Yangtze cities seek joint development

NANCHANG - Cities around the middle reaches of the Yangtze River are becoming more integrated through transport links and business partnerships, as China tries to boost growth inland of the affluent east coast.

Train gain

The capital cities of Hubei, Jiangxi, and Hunan provinces have been linked by high-speed railways. People can now shuttle between Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, and Changsha, capital of Hunan province, or between Changsha and Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, in two hours.

The high-speed line between Wuhan and Nanchang is scheduled to be put into operation in 2016, said Li Zhigang, deputy director of the Jiangxi Provincial Commission of Development and Reform.

The new lines are some of the most noticeable signs of progress since April 5, when China unveiled a plan to develop city clusters in this area in the hope of creating a new economic growth engine and encouraging urbanization.

The clusters, which cover 317,000 square km, are a key part of the "Rise of central China" strategy, intended to help the country achieve more balanced development.

The governments of the three provinces have been swift in putting the plan into action, signing agreements with each other to strengthen economic ties and improve regional transportation.

"A dozen dead-end expressways have been extended and connected with each other in the area in recent years," according to Li.

Hubei, Jiangxi, and Hunan are now also working to set up an inland waterway system consisting of the middle reaches of Yangtze and its tributaries.

To build the waterway system, lots of river courses need be dredged and some old ports along the rivers renovated, said Liang Bikang, deputy director of the Jiangxi Provincial Transport Department.

Sharing is caring

Besides infrastructure, residents of the region's cities have been allowed to share more public services, breaking the administrative restrictions that commonly tie Chinese to services in their home province. For example, people from Huangmei county in Hubei can now use their medicare cards to pay for treatment in neighboring Jiujiang city in Jiangxi.

The labor and social security departments in the two places have also started to exchange employment information to offer more job opportunities to people across the area, said Dai Lingfang, deputy director of the Jiujiang Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.