China Daily

Governor cites province’s early lead in rural reform as future path

- By ZHU LIXIN zhulixin@chinadaily.com.cn

In the eastern province of Anhui, widely seen as the birthplace of China’s rural reform, excitement reigns regarding the policies of opening-up and economic developmen­t, according to its governor, Li Guoying.

He said the province will promote all-around reform and increase its reliance on science and technology for future developmen­t.

In 1978, after the collective farming policy had been in force nationwide for about 20 years, 18 farmers in Anhui’s Xiaogang village secretly signed an agreement to subdivide their farmland into family plots, in the hope of increasing crop yields by using the new motivation to work harder.

It was a pivotal moment in the country’s reform and opening-up policies, which now have been in place for 40 years.

The pioneering practice helped China expand its rural reform. Anhui has seen a lineup of major developmen­t achievemen­ts in the past few decades, he said.

As an example, he said, market entities in Anhui have almost doubled from 1.93 million to 3.81 million over the past five years.

Anhui is one of the first provinces to have released lists of all the powers and responsibi­lities granted to four government­al levels — provincial, municipal, county and township.

“To achieve continuous developmen­t, new policies and procedures are needed to boost social vitality and creativity. Anhui has launched projects in new developmen­t areas,” he said.

To achieve continuous developmen­t, new policies and procedures are needed to boost social vitality and creativity.”

Li Guoying, governor of Anhui province

Last year, central authoritie­s approved plans by Hefei, Anhui’s capital, to build the country’s second comprehens­ive national science center, following Shanghai.

Hefei is home to many prominent universiti­es and institutio­ns, including the University of Science and Technology of China and the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A number of national-level laboratori­es and cutting-edge scientific devices have been developed in Hefei, making it a core city in terms of research and developmen­t projects.

Hefei has been leading the country’s breakthrou­ghs in quantum informatio­n, nuclear fusion, steady high-magnetic fields and iron-base supercondu­cting technology, he said.

The Hefei-Wuhu-Bengbu National Independen­t Innovation Demonstrat­ion Zone is a leading driver of innovation and research in the province.

New reform and opening-up

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