By Zhou Liangbing (谢良兵)
Nation, page 10
Issue No. 554, Jan 30, 2012
Translated by Ma Zheng
Original Article: [Chinese]

This article is part of a special feature published in the run-up to the "two sessions," the EO looked at the challenges facing six of China's provincial party bosses. We have picked three of these provinces – Guangdong, Henan and Sichuan – to show the range of issues that China's politicians face in different parts of the country. To view the other two articles, click here.

Sichuan has set itself the goal of making the province the most economic developed region in western China.

This has been Liu Qibao's target since he was appointed four years ago, but he was thrown off track by severe winter storms and then the Wenchuan earthquake and had to focus instead on restoration and reconstruction.

The province's gross domestic product has doubled since 2008, the year of the earthquake, and last year exceeded 2 trillion yuan.

Its fiscal revenue and level of investment have grown at a similar pace, reaching around 200 billion yuan and 1.5 trillion yuan respectively.

Last December, Liu attended the launch ceremony of Tianfu New Economic Zone (天府新区) which marked the beginning of the "Western Economic Development High Ground" (西部经济发展高地).

But his biggest challenge this year will be the relationship with Chongqing, after plans for the Chengyu Economic Zone, which requires close cooperation between Liu's province and the neighbouring municipality.
 
As is the case with many provincial capitals, a third of Sichuan's gross domestic product is generated in Chengdu, whereas only a sixth of its people live there.

The government wants the city to become a stronghold of China's inland economy.

More than four fifths of the planned Tianfu New Economic Zone will be in the city.  

As well as coping with pressure on land and water resources, Chengdu has to compete with Chongqing for investments and preferential treatment from the government.

Since Chongqing used to be part of Sichuan, it's layout and industrial position have much in common with the province's capital.

Both cities have sought to develop their electronics and information industry and automobile industries, and this has meant many "fights" to win projects.

From Liu's point of view, all of the Sichuan within the Chengyu Economic Zone should work together with Chongqing.

Scholars have questioned whether local governments can achieve that co-operation in the short term, but many of them expect the markets to help solve the problem.

One example is the automotive sector.

"Many companies in Chengdu make spare parts for Chongqing's automobile industry," said Dai Bin, the vice-president of the Regional Economic Research Society of Sichuan.