Economic Integration Program Launched in the Pearl River Delta

The Guangdong provincial government has launched an economic integration program for the development of the Pearl River Delta, one of China's leading economic and manufacturing regions. Its purpose is to achieve a greater integration of the region so as to build a world-class urban group. Our reporter Chen Zhe has the details.

The program includes the integration of infrastructure planning, industrial layout , basic public services and urban and rural planning, as well as environmental planning.

Li Miaojuan, director of the Development and Reform Commission of Guangdong Province, says the integrated planning tries to achieve the most optimum distribution of social and economic resources.

"Taking advantages of each city, including its local resources, featured and competitive industries, we hope it turns into a resource sharing area and achieves healthy competition between each other."

Li Yongning, professor of Guangdong Provincial Institute of International Strategies, says local residents will benefit a great deal from this program.

"I do think as this new planning carries out, they will enjoy more public recourses, they will enjoy more public education, public health, public facilities and also public transportation. For example, they could take the rails into any cities in this pearl river delta region within one hour."

Li Yonging adds that this planning will bring opportunities to local development as well as neighboring regions like Hong Kong, Macau and enhance Southeast Asia connections.

However, Professor Mao Yanhua, from the Center for Studies of Hong Kong, Macao and Pearl River Delta of Sun Yat-Sen University, warns that its implementation faces challenges.

"The implementation of this integrated planning needs cooperation of each city as well as each administrative organization involved in Pearl River delta. They are supposed to give up some self-interest to achieve a highly developed group. But current administrative system will make it difficult."

Mao Yanhua points out that integration is not equalization. It means coordination and distribution of responsibilities. It follows the rule of the market mechanism. Meanwhile, each city should also make full use of its local resources under the premise of a greater good.

The Pearl River delta region includes nine cities in Guangdong. They are Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhuhai, Dongwan, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.

For CRI, I'm Chen Zhe.