An Open China: Amazing Yunnan, Sharing Its Best with the World
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, February 21, 2017
Remarks at the Promotion of MFA to Present Yunnan to the World
Ruan Chengfa
Deputy Secretary of CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee & Governor of Yunnan Province
February 20, 2017
Your Excellency Minister Wang Yi,
Your Excellency Vice Minister Wang Chao,
Honorable foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations in China,
Friends from the press,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies &gentlemen,
Dear Friends:
Good afternoon!
Let me begin by expressing my heartfelt thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for offering this platform of exchanges with foreign diplomats and my sincere welcome to all guests present at the event. Just now, we watched a video and listened to the warm remarks by H.E. Wang Yi and H.E. Chen Hao. Next, I would like to continue with the presentation of the amazing, beautiful, and colorful Yunnan.
Yunnan is a wonderland full of surprise and hope. On the kaleidoscopic soil, there lies Luoping, the world’s largest natural garden; stands 3,200-year-old tea trees; lives the last matriarchal community of Mosuo people; and runs the Lancang-Mekong River, the largest cross-border river in Asia. Kunming was praised 800 years ago by noted Italian traveler Marco Polo as a magnificent city, whereas the National South-West Associated University and the Yunnan Military Academy, two top national civil and military institutes, were remarkably influential in China’s modern history. The national anthem of the People’s Republic of China, with which we are more than familiar, was composed by Nie Er, a musician born in Yunnan.
As a popular saying along the Tea-Horse Road goes: “the best tea must be shared with friends”. Beauty may be experienced everywhere in Yunnan. On this land of 394,000 square kilometers, 47 million people of all ethnic groups are pursuing happiness and sharing joy with each other. Hereby, I wish to invite you all to share our happiness and the best of Yunnan.
We look forward to sharing our natural beauty with the world.
Thanks to the diverse landform and climate, Yunnan is bestowed with extremely abundant resources, as it is the first placer in reserves of 9 minerals including lead, zinc, tin, and phosphorus, and the second placer in developable resources of hydro, geothermal, and solar power. Yunnan has the greatest variety of biological and endemic species in China and is thus famed as “the world’s gene pool of wild life”. Here in Yunnan, the Nujiang River Valley is the longest valley in China, and the Fuxian Lake is the largest deep freshwater lake nationwide. We top China in number of traditional villages, and rank second in that of world heritages. The unsophisticated values of “harmony between man and nature” upheld by the Yunnan people at all times are always blazing with gleams of wisdom. As a national vanguard of ecological conservation, Yunnan will pursue green development by prioritizing ecological protection, vigorously promote green economy, and well preserve the Dianchi Lake, the Erhai Lake, the Fuxian Lake and other “highland pearls” just as protecting our eyes, so as to share with you the picturesque Yunnan of blue sky, fleecy clouds, lucid waters, lush mountains, and flourishing vegetation.
We look forward to sharing our cultural appeals with the world.
The cultural appeals of Yunnan are manifested in its unique location, multi-ethnicity, diversity, openness, and inclusiveness. Ethnic variety of Yunnan is unparalleled in China, as averagely, one out of three people here is ethnic minority. The province is “a bonanza of ethnic cultures”, among which are: the Dongba literature of the Naxi People, the world's only “living” pictographic characters; the chorus of the Lisu People that is as melodious as that of choir in Notre-Dame Cathedral Paris; the dance of the Hani People, the “Oriental Tap Dance” derived from their daily life and work; the Munao Zongge Festival of the Jingpo People, a Guinness World Record of group dance by tens of thousands of people. The world-renowned ARunning Brook, crowned as the Oriental Serenade, is one of the Yunnan folk songs. Yunnan boasts harmonious co-existence of various ethnic minorities. Zhengjiazhuang Village of Dali Prefecture, home to seven ethnic groups like Yi, Bai, and Tibetan, is a vivid epitome of the entire province, where people of all ethnicities enjoy amity like family members. Once you step on the land of Yunnan, you may feel reluctant to leave, just as one of our folk songs goes: “friends from afar, please stay longer”. Yunnan embraces over 400 million domestic and foreign tourist arrivals each and every year, and is the most visited province by overseas tourists in western China. As China's famous writer Lu Xun put it, only indigenous beauty can turn out universally popular. As a national model area of ethnic solidarity and progress, Yunnan will, based on its rich and diverse cultural treasures, draw on merits of the world’s advanced culture, and ensure the industries of culture and tourism be more globalized by accelerating their integrated progress. While making more “Yunnan contributions” to harmony and common development among all ethnic groups around the world, we wish to share with you the time-honored, inclusive and inviting culture of Yunnan.
We look forward to sharing opening-up opportunities of Yunnan with the world.
