construction of infrastructure and the development of science and technology, and of promoting development through readjustment and opening up, to work out sound programs of development as well as their implementation.

According to Sun, Gansu will adopt the following five measures in this regard:

First, it will lay a good foundation in the coming 10 years. Gansu is vulnerable in its ecological environment and backward in infrastructure facilities, which factors have restricted local economic development for a long time. In terms of ecology, the land to be converted from farmland to forests, afforestation of barren hillsides, hillsides closed for forest (grass) conservation, and sand breaks will total 5.33 million hectares. By the year 2050, the area under ecological control will reach 14 million hectares, about 30 percent of the province’s total. In terms of infrastructure construction, Gansu will give priority to the construction of highways, railways and natural gas pipelines. To date, the province does not have an proper expressway. It is therefore planned to transform the major national highways within the territory of Gansu into high-grade roads within six years, and to have all villages linked by highways within two to three years. Attention will also be paid to urban construction in cities including Lanzhou, Baiyin and Tianshui. Lanzhou should make full use of its advantage of being where the six national communication optical cables meet to develop modern communications. In the meantime, efforts should also be made in relation to water conservancy projects to make good the shortage of water. Only with a solid foundation can economic development be secured. But it will take at least 10 years to do the work properly.

Second, the policy of developing the province by relying on science and education should be implemented. Gansu boasts more than 300,000 scientific and technological workers. The density of scientific researchers in Lanzhou is next only to those of Beijing and Shanghai, and there are also national and even world-class research institutes, a great advantage to the province. In the coming years, Gansu should strengthen technical renovation, develop high and new technology and make breakthrough achievements in the fields of biological medicine and the integration of the light machinery and electricity, electronics and information, new energy, and new materials industries. Applied research institutes should be encouraged to reorganize themselves into enterprises, and institutes, academies, universities and businesses are encouraged to jointly set up technology development centers. The province has invested 10 billion yuan this year in transforming traditional industries. In future, high and new technology will be relied on to improve the level of urbanization and industrialization in Gansu.

Third, manpower is fundamental to economic development. Gansu will adopt new policies towards talented people in future. Higher education, as an industry, must readjust its structure and redesign specialties and length of schooling to meet the requirements of developing the west. Young, promising and talented people should be allowed to give full play to their abilities. Last year, a group of officials were selected for the posts of deputy department heads through open competition. Such a new way of selecting officials will be expanded soon. In addition, the province will adopt flexible preferential policies to attract more talented people to initiate undertakings in Gansu.

Fourth, we should continue to improve the investment environment. To adapt to the endeavor of developing the west, people in Gansu need to further emancipate their minds and be creative. The government departments need to improve their work efficiency and optimize the environment for the market, legal construction, recreation and the expression of public opinion. A project office for introducing foreign capital and technology and establishing domestic connections was set up in Lanzhou last year, and has been successful in simplifying formalities and raising work efficiency. This practice should be further promoted within the province.

And fifth, tourism will become a pillar industry of the province. Gansu lags behind other areas in China in its tourism infrastructure facilities and ranks last nationally in terms of income from the tourism sector. But the past two years have witnessed rapid development of this sector. For instance, Zhangxian County in Dingxi Prefecture, where the Guiqing and Zheyang mountain ranges are located, attracted 200,000 tourists last year. This shows the potential for tourism is great in Gansu, which is rich in tourism resources including the Dunhuang grottoes. Tourism should be built into a pillar industry of the province in the coming 10 years, that is, its contribution rate to the GDP should be at least 10 percent. Efforts will be made to organize large tourism companies while sat he same time attention is paid to the construction of tourism infrastructure to cultivate a new point of economic growth in Gansu.

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