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Read in Chinese

Speakers:

Shen Yiqin, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guizhou Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guizhou Province

Li Bingjun, vice secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and governor of the People's Government of Guizhou Province

Lu Yongzheng, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee

Chairperson:

Chen Wenjun, spokesperson of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee

Date:

May 20, 2021

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Chen Wenjun:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. As the CPC embraces its centenary, a review of the Party's history proves that the Red Army's remarkable Long March profoundly changed the history of the Chinese nation. The Red Army spent the longest time and had its most extensive presence in Guizhou, leaving us with valuable spiritual wealth. The spirit of the Zunyi Meeting still has great significance for us embarking on a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country under the leadership of the CPC today.

For this press conference, we have invited Ms. Shen Yiqin, secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guizhou Province; Mr. Li Bingjun, vice secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and governor of the People's Government of Guizhou Province; and Mr. Lu Yongzheng, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee. They will brief you on issues related to "Guizhou: Carrying forward the spirit of Zunyi Meeting and embarking on a Long March of the new era" and answer your questions.

Next, I will give the floor to Ms. Shen.

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Shen Yiqin:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. As we prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, it is a great pleasure for me to introduce colorful Guizhou. First of all, on behalf of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and the People's Government of Guizhou Province, let me begin by extending a warm welcome to you all, and expressing my sincere gratitude to the media for your long-term interest in and support for Guizhou.

Guizhou is a sacred and blessed place of the Chinese revolution. During the Long March, the Red Army spent the longest time and had its most extensive presence in Guizhou. The Central Red Army fought important battles in the province, such as Crossing the Wujiang River, the Battle of Loushanguan, and Crossing the Chishui River Four Times. In particular, the Zunyi Meeting, a key turning point in the Chinese revolution, saved the Party, the Red Army, and the Chinese revolution at a highly critical historical juncture, leaving us with valuable spiritual wealth. For 100 years, the revolutionary legacy has been continuously carried forward in Guizhou. The spirits of the Long March and Zunyi Meeting have been encouraging people of all ethnic groups in Guizhou to remain true to the original aspiration and mission, and forge ahead on a new Long March. Thanks to their efforts, Guizhou has achieved historic changes from being poor to moderately prosperous in all respects, and from lagging behind to catching up with and even overtaking some regions.

The CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to and provides strong support for Guizhou's development. Caring greatly about Guizhou, General Secretary Xi Jinping has inspected the province many times, setting the direction for us at every crucial juncture. In particular, General Secretary Xi was elected delegate to the 19th CPC National Congress in Guizhou, and his inspection ahead of this year's Spring Festival gave us enormous encouragement. Bearing General Secretary Xi's remarks in mind, we have been striving forward in gratitude making profound changes for colorful Guizhou. General Secretary Xi commended Guizhou's achievements as epitomizing the great strides in the development of the Party and the whole nation since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012; and said the province displays a picture of prosperity.

First, colorful Guizhou in the new era has achieved a complete victory in eliminating extreme poverty, which had been our dream for thousands of years. Guizhou used to have the largest population of poor people and suffered the most extensive and serious poverty in China. Following General Secretary Xi's instructions to "make concerted efforts and adopt targeted measures to secure victory on schedule," we took poverty elimination as our top priority and the most important project for improving people's wellbeing. All 66 poverty stricken counties were removed from the poverty list, all 9.23 million impoverished people were lifted out of poverty, and 1.92 million people were relocated from mountainous areas. Guizhou now has the largest number of people both lifted out of poverty and relocated for poverty alleviation. For five consecutive years, Guizhou has rated "good" in the national evaluation of poverty elimination, making a significant contribution to China's miracle of poverty eradication. Today's Guizhou has removed the label of extreme poverty it carried for thousands of years and is moving forward on a broad and bright path toward common prosperity.

Second, colorful Guizhou in the new era has caught up with and overtaken some other regions, and greatly improved its overall strength. In accordance with General Secretary Xi's important instructions to "develop advantages as a latecomer and strive to catch up," we have been making tireless efforts with a down-to-earth spirit. Guizhou has entered a golden period of economic development unmatched in history. For 10 consecutive years, Guizhou's GDP growth rate has been among the highest in the country. In 2020, Guizhou's GDP reached 1.78 trillion yuan, moving the province from 26th to 20th place nationwide, and from 31st to 25th in terms of per capita GDP. Today's Guizhou enjoys a strong momentum and broad prospects for development, and is becoming an appealing destination for investors, businesses and entrepreneurs.