Yunnan is an important bridge that connects China with the world and a portal for the opening-up of southwest China. It connects the Silk Road Economic Belt to the north, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to the south, Yangtze River Delta to the east via Yangtze River Economic Belt, and littoral countries of the Indian Ocean to the west through BCIM Economic Corridor. We have friendly ties with countries in all five continents. We now have a state-level industrial cluster in central Yunnan, 2 comprehensive bonded zones in Kunming and Honghe, and a variety of functional zones for opening up, including cross-border economic cooperation zones and border economic cooperation zones. Yunnan is one of the only two border financial reform pilot zones in China, with cross-border RMB settlement service covering 75 countries and regions. Cross-border payment is becoming more and more convenient. We have established sister-city ties with 74 cities in 38 countries and 11 bilateral & multilateral regional cooperation mechanisms with 9 countries, ranking the first in terms of the number of international regional cooperation mechanisms. Meanwhile, regular events of the China-South Asia Exposition and Kunming Import and Export Commodities Trade Fair have become another important platform for international regional cooperation and interaction. The Dounan flower market in Kunming, the city of eternal spring, is the largest fresh cut flower trade center in Asia, exports flowers to over 40 countries and regions, and is close to become the world’s top player. Vegetables from Yunnan are also exported to over 20 countries and regions. Yunnan has entered the high-speed railway era and is building up its aviation industry. There are 14 civil airports. As the fourth largest national hub airport, Kunming Changshui International Airport connects with over 100 domestic cities and more than 40 foreign ones. In 2016, it handled over 40 million passengers and further cemented its role as a regional air hub. In addition, Yunnan is a significant base of clean energy and the fourth largest international telecommunication ingress and egress port in China. As a gateway for China’s opening-up to South Asia and Southeast Asia, we will follow up on the idea of “amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness”, deepen neighborly ties with foreign countries, give full play to various cooperation mechanisms and carry out substantive cooperation. We look forward to sharing with you an inclusive and open Yunnan that is ready to learn from each other and create a better future. To note, the 2017 South Asia & Southeast Asia Commodities Expo and Investment Fair will be held in Kunming this June. There will be 8,000 standard booths in exhibition areas of 180,000 m2. A number of notable events will also be held during the expo, such as China-South Asia Business Forum and China-ASEAN Business Forum. We welcome guests present here and businesses from the globe to attend the event for new opportunities and shared development.
We hope to share development dividends of Yunnan with the world.
Yunnan has maintained fast economic growth and developed with strides in the past years. The annual GDP growth rate stood at 11.1% during the 12th Five Year period, and the growth rate last year was 8.7%. In light of new development ideas, we are transforming our development patterns, deepening structural reform on the supply side, fostering new economic mix and promoting industrial transformation and upgrading. We are working hard to invigorate real economy, build a modern industrial system, promote integrated development of industry, innovation, human resources, capital and policy chains, and seek better development in industries of metallurgy, energy and building materials. Abreast with trends of global scientific and industrial revolution, we are harnessing Internet+, new technologies and new business models, to develop strategic emerging industries in life sciences, information technology and smart manufacturing. Yunnan is driving onto a fast track of leapfrog development. We value mutual benefits and look forward to sharing with you the dynamics and opportunities of Yunnan.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,
Yunnan is stepping up efforts to promote investment and will provide quality services to investors and create the most favorable business environment in China. To achieve this, we are committed to improving connectivity in the following aspects. For policy connectivity, we will strengthen friendly interaction with countries from South Asia, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world, and dovetail better our economic, social, cultural and environmental policies with foreign counterparts, thus paving the way for international cooperation with mutual benefits. For infrastructure connectivity, we strive to build an aviation network that covers major cities in the world, complete domestic construction of the eastern, central and western lines of the Pan-Asia railway by 2020, and become a hub that connects the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. For trade connectivity, we’ll give full play to the 25 Class-I & II national ports and national opening up and cooperation zones of 4 major categories, promote foreign trade, and raise international production capacity cooperation in infrastructure, equipment manufacturing, metallurgy and chemical engineering, and try to build Yunnan as an international and regional economic and trade center. For capital connectivity, we will pace up the building of the border financial reform pilot zone with better services and more convenience for investment, trade and project landing. We endeavor to build a regional financial service center that pools up various organizations and perform sound functions. For closer people-to-people ties, we will make full use of close geographical, people-to-people and cultural links with neighboring countries to enhance friendly interaction in all respects. We will rally more understanding for opening-up and build a regional cultural exchanges center that promotes mutual appreciation and learning from each other.
As an old Chinese saying goes, “the more visits friends and relatives make to each other, the closer they become.” No matter whether you have been to Yunnan before or not, I sincerely invite you to visit Yunnan and build your personal touch with its beauty and charm. See you in Yunnan!
Thank you!
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)