actually a connectivity strategy. In addition, the domestic background may have been an opportunity to accelerate urbanization and industrialization, but now it is a new idea put forward under the background of the fourth industrial revolution, so I define it as version 2.0, because it has indeed entered a new era.
Moderator: We just looked at the western development from the macro level, but at the micro level, if it is specific to individuals, everyone said before that employment opportunities and so on are all in the southeast coastal areas, which may give birth to more opportunities in the western development in the future, and if we start to the west now, we are pioneers, so young people should seize the opportunities.
Zhang Weiwei: The west now is completely different from the west in our mind. First of all, I have been to Chengdu-Chongqing and Guanzhong urban agglomerations, and the development level is really quite high. About four or five years ago, I went to Honghe Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, where there were several poverty-stricken counties. The state capital I went to was called Mengzi, with beautiful scenery, cheap housing and simple folk customs. I gave a lecture there, saying that China is such a good place, what are those people doing in Canada and how nice it is to immigrate here?
Moderator: When talking about the development of the western region, both of them have reached a higher dimension and redefined our geopolitics. If the development of the western region is linked with the “the belt and road initiative”, we will still see some obstructionist forces. Many voices may have opinions about our going west.
Yan Yilong: Yes, I think there are about three situations in which “the belt and road initiative” is questioned overseas. The first one may be a misunderstanding in concept. We must tell the story of China well and tell him earnestly that we are not geopolitical expansion, but the thinking of geopolitical civilization and development. The second is commercial interests, but in fact, as a big country, China has corresponding punishment means. I think the third situation is the most difficult to deal with, that is, the United States uses hegemony to discredit and suppress China in all directions, which will cause us great difficulties in a certain period of time, but in the long run, the containment of China by the United States is doomed to be futile. Because this is not only the competition in specific strategies and skills, but actually the construction of “Tao”. “American priority” is hegemonism. The United States is now “three hegemonism”. Overbearing, hegemonism and hegemonism, the more overbearing it is, the more difficult it is to last. Because the eyes of the people of the world are sharp and helpless, it is said that today’s United States is not a paper tiger, but an autumn tiger, and it is still very difficult. China’s “Tao” is a community of human destiny, which is to serve people with virtue, to create development opportunities for all countries in the world, to get more help from the Tao, and to be an amiable way that can last for a long time as stated in the Book of Changes. As time goes by, its power will become stronger and stronger.
Moderator: Therefore, when talking about the combination of the western development strategy and the “the belt and road initiative”, it may bring a new interpretation to the development of geopolitical civilization. Through our practice, it may still change a lot of cognition. Therefore, I would like to listen to your analysis from this angle. Is it a rebalancing of land and sea civilization? We can make a good practice.
Zhang Weiwei: A basic basis for the rebalancing of land and sea civilization is that the rise of marine civilization in the past 500 years has created huge economic energy, which has driven the development of many countries and the rise of the whole West. Even the rise of China up to now has something to do with marine civilization. What does this mean? If land civilization rises again, it can also bring huge economic increment, which must be the case from the big pattern. In addition, the biggest unfavorable factor to the United States is that China has really risen. You can ask a very simple question. Whether you go to Africa or Southeast Asia, the United States is really against us. If you ask what things and products Americans can provide to these countries, there are not many. China is their biggest trading partner. I can give you anything, so this thinking has a certain strength. Although you can sabotage, through many non-governmental organizations and the media, the real benefits are there, and it can really push forward the momentum of cooperation.
Yan Yilong: This round of China’s rise is actually the collective rise of the whole non-Western world. From a big pattern, it is indeed a great change that has never happened in a hundred years. The Economist published a study, saying that the center of gravity of world economic geography has been in Asia for a long time. After 1600, the world began the history of the so-called great western diversion. When did the center of gravity of economic geography begin to shift to the west? In 1950, the People’s Republic of China was founded shortly. When we enter the 21st century, we will accelerate and continue to change in Asia. Therefore, today’s world history will turn more to land and sea civilization.
Question and answer session
Audience 1: In the wonderful speeches given by the teachers just now and the 36 suggestions and measures issued by the central government, talents and technology are emphasized. Then, how should western provinces and cities keep local talents from losing, and actively attract foreign talents? Thank you.
Moderator: A good question. You are in Nantong, right? We know that Nantong’s economy is also very large, and it is also a hot spot for development. If you choose, will you go to the west?
Audience 1: If it is my personal ideal, I would choose Nantong, but if I want to contribute to my motherland, I feel obliged to go to the west.