Third, colorful Guizhou in the new era has made huge progress in transportation, historically reshaping its structure of opening-up. Guizhou is a mountainous province without any plains. With unremitting efforts, we cut paths through the mountains and built bridges across the rivers, achieving complete access to the outside. Guizhou is the first province in the western region to connect all its counties to highways. The length of highways in service reached 7,607 km, ranking fifth in the country. Nearly half of the world's 100 highest bridges are in Guizhou. The provincial capital Guiyang has become a high-speed railway hub with fast-track connections to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Sichuan, Chongqing and Yunnan. Each of the nine cities and prefectures in Guizhou has its own airport. Advanced transport infrastructure facilitates a high-level of opening-up. Guizhou has made considerable progress in building an inland opening-up pilot economic zone and is accelerating its steps to go out along the "Belt and Road." With hugely improved transport links, today's Guizhou has transformed itself from a relatively closed inland province into an easily accessible and leading open area.

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Fourth, colorful Guizhou in the new era has achieved historic breakthroughs in digital economy by proactively seizing opportunities. We have actively aimed high in big data development and strived to build the first national big data comprehensive pilot area. Gui'an, Guiyang, now has the largest number of super-large data centers in the world. Digital industrialization and industrial digitization have accelerated and big data has deeply integrated with the real economy, ranking the province first in the country for six consecutive years in terms of digital economic growth. The China International Big Data Industry Expo has become an international grand event and a world-class platform in the field of big data. China's Tianyan, or "Sky Eye," was built and put into use in Guizhou to explore the universe. Guizhou today features robust innovations and vitality. Its big data industry has emerged from nothing and has prospered, making big data an excellent calling card for the world to learn about the province.

Fifth, colorful Guizhou in the new era has developed a beautiful ecological environment after making historic improvements. We have firmly adhered to the two bottom lines of development and ecology, resolutely said no to pollution, and continuously improved our ecological environment. Guizhou now has the largest number of world natural heritage sites in the country. Its forest coverage rate has reached 61.51%, and the proportion of days with good or excellent air quality for cities above county level has reached 99.4%. The proportion of water from outbound sections of major rivers with good or excellent quality is 100%. As one of the first-batch national ecological civilization pilot zones, Guizhou has featured 30 reform outcomes included in the national promotion list. The Eco Forum Global Guiyang has become an important platform for popularizing Xi Jinping's thinking on promoting ecological progress. The favorable ecological environment is the biggest advantage in the development and competitive advantage of Guizhou today. The "province of mountain parks" has become a livable space, a tourist paradise, and an attractive destination for people nearby and afar.

Sixth, colorful Guizhou in the new era is happy and harmonious, with historic progress having been made with regards to its people's lives. We have always adhered to the people-centered development philosophy and tried our best to deliver services to the people and resolve the difficulties they face. We are the first in western China to have realized the basically balanced development of compulsory education in the province's counties. We are the first in the country to have established a four-level (provincial, municipal, county, and township level) telemedicine network. We have also optimized our public service system. Ethnic minority areas have progressed in unity as their cultures flourished. We have continuously improved social security, and the proportion of people feeling safe has reached 99.41%. Faced with the sudden strike of COVID-19, the province has contained its spread as soon as possible and was one of the provinces that did a good job in epidemic prevention and control, the protection of people's livelihood, and economic recovery. Guizhou people's senses of happiness, security and satisfaction have grown stronger, as they live and work in unity, harmony, peace and contentment.

Looking back at the changes of Guizhou over the past century, we are more deeply aware of the crucial significance of the Party's leadership core. The greatest contribution of the Zunyi Meeting is that it established the leadership position of Comrade Mao Zedong, and our Party began to form a strong leadership core, opening up a new phase in China's revolution. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party has weathered great challenges and the cause of the Party and the country has seen historic achievements and changes. These achievements are owed to the firm leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and the sound guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The most fundamental reason behind Guizhou's remarkable historic achievements in recent years is the strong leadership and kind care of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. Looking back, officials and people of all ethnic groups in Guizhou have deeply experienced the notable strengths of the leadership of the CPC and socialism with Chinese characteristics and we are sincerely grateful to the General Secretary and the CPC Central Committee. We will firmly uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and uphold the Party Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership.

"Fear not the strong pass iron-clad on all sides! The summit's now surmounted with big strides." At the critical moment of embarking on a new journey, General Secretary Xi has accurately positioned and given guidance on the Long March of Guizhou in the new era during his inspection trip to Guizhou. We will unswervingly follow the direction guided by the General Secretary and follow a new development philosophy and integrate into the new development pattern as China enters a new development stage. We will make overall arrangements with high-quality development in mind, adhere to the two bottom lines of development and ecology, and coordinate development and security work. We will break new ground in large-scale development in the western region in the new era, make new plans for rural vitalization, seize new opportunities in the implementation of digital economy strategies, make new achievements in the construction of ecological civilization, and vigorously promote new industrialization, new urbanization, agricultural modernization, and tourism industrialization. We will strive for a new future for colorful Guizhou featuring prosperity and a beautiful ecological environment, and continue to write a wonderful chapter of high-quality development along with the Long March in the new era.

