On the new journey of promoting Chinese-style modernization, how can the western region, which accounts for about 70 percent of the country's land area, play a better role?
On April 23, 2024, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on promoting the development of the western region in the new era in Chongqing.
This is the first symposium held around this regional development strategy since the new era, and it is also the eighth symposium presided over by General Secretary Xi Jinping to promote the implementation of the regional development strategy since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
"A thousand jun will be a feather, and the weight is in the balance. "The continent is vast and has a large population, and the differences in natural resource endowments between regions are rare in the world, and coordinating regional development has always been a major issue.
In the new era, when economic development shifts from "whether it is good" to "whether it is good or not", solving the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development is placed in a more prominent position.
Learning to "play the piano" and play a good "game of chess" is to recite the key to success of "coordinated development".
At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the "regional coordinated development strategy" was written into the document of the party congress for the first time.
At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping made a series of important arrangements for promoting coordinated regional development.
From the Northeast Plain to the Yangtze River, from the Yellow River Basin to the coast of the South China Sea, from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to the vast west...... A big game of chess, the layout is settled, and the regional coordinated development strategy is connected and complemented by each other on the land of more than 9.6 million square kilometers of China.
The western region has always been of overall significance to China.
From the layout consideration of "balancing industrial development" to the practical needs of "building a strategic rear", from the strategic decision of "implementing the large-scale development of the western region" to the strategic plan of "promoting the large-scale development of the western region in the new era and forming a new pattern...... The western region is becoming more and more important in the journey of Chinese-style modernization.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China for more than 10 years, General Secretary Xi Jinping's investigation and research footprints have covered 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the west. Navigating the western region and solving the problem of unbalanced and inadequate regional development has always been a major task planned by the general secretary.
In March 2019, the seventh meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform deliberated and adopted the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of the Western Region in the New Era to Form a New Pattern". In the autumn of that year, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) conducted a special study on major issues such as upholding and improving the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.
Five years have passed, and it has reached another important year for comprehensively deepening reform. At the symposium on promoting the large-scale development of the western region in the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "the western region plays a pivotal role in the overall situation of national reform, development and stability. It is necessary to consistently grasp the implementation of the policies and measures of the CPC Central Committee to promote the large-scale development of the western region, further form a new pattern of large-scale protection, large-scale opening-up and high-quality development, enhance the overall strength and sustainable development capacity of the region, and strive to write a new chapter in the large-scale development of the western region in the Chinese-style modernization."
The planning and promotion are consistent and in-depth, and "to the vast" and "subtle" are integrated here.
At this symposium, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the important requirements of "six insistences", which is not only the understanding of laws and experience summary, but also the accurate pulse and meticulous deployment for the future.
Focusing on high-quality development, it is required to "adhere to the development of characteristic and advantageous industries as the main direction of attack, develop emerging industries according to local conditions, and accelerate the industrial transformation and upgrading of the western region";
Based on large-scale protection, it is emphasized that "we must adhere to high-level protection to support high-quality development and build a solid national ecological security barrier";
Focusing on the great opening up, he pointed out that "it is necessary to persist in promoting the great development through the great opening up and improve the level of opening up the western region to the outside world";
Focusing on the two major issues of development and security, he said that "it is necessary to adhere to the overall planning of development and security, and improve the security guarantee capacity in key areas such as energy and resources";
Closely related to people's livelihood and well-being, it is proposed to "adhere to the organic combination of promoting new urbanization and comprehensive rural revitalization, and ensure and improve people's livelihood in the process of development";
Efforts were made to strengthen ethnic unity, emphasizing that "we must persist in forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and earnestly safeguard ethnic unity and border stability".
In the vast west, a new chapter has been meticulously crafted and implemented in an orderly manner. Do not slack off, and go far.
Curator: Du Shangze
Written by Li Jianguang
Posters: Tian Xingzhou, Zhang Weiyu, China Weiqi Association, Chongqing release
Photo: Ju Peng
Visual: Lai Xiangdong, Yu Dongsheng
Editor: Yang Lijuan
Proofreading: Wu Yue