Changchun mayor meets press at chinadaily.com.cn
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-03-08 21:26

Changchun Mayor Zhu Yejing met the press in China Daily website on March 8, 2005. He answered questions on the social and economic development of the city, as well as his plans to grasp the opportunities brought about by the national strategy of rejuvenating Northeast China.

Zhu Yejing, mayor of Changchun, capital city of northeast China's Jilin Province, talks online at Chinadaily.com.cn about the social, economic and cultural development March 8, 2005. [newsphoto]

The following is full text of the question and answer session:

[Moderator:] Changchun mayor Zhu Yejing and several business executives from the city will be here to discuss Changchun’s social, economic development. The executives include: Cong Lianbiao, chairman of board of directors, Changchun Haoyue Islamic Meat Industrial Co. Ltd; Shi Ningzhong, President of Northeast Normal University; Wang Jiaji, Director of the Academic Committee of Changchun Institute of Optics Fine Mechanics and Physics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences

[Zhang Ping, president of chinadaily.com.cn:] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, First I express my thanks for your coming to Chinadaily Website, the host of this event. It is a great honor to have so many journalists from websites in China to cover this event. You know, the websites are playing an important role in modern life, and I firmly believe this event will help netizens get a better understanding of the nation’s revival plans of Northeast China and the role of Changchun in the process. Let me invite Mr Mayor to deliver an address and then take your questions:

[Mr. Mayor:] Hello, everyone. I’d like to use this opportunity to express my thanks to friends that are concerned about the development of Changchun. Today, several NPC deputies from Changchun will answer questions concerning Changchun frankly. We hope this opportunity can help more friends to know better about Changchun and to like Changchun. And I would like to welcome every friend to come to Changchun to see with your own eyes. Thank You.

[Xinhuanet:] Mr Mayor, from Xinhuanet. My question is: On one hand, the central government advocates the “rejuvenation of the northeastern industrial base,” and on the other hand, practices the macro control of the national economy. What impact or influence, I want to know, will this have on Changchun’s economic development? How will Changchun balance development with macro control?

[Mr Mayor:] You are correct. We have conducted a thorough and intensive research into this. The county’s macro-control is not applicable to all sectors. The overheating sectors, such as metallurgy, steel and cement, are curbed. In addition, these sectors do not have the problem of overheating in Changchun. Other sectors, such as projects concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers, are encouraged. The city registered an 18% growth in investment last year, 7 percentage point lower than the national average. Therefore, it is highly necessary for the city to achieve a higher growth rate, more than the national average; only in this way can the city be rejuvenated.

[Mr. Mayor:] Besides, in the long run, macro-control is good for the old industrial base. Some of the important production materials, such as electricity and energy, will not be in short supply and the price will go down. Therefore, the cost of revival will be lower.

[Mr Mayor:] Under the guidance of the central government’s macro-control measures, the city will continue to fulfill every task the old industrial base faces. The macro-control also shows that electricity, energy and land in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions are in short supply. On the contrary, the northeastern area is rich in land and electricity, which has led to a shift of capital from the south to the north; this is another opportunity that macro-control brings us. We will improve this action and try to encourage more enterprises to settle in here, to ensure a continual flow of both capital and enterprises.