That's all I would like to say for now. Thank you.

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Chen Wenjun:

Thank you, Ms. Shen. The floor is now open for questions. Please identify the media organization you represent before asking your questions.

CCTV:

General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Guizhou before Spring Festival this year and made important instructions on the development of Guizhou. My question is, in what areas will Guizhou next strive to implement those instructions? Thank you.

Shen Yiqin:

Thank you for your question. General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Guizhou ahead of Spring Festival this year from Feb. 3 to 5. The inspection came at a particularly important time with a very clear theme, carrying very great significance and an extremely far-reaching impact. It was a milestone event for Guizhou and the most joyous grand event for the people of the whole province. We regard the study and implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions during his inspection in Guizhou as our top political task and long-term strategic task. We communicated and implemented them as soon as possible, studied and discussed them together, extensively publicized and gave lectures about them, carried out research on relevant topics, and define detailed responsibilities. Through a series of interconnected and increasingly in-depth pragmatic measures, we have brought the study and implementation to a deeper level. Last month, we held the Ninth Plenary Session of the 12th Provincial CPC Committee, made comprehensive arrangements, and issued a decision to go all-out to ensure that the guiding principles embodied in General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech take root and bear fruit in Guizhou.

At present, to implement the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches, we will deliver on the following aspects:

First, we will focus on high-quality development as the centerpiece of our work. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), under General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions to focus on the fight against poverty as the centerpiece of our work, we have clinched a complete victory in that regard. Entering a new development stage in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), General Secretary Xi Jinping requires us to focus on high-quality development as the centerpiece of our work. We will regard high-quality development as the long-held general requirement for economic and social development in all respects, and internalize it as our way of thinking and behavior. We will see to it that all work serves high-quality development of the province in all sectors. 

Second, we will work to blaze a new path in the large-scale development of the western region in the new era, as well as start a new chapter in rural vitalization, seize new opportunities in the implementation of digital economic strategies, and make new achievements in ecological conservation. These are the latest instructions and requirements of the General Secretary for Guizhou. Promoting new industrialization, new urbanization, agricultural modernization, and the industrialization of tourism are consistent requirements of the General Secretary for Guizhou. These two requirements can be integrated and mutually reinforcing. We will regard these requirements as the main goals to promote high-quality development. Promoting new industrialization has been made a primary task for high-quality economic development. We will strive to achieve industrial breakthroughs, doubling total industrial output and industrial investment as well as the number of industrial enterprises and other major indicators within five years. We regard advancing new urbanization as an important engine for high-quality development. In this regard, the main goal is to increase new urban populations by "three 1 million," which refers to the plan to increase Guiyang's Gui'an urban population by 1 million people, have the urban centers of cities and prefectures add 1 million people, and have all counties in the province add 1 million people by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. We will take the transformation of old neighborhoods, shanty towns, and side streets and alleys in cities and towns as an important task. We will work to first "enhance the capital city" and strive to realize the upgrading of urban areas.

Third, we will make every effort to promote common prosperity. The income of farmers in Guizhou province is still relatively low and the task of consolidating and expanding the results of poverty alleviation is still relatively heavy. Meanwhile, the income gap between urban and rural areas is still relatively large. We will always take into full account people's longing for a better life. While making the pie larger and better, we will take the initiative to bridge the gap among regions, urban and rural areas, and reduce income inequality and other aspects. We will resolutely consolidate the gains made in poverty alleviation and work with our heart and soul to solve practical issues that the people care about, such as issues relating to employment, education, medical care, pension, social security, housing, and environmental protection so that the people can have more sense of gain, happiness, and security.

Fourth, we will strengthen Party building. We will resolutely shoulder the political responsibility of enforcing full, rigorous self-discipline of the Party, carry out campaigns on Party history learning and education, study the Party principles, remain true to the original aspiration as communists and keep the mission firmly in mind, and stay loyal to the Party. By adhering to sound criteria for official appointments, we will promote enterprisingness, selecting and promoting those good officials who have the desire, resolve and capabilities to do pioneering work. We will strengthen Party discipline on a long-term basis and resolutely oppose and overcome formalism and bureaucracy, and constantly improve the Party's work style and build a clean government, and combat corruption. We will take coordinated action to ensure that officials do not dare to be, are not able to be, and do not want to be corrupt. In these ways, we will foster a healthy political atmosphere of integrity within the Party.