Zhang Weiwei: I have traveled a lot in the western provinces in recent years. The major urban agglomerations, the capitals of most provinces and even prefecture-level cities are quite modern, and life is not difficult at all, even very comfortable. This is a huge change. According to the data I have seen, Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi ‘an are attracting a lot of talents. I saw a video of Huawei’s research institute in Xi ‘an, and thousands of people are all Xueba. When they come to a restaurant to eat, they have different gas fields when they watch Xueba eat. Therefore, the western region, especially the high-tech zone urban agglomeration, is already very attractive. Now, if young people start businesses, I think they should really follow their own heart. Don’t be framed by many traditional frameworks. If you can achieve your career, you can go. Now the transportation is very convenient, and now few people work in a company all their lives. You have a great experience in the west, and life often depends on experience and experience to have a wonderful life.
Yan Yilong: Especially under the internal circulation system, the new western development will indeed create a lot of opportunities. The fourth industrial revolution is an era of attention, and there are a lot of opportunities in the western region. Why? Because the west is rich in geographical resources, human resources and outstanding people, it can create numerous scenic spots in online celebrity, industries in online celebrity, formats in online celebrity and products in online celebrity. For example, the most typical example is Li Ziqi in Mianyang, Sichuan, which is popular all over the world by shooting short food videos, and Miss Tumbler in Xi ‘an alone has brought the whole city that never sleeps in Datang, which is a phenomenon in the attention era. I think this is an opportunity for young people. Of course, this is only a small aspect. There is still huge space and great future possibilities.
Audience 2: In this “Guidance Opinion”, some paths about the marketization of desert land are mentioned, and the behavior of encouraging residents to apply for personal use rights is also mentioned. I would like to ask, if the two teachers can have the opportunity to become the owners of desert land, what kind of behavior will they do to this land?
Zhang Weiwei: This one should be younger. Because it involves desert land, it doesn’t make much sense to pack a large piece. You have an idea that I want to be a film and television city. In the past, writer Zhang Xianliang got one. Last time I read a report, in fact, the management of Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia is a large area for enterprises to do desertification control and develop their own industries. There are more than 100 methods of sand fixation and sand industry. I’m afraid this needs a certain scale and technical support, because it involves desert management. Or you always have to have a very good idea, I’m afraid it can’t be done by all individuals, and it’s more appropriate to have considerable funds and enterprises to support and protect it.
Audience 3: I have two questions to ask teachers. First, there are many central cities in the west, which cities will develop rapidly next, and form the western version of “Northern Guangzhou and Shenzhen”. Second, how can western cities develop their strengths and avoid weaknesses and give full play to their own characteristics?
Zhang Weiwei: Now it seems that folks have this saying, and Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi ‘an are generally called “Beishangguang” in the west. Now, in fact, they have formed their own characteristics. For example, Xi ‘an is obviously positioned as a large logistics center in China, including the logistics center of “the belt and road initiative”, importing goods to China, and then distributing them to all parts of the country at Xi ‘an Airport, and there are logistics centers in JD.COM. Chongqing is obviously a big industrial gathering center, and now the prospect of industrial upgrading is also very good. Chengdu is even more distinctive. Generally, leisure is the first thought. In fact, the economy is extremely vigorous, highly developed, and the creative economy is doing well. Therefore, they form their own unique style and are very attractive.
Yan Yilong: Yes, for example, taking the electronic information industry as an example, a model called “two ends are outside” has been formed along the coast, and raw materials and products are outside, so why can Chongqing build an electronic information industry base? It is because it creates a new model called “one inside, one outside”, and the sales market is overseas, but raw materials and parts are included. Then, if it has to go outside, the first problem to be overcome is that shipping is inconvenient, so we must rely more on air transportation. So Professor Zhang talked about the scale of air transportation in Xi ‘an just now, which is related to it. In addition, through the Eurasian Continental Bridge, we should build a “Chongqing-New-Europe” international train intermodal transportation channel, reduce logistics costs, and realize one head out. What’s inside the head? Use local resources to make some industrial chains more complete and large-scale, and at the same time give full play to the advantages of intensive labor resources. For example, many Chongqing people used to work in coastal areas, but now they work locally, which is very convenient. The two-month gap during the Spring Festival can make up for it, which makes the whole industry very competitive. Therefore, we can see that Chongqing today is already the largest notebook computer production base in the world and an important mobile phone manufacturing base in China.
Zhang Weiwei: There is a big data that can reflect the development of the western region. By 2019, taking Shanghai as an example, the number of migrant workers returning home in Spring Festival travel rush is decreasing every year. It is very simple, and other places have developed.
Kchew's Blog 