Xia Deren, Party Secretary of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee, recently gave an exclusive interview to China Daily reporters Zhu Chengpei and Zhang Xiaomin on the further development of Dalian - a core city of the Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt that was approved by the State Council in July and is now progressing in full swing.

Q: What is the significance of Dalian's leading role with the Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt Plan now a part of national strategy?

Xia: The Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt includes the core city of Dalian, and other cities such as Yingkou, Panjin, Huludao, Jinzhou and Dandong near the Bohai and Huanghai seas. Therefore, Dalian plays a vital role in the overall plan of the Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt.

Dalian has experienced remarkable increase in both domestic and foreign investment since the State Council gave the green light to the grand plan.

Dalian will be developed into an international shipping, logistics and regional financial center.

When I visited the cities of Yingkou, Panjin, Jinzhou and Huludao, I realized that the main task for Dalian is not simply to attract investment, but also to lead the economic belt in growth and development.

Q: How can Dalian take the lead in the development of the Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt?

Xia: The coastal city of Dalian should restructure its own industries to improve efficiency. We hope the city's GDP can jump to 1 trillion yuan after five years of development, from the present 450 billion yuan.

Dalian is expected to be a vanguard in Liaoning, Northeast China, and even the whole of Northeast Asia in the near future, as the city has a 25-year history of opening up since the country implemented its reform policies in the late 1970s. The city will boost efforts to reform its State-owned and private enterprises, as well as administrative sectors, to build a healthy and sound market.

Q: What can the city do to revitalize old industries in Northeast China?

Xia: Our key is to serve other areas in Northeast China. For instance, as a port city, Dalian will actively cooperate with Jinzhou, Yingkou and other partners to complement each other. Banks in Dalian can also provide financial support for other cities by holding fairs and conferences to attract investment.

Q: How will Dalian restructure its industries to help build shipping, logistics and financial hubs?

Xia: We will mainly develop corresponding service sectors such as shipping, banking, information technology and tourism. In the next five years, Dalian's service sectors - now ranked second in the city's economic framework - will outnumber industrial sectors.

We have already started revitalizing the manufacturing, petrochemical, shipping and information industries. We are also going to cultivate green industries such as energy-saving and environmentally friendly industries for low-carbon economic growth. Specifically, we will focus on developing nuclear power equipment, wind power generators, solar energy, waste and wastewater treatment facilities, as well as new-energy automobiles.

We are also encouraging technological innovation and human resources to help drive the city's high-tech development. We are determined to nurture Dalian's high-tech area into the country's No 1 high-tech zone, dominated by culture industries and patented technology. The software center in South Lushun Road can take the initiative in fulfilling this goal.

Q: What kind of new business opportunities and policies will foreign investors be able to enjoy from Dalian?

Xia: The Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt is set to bring a new wave of investment and Dalian will provide ample opportunities for foreign investors. With modern infrastructure in place, foreign companies will be able to invest in sectors such as new-energy automobiles as well as the computer and information industries.

We will optimize quality oriented and environmentally friendly projects, instead of just random, money-driven ones.

In terms of favorable policies, the government will aim for a supportive climate for foreign companies that includes low costs.

Q: Having received the accolade of an international garden city, what will Dalian do to sustain its development?

Xia: At the finals of the 2009 International Award for Livable Communities (Livcom Awards) held in the Czech Republic on Oct 13, Dalian won the Livcom Awards in Category E (population over 750,000) for its sustainable residential building and urban management. The software park in Dalian was also honored as a livable community in its category for its better environment, improvement in industry and new-technology applications.

Now that Dalian has made its mark globally, we will continue to build the city into a comfortable and eco-friendly area for residents.

All construction and management in the city will be geared toward serving the people and investors, amid challenges such as traffic management.

Traffic congestion should not have a place in a comfortable garden city so our next step will be to ease any bottlenecks by developing the Xiaoyaowan and other city clusters, to effectively deal with a growing downtown transport challenge.

The moves are expected to start before the end of the year.

In line with resident-oriented building to meet people's basic demands like sufficient centers for their physical exercises, we will also set up more fitness centers in each residential quarter.

Similarly, there are plans to continue providing for consumer needs, including efforts to accommodate street vendors so that they can make a decent living, as well as offer adequate and safe shopping options for residents.

As such, we plan to build at least one market each year for every district to meet the above demands.

As for eco-friendly city construction, further efforts will be needed to expand Dalian's green areas. The city's current green coverage is 44 percent and the future will see it being dotted with more greenery provided by a variety of plants and vegetation.

But an eco-friendly city means much more and also includes reducing pollution. The efficiency of the city's wastewater treatment has been raised to 90 percent from the previous 40 percent. Our next goal is to improve the recyclable use of wastewater.

We are also striving to reduce trash to minimize negative impacts on the environment, so that this garden city can continue to meet international standards.

Q: What help do you think Dalian can provide to the other cities you have just visited for the further development of the region?

Xia: Officials in the four cities of Liaoning province have agreed to boost exchanges and communication to develop their own pillar industries and avoid overlapping projects.

Hopefully, Dalian, as a vanguard port city, can mobilize other players in the shipping industry.

Businesses in Dalian have the potential to invest in other cities and I hope they push ahead in this respect.

For example, Dalian Software Park Co Ltd is running branch parks in seven cities across the country. The Bank of Dalian has also set up branches in Beijing, Tianjin and Shenyang. All these prove that Dalian firms have the ability to invest in other areas to help drive regional economic growth.

Boasting more universities than any other city in Liaoning, Dalian should also be responsible for training specialized talent and offering new technology for adjacent cities.

Dalian and other adjacent cities can supplement each other's industries. For instance, Yingkou's steel products can supply Dalian's shipbuilding industry. The core city can also form an industry chain in nuclear power and wind energy development with its sister cities.

Q: What other measures will Dalian take to attract talent, in addition to the annual Overseas Chinese Scholars Liaoning (Dalian) Conference?

Xia: The annual conference serves as a platform for those who have studied and worked abroad to practice their skills here. Dalian continues to take big strides in attracting overseas talent, injecting nearly 300 million yuan each year to subsidize housing, living and other costs for returning researchers who settle in the city.

To drive technological innovation, we can also increase the funds used to finance returning overseas scholars.

(China Daily 11/02/2009 page14)