In short, we will keep in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions. Being driven and motivated, we will take on a new look, strive to score new achievements, and push the province to take on a new form. Thank you!

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Xinhua News Agency:

Guizhou is rich in revolutionary culture. How will you capitalize on these resources to highlight the distinct features of Guizhou in the campaign for Party history learning and education? Thank you.

Shen Yiqin:

Thank you for your question. I will answer this question. Guizhou is rich in revolutionary culture. The trek of the Red Army's Long March covered more than 60 counties (cities and districts) in Guizhou. The most prominent event here during the Long March was the Zunyi Conference. These valuable revolutionary resources provide teaching materials for Guizhou to conduct Party history learning and education. In particular, the Zunyi Conference, held in 1935, was a vital turning point in the history of the Party. Before the Zunyi Conference, the CPC did not have a strong leadership core and the Chinese revolution had repeatedly met with setbacks and even faced the danger of failure. The Zunyi Conference established the leading position of Comrade Mao Zedong in the Party Central Committee and the Red Army. After the conference, the first generation of the Party's central leadership with Comrade Mao Zedong at its core began to take shape. Since then, the Chinese revolution has taken on a new look and has continued to win repeated victories.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has rallied the Chinese people of all ethnic groups and led them in surmounting various risks and challenges on the road ahead and accomplished historic achievements and changes in the course of the development of the Party and the country. Especially since last year, in moments of crisis and grave challenges, the General Secretary made prompt decisions and personally guided us to create great miracles in winning the battle against the epidemic in a short time, secured a complete victory in eradicating absolute poverty, and realized the only positive economic growth among the world's major economies. As such, the people support General Secretary Xi Jinping more wholeheartedly and embrace the socialist system from the bottom of their hearts.

The CPC's 100-year history has clearly proved that the Party's cause can thrive with a strong leadership core and by supporting the core. Without a strong leadership core, the Party's cause is bound to suffer setbacks and fail to achieve victory. During the campaign on CPC history learning and education, we have fully implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech during his inspection tour in Guizhou province, carried forward the spirit of the Zunyi Meeting and loyalty to leadership core, and launched an educational campaign encouraging loyal, clean and responsible behavior. We regard doing practical work for the people as our ultimate goal, so we will further utilize revolutionary resources and pass on the traditions of the revolution. We will ask Party members of the province to stay true to their ideals by acting on the Party's original aspiration and mission, be keenly aware of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership. They must stay confident in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics; uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole; and uphold the Party Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. Thank you!

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China Daily:

General Secretary Xi Jinping highlighted that China will continue to prioritize ecological conservation and pursue a green and low-carbon path to development and also proposed peak carbon dioxide emission and carbon neutrality targets at the Leaders Summit on Climate. What experience can Guizhou share in balancing environmental protection and economic development?

Shen Yiqin:

Let's invite Mr. Li to answer your question. 

Li Bingjun:

Thank you for your question. Guizhou is a major ecological shield at the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, and it is very important to protect the ecological environment. During recent years, the ecological environment of Guizhou province has been continuously improved. However, as we all know, Guizhou is a place where karst landscapes are widely distributed, and it is also a plateau area, which is very difficult to repair once it is damaged. General Secretary Xi Jinping asked Guizhou to adhere to the two bottom lines of ensuring development and ecological progress, and repeatedly told us not to let down our guard. During his inspection tour in Guizhou ahead of this year's Spring Festival, Xi gave the important direction of pursuing new achievements in ecological conservation, which not only affirmed the achievements Guizhou has made in the previous period, but also put forward new hopes and requirements. We have firmly implemented Xi's requirements and have adhered to the two bottom lines of ensuring development and ecological progress. We have made our efforts in the following two aspects:

On one hand, we have unswervingly promoted green development and transformation. Bearing in mind the principle of fighting against pollution and guarding the green threshold, we have promoted the high-end, green and intensive development of industries. We boosted the green transformation of traditional industries, environment-friendly emerging industries and specialty industries that represent advantages of ecological environment. We made all-out efforts to improve the energy mix, among which clean energy accounts for 52.9%, 8.1 percentage points higher than the national average. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, energy consumption per unit of GDP of Guizhou province dropped by 24.3%, with the decline ranking among the highest in the country. The proportion of the green economy rose by 9 percentage points. Today's Guizhou enjoys stronger new drivers of growth. It has not only been developing rapidly but also seen an improved structure and quality of development.

