"We will lay a solid foundation for the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05)," said Cheng Andong, governor of Shaanxi.

The province's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at 10 percent annually in the following five years and is planned to reach 7,100 yuan (US$855) per person by the end of the period.

In order to meet the target, the province will concentrate its efforts on developing its infrastructure and environment, and further adjust its economic system and open wider to the outside world, Cheng said.

"Shaanxi has many skilled people and tourist attractions. We will further make use of these advantages to build world-renowned, high-tech industries and the hottest tourist destination in the world in the next five years," the governor said.

Shaanxi, with a large number of ancient sites, buildings and ruins, has become a world-renowned tourist spot, and it has the third highest number of scientific and technical personnel after Beijing and Shanghai.

"The Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) Terracotta Warriors, considered the eighth wonder of the world, have received many foreign presidents and millions of visitors from both home and abroad," the governor said.

This year is the first year of the 10th Five-Year Plan period and Shaanxi plans to register 182 billion yuan (US$22 billion) of this year's national GDP, 9 percent more than last year, and put 85 billion yuan (US$10.24 billion) into fixed asset investment, according to the governor.

He said the province will also speed up the development of high-tech industries and pay more attention to creating high-tech products with their own intellectual property rights.

"In 2001, we will concentrate our efforts on developing 20 key high-tech projects," Cheng said.

(China Daily 03/22/2001)