On the other hand, we have unswervingly strengthened environmental protection and ecological conservation. We bear in mind that environmental protection is one of the country's top priorities, so we have resolutely tackled pollution and resolved acute environmental problems, and have accelerated the rectification of problems based on the feedback from central ecological and environmental protection inspectors. We have earnestly implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions and requirements on stepping up the conservation of the Yangtze River and stopping its overdevelopment, and have accelerated the ecological governance of the Wujiang River and Chishui River. The water quality of all our major rivers' outbound flow at provincial borders is well maintained and more than 100 billion cubic meters of high-quality water is delivered to the Yangtze River and Pearl River every year. The Yangtze River system and Pearl River system closely link Guizhou with the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. We also vigorously implemented action plans to construct a green Guizhou and other ecological projects, with our forest coverage rate increasing by 20 percentage points in the past decade and the area of rocky desertification decreasing dramatically. The forest coverage rate has exceeded 61%. As one of the first batch of national pilot zones for ecological conservation and the only one in western China, Guizhou vigorously promoted systematic institutional innovation to develop an ecological civilization and 30 reform experiences have been disseminated across the board. The good environment, which has become the biggest development advantage and competitive edge of Guizhou province, is a vivid example of Xi's thought on ecological civilization, and a vivid interpretation of the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets!

Building an ecological civilization is a national project of millennial significance. We will keep General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions of pursuing development and ecological conservation in mind, shoulder our share of the responsibilities of peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, prioritize ecological conservation and pursue green development. We will unswervingly implement the strategic action plan of developing a sound eco-environment, and integrate the concept of ecological civilization into the whole process and all aspects of new industrialization, new urbanization, agricultural modernization and tourism industrialization. We will promote the eco-industry and ecological industrialization, continue to work hard to protect the environment, and further open up the channel of two-way transformation between "lucid waters and lush mountains" and "invaluable assets" to build an inexhaustible green treasure house for Guizhou people and a sustainable ecological bank for future generations.

Friends from the media, since 2009, Guizhou has successfully held 10 Eco-Forum Global annual conferences, which received two congratulatory letters from General Secretary Xi Jinping. The forum has become an important platform to disseminate Xi Jinping thought on eco-civilization and showcase the achievements of China's ecological conservation efforts. Inspecting Guizhou ahead of this year's Spring Festival, General Secretary Xi Jinping renewed his instruction that the forum must be a success. In July, we will host this year's annual conference in Guiyang. I'd like to welcome you all to the conference to discuss eco-civilization and draw up a blueprint for green development. Thank you.

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Economic Daily:

We all know that Guizhou boasts rich tourism resources. General Secretary Xi Jinping, during an inspection visit to Guizhou, also expressed his great expectations for tourism in the province. My question is, how will Guizhou implement General Secretary Xi's instructions and promote the development of tourism industrialization? Thanks.

Shen Yiqin:

Mr. Li will answer this question. 

Li Bingjun:

Thank you for paying attention to tourism in Guizhou. General Secretary Xi Jinping instructed us to make a big push to industrialize tourism, "to achieve robust growth of tourism and develop it into a pillar industry." When inspecting Guizhou earlier this year, he reiterated that tourism ecology with humanistic elements should be enriched to realize the high-quality development of tourism.  

Historically, Guizhou's transportation had been inadequate and the province lacked links with the outside world, which objectively protected its natural resources, culture, and integrity. The Guizhou scenery, with its hills and rivers, is indivisible as a well-integral whole. More than 92% of its land is covered by hills and mountains. This nature creates an enjoyable landscape untouched by man, where you don't need to look hard to find waterfalls, karst caves, lakes, woods, and canyons. General Secretary Xi Jinping praised Guizhou as being a garden province. The pleasant weather and ecological environment are the hallmarks of Guizhou, and with an average temperature of around 23 degrees centigrade in the summer, the province is like an air-conditioned oasis. Its diverse forest vegetation makes it like a natural oxygen bar as well as a popular summer resort. Guizhou is also characterized by its cultural diversity. It has rich resources of red culture, Yangming culture, and ethnic culture. Guizhou is a sacred and blessed place of the Chinese revolution, where the Zunyi Meeting was held as a key turning point in the Chinese revolution. The spirit of the Zunyi Meeting forms an important part of the spiritual pedigree of the CPC members. It was in Guizhou that Wang Yangming, the great Confucian philosopher, meditated, delivered lectures, and initiated Yangming culture during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the essence of traditional Chinese culture.17 ethnic minority groups permanently live in the province, making it famous for having a multi-minority culture. The Miao people's silver jewelry and embroidery have unique characteristics. The Dong people sing songs with their heavenly voices. The Bouyei people's eight-sound style of singing is often billed as music from heaven. That is why we say when traveling throughout China, you will be overwhelmed by the varied beauty of Guizhou, which is a magnet for pleasure seekers who can enjoy the peace and fresh air, please their eyes, and refresh the mind.      

Over the past few years, transportation in Guizhou has changed fundamentally. Moreover, we made a big push to protect and develop tourism resources and improve supporting facilities and services, which has enabled the tourism industry to make great strides. During the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020), the number of visits and total travel sales in Guizhou maintained a 30% rate of growth in the first four years, not including 2020, when trips were impacted by COVID-19. In the next stage, we will continue to follow the instructions made by General Secretary Xi Jinping to intensify our efforts to industrialize tourism and promote its high-quality development, so that every visitor to Guizhou can experience a homelike atmosphere and have travel change their lives for the better. The summer holiday is coming and cool Guizhou is waiting for you! Thank you.

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Nippon Television Network:

Guizhou is becoming a big data center in China. My question is, will the province roll out more measures to attract foreign investment? In addition, some foreign companies may be worried about data security. What kind of measures will Guizhou take in this regard? Thanks.  

Shen Yiqin:

Mr. Lu will take these questions. 

Lu Yongzheng:

Thanks for your questions. As an in-land opening-up pilot economic zone, Guizhou is opening its doors wider to the outside world and has used foreign investment more effectively in recent years. In our view, foreign investment is not only capital but also represents an open attitude and mind. The province has been optimizing its business environment that is based on market principles, governed by law and up to international standards. In 2017, according to the evaluative standards of the business environment by the World Bank, we spearheaded evaluations conducted by a third party across the province. In 2019, we issued the opinions on raising the level of foreign capital utilization and promoting high-quality economic development and four supporting documents. This actively guided foreign companies to cluster in nine opening-up and innovative areas in the province. For now, 26 foreign top-500 companies have invested in Guizhou, which is becoming an appealing destination for foreign investment. 

As the first national-level comprehensive pilot zone for big data in China, Guizhou province is now home to more than 20,000 businesses embracing the cloud, and a cluster development trend has been formed. Foreign investment is accelerating its move into Guizhou's big data sector. The actual use of foreign investment in information transmission, software and information technology services accounts for more than 30% of the actual use of foreign investment in Guizhou.

Your second question is also the focus of a group of more than 30 overseas reporters during their recent trip to Guizhou province. The trip was organized by the State Council Information Office. They got satisfactory answer after the site visit and exchanges. Today, I'd like to answer the question again. In order to bring the development of the big data industry under the rule of law, we issued, in 2016, China's first local legislation on big data: the Regulations for Promoting Big Data Development and Application in Guizhou Province. Later, we also issued Big Data Security Protection Regulations of Guizhou Province and Regulations on Sharing and Opening of Government Data in Guizhou Province, which make normative and clear provisions on basic issues such as data collection, data sharing and data security. While ensuring data security and personal privacy, we open public data, promote the flow of data elements, and develop the data industry. It is an opportunity facing both Chinese and foreign companies, which will further stimulate development of new models, new industries and new forms of business. We will continue to protect data security and personal privacy by law. We are looking forward to working with business friends at home and abroad to explore the blue ocean market of big data industry, share the dividends of the digital economy, and build a community with a shared future for mankind in the digital era. Thank you.

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ThePaper.cn:

As Mr. Lu has just said, we understand that Guizhou province has been making great efforts to develop big data in recent years, and the development of related industries has attracted wide attention. How does the big data industry influence the local economic and social development of Guizhou province? What efforts will be made in digital empowerment in the future, and what will be done to attract talents from related industries to stay in Guizhou? Thank you. 

Shen Yiqin:

I'd like to invite Mr. Li to answer these questions.

Li Bingjun:

Thanks for your questions. We can see that people are very concerned about the development of big data in Guizhou province. Why did the province develop big data? What are its advantages? As a place of relatively stable geological structure, Guizhou is home to abundant energy resources. With relatively low electricity prices and cooler temperature in summer, it is easy to dissipate heat for energy conservation and consumption reduction, giving it unique advantages and conditions to develop big data industry. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed during his inspection tour of Guizhou in 2015 that "It makes sense to develop big data in Guizhou." In 2018 and 2019, he sent congratulatory letters to the China International Big Data Industry Expo held in Guizhou, giving clear requirements and sharing his vision for the development of big data industry. During this year's trip to Guizhou, he made clear that Guizhou has an important mission of seizing new opportunities while implementing the digital economy strategy, which has signaled the way forward for us to follow. 

We have fully enforced the important instructions by General Secretary Xi Jinping, implemented the big data strategic actions, and promoted big data-driven high-quality development. The growth rate of the province's digital economy has topped China for six consecutive years. First, the digital industry has sprung up. We have built a number of landmark data infrastructure projects. Guian New District has become one of the regions with the biggest number of super-large data centers in China. We have introduced a number of big data centers of companies like China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Huawei and Tencent. We have supported a number of local leading big data companies including Full Truck Alliance, Langma Mobile, BaishanCloud and Esgyn. Second, data has continued to empower integrated development. We have boosted the deep integration of big data with the real economy, poverty alleviation and rural vitalization, and with government functions to explore the value of data. We have developed China's first provincial cloud platform for government services, by which 100% of the provincial, municipal and county government affairs can be handled online. Guizhou was listed as one of China's five class-A regions for data opening. Third, the Big Data Expo has become an important brand. The world's first big data-themed expo has now been held six times, and has become one of the international authoritative exchange platforms, attracting many big data players from around the world.

Next, we will focus on "seizing new opportunities in implementing the digital economy strategy," search for "diamonds" in the big data mine, and explore blue ocean of digital economy to continue to bring new impetus to high-quality development. We will promote digital industrialization to develop a cluster of data center upstream and downstream industries, intelligent terminal industries and featured data integration industries. We will boost the digital development of industries and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the real economy through digital technology. We will enhance digital governance to improve digital and intelligent levels of government administration, public service and social governance. We will also step-up efforts to explore data value. We will build a national hub for China's integrated big data center, a nationwide cloud service, and a computing base serving the whole nation, so as to release the value of data.

The development of big data cannot be separated from the support of talents. We have released an array of policies aimed at providing high-quality living standards and services for talents. We warmly welcome big data professionals to Guizhou. We are deepening opening-up and providing an optimized business environment for entrepreneurs from all over the world, sharing the benefits from the digital economy with everyone.

The 2021 China International Big Data Industry Expo will be held in Guiyang, the "data valley" of China, from May 26-28. With the theme of "Embrace Digital Intelligence, Deliver New Development," professionals and elites from the industry will be able to deepen cooperation and exchanges. We sincerely welcome you all to attend the conference and jointly discuss the future of big data development. Thank you.

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The Cover:

China began the construction of the Long March National Cultural Park in 2019. As the key construction area, what achievements have been made in Guizhou? As the year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, how are the integration of red tourism and the Long March National Cultural Park being promoted? What is the significance of the national cultural park for the social and economic development of Guizhou? Thank you.

Shen Yiqin:

Mr. Lu will answer your questions.

Lu Yongzheng:

Thank you for your questions. Establishing Guizhou as the key construction area of the Long March National Cultural Park demonstrates the country's full affirmation and high trust in Guizhou as a significant site in the Party's history and China's revolutionary history. We have taken bold steps to explore planning systems, strengthen legislation and accelerate construction of various projects. We have taken the lead in completing construction and protection plans, establishing the framework of "one core, one line, two wings and multiple sites." We also sped up the creation of regulations for the Long March National Cultural Park in Guizhou province. Moreover, we facilitated the construction of major projects, including the upgrading of the site of the Zunyi Meeting and the building of the Long March town, and the Long March Digital Technology Art Museum. Red tourism sites were popular travel destinations in Guizhou during the past May Day holiday, attracting numerous tourists from across the country. Through these visits, people reconnected with history, gained insight into (the Party's) original aspiration and became more motivated to fulfill their duties. 

As a province featuring many mountainous parks, Guizhou is endowed with a magnificent natural landscape and abundant revolutionary culture resources. We are striving to build Guizhou into a world-famous mountain tourism destination, a leisure resort and a national demonstration area for the integrated development of culture and tourism. First, we will plan the industrial layout in a sound manner, actively promote the high quality development of red tourism projects, and build a red tourism belt. Second, we will optimize industrial chains by enriching tourist sites and routes, and constructing support facilities and services, such as resorts, research and training facilities, and providing supports to travel agencies and souvenir merchandize. Third, we will help market entities grow and become stronger by introducing major tourism enterprises and supporting the best of them to get listed on the stock market. Fourth, we will strengthen the guarantee of key factors, establishing funds for the culture and tourism industry at the provincial level, and strengthening support in terms of policies, funds, technology, talents, land and resources. 

We believe that the Long March National Cultural Park can generate huge and comprehensive benefits. First, by further carrying forward the spirits of the Long March and the Zunyi Meeting, all Party members and officials in the province will become more committed to the original aspiration and the mission of the CPC to seek happiness for the Chinese people and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Second, it will provide momentum for consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation and promoting rural vitalization by integrating the province's abundant red tourism resources with ethnic, cultural and ecological elements. Third, it plays a role in promoting core socialist values across society, spurring us to embark on a new journey after the 100-year journey of diligence and hard work, encouraging people to make concerted efforts to promote the high-quality social and economic development of Guizhou. Thank you.

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Phoenix TV:

As a national strategy, construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has a promising future, and a number of nearby provinces are jointly promoting its progress. My question therefore, is what competitive advantages does Guizhou have in this respect? And how can the province integrate with the GBA to achieve win-win results?

Shen Yiqin:

Thank you for your question. I'll answer this one. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we should actively integrate with the development of the GBA and accelerate the process of going global along the route of the Belt and Road countries. We have followed the important guidance made by General Secretary Xi, and taken Guizhou's integration with the GBA as a major strategic breakthrough in expanding opening-up so as to achieve cooperation by means of "borrowing another's boat to sail or borrowing another's ladder to climb." The advantages of Guizhou's integration with the GBA include: First, Guizhou's special industrial complementary advantages. Technology, capital and talents are prominent strengths of the GBA, while comparatively cheaper prices for electricity, land, water and workforce are advantages of Guizhou. A vivid practice is the project to deliver electricity from Guizhou to Guangdong. Besides, high-tech giants such as Huawei and Tencent have located their big data centers in Guizhou, which demonstrates that Guizhou and the GBA have well complemented each other in terms of their industrial resources. With regards to tourism resources, most of Guizhou's tourists come from the GBA because the weather and geography between the two sides can bring out the best in each other. Second, Guizhou's unique transportation location. Both the GBA and Guizhou are part of the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, and have enjoyed years of cooperation. It just takes over an hour to fly from Guizhou to Guangdong nowadays. Since the Guiyang-Guangzhou high-speed railway entered operation in 2014, the four-hour economic circle has been formed between the two cities. The commuting time will be shortened to 2 hours and 40 minutes after the railway between the two cities is upgraded. Third, the special friendship based on pairing-up support. Guangdong has been providing support to Guizhou since 1996. During the new round of cooperation between China's eastern and western regions, Guangdong has again been assisting Guizhou across the board. Macao has also helped assist Guizhou in winning the battle against poverty in Congjiang county, and Hong Kong compatriots have contributed their wisdom and strength to help Guizhou escape poverty. Both are great practices in our poverty-alleviation course in which the "one country, two systems" principle is fully applicable. During these years of pairing-up support, Guizhou has established a deep friendship with the GBA. 

Going forward, we will focus our work on building up the new development paradigm, and accelerate Guizhou's integration with the construction of the GBA. First, we will deepen industrial cooperation. The "Four Plus" industrial cooperation models of "GBA enterprises plus Guizhou resources," "GBA markets plus Guizhou products," "GBA headquarters plus Guizhou bases" and "GBA R&D plus Guizhou manufacturing" will be expanded, and collaborative industrial parks will be actively promoted between the two sides. We will take the initiative to introduce the GBA's high- and new-tech enterprises as well as labor-intensive enterprises to invest and explore new markets in Guizhou. We will further deepen economic and trade cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao, particularly in the fields of big data, traditional Chinese medicine, technology and finance. Second, we will strengthen cooperation in tourism. Aiming at the GBA tourist market, we will improve our tourism service and make Guizhou a first-choice summer resort for people living in the GBA. We will also intensify our efforts to invite more investment and capital, attracting more and more GBA firms to explore tourist products related to health care and leisure in Guizhou. Third, we will deepen cooperation in consumption. Guizhou has established 54 "vegetable basket" bases for the GBA, and green and healthy agricultural products as well as local specialties from Guizhou have been quite popular in the GBA. We will continue to enhance the integration of production and marketing, and introduce more and more high-quality Guizhou specialties to the GBA. Fourth, we will collaborate with the GBA in talent exchanges. Based on the cooperation between Guangdong and Guizhou provinces, we will hold large-scale exchanges among officials and talents with Guangdong, work together to cultivate technical personnel, and send batches of "Guangdong cuisine chefs," "Guangdong technicians," "southern Guangdong household service personnel" and others to the GBA. We would also like to invite "weekend engineers" as well as retired veteran teachers and doctors from the GBA in a flexible manner to bring their cutting-edge theories, techniques and experiences into Guizhou. Thank you.

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Beijing Youth Daily:

Just now, Ms. Shen noted that Guizhou has the country's highest number of people moving out of poverty and being relocated from inhospitable areas. Nevertheless, we also acknowledge that some areas and people that have been lifted out of poverty still suffer from weak foundations and poor self-development abilities. Therefore, it is still an arduous task to prevent them from slipping back into impoverishment. What will Guizhou do next to consolidate the progress being made in poverty alleviation and to promote rural vitalization? Thank you.

Shen Yiqin:

Thank you for your attention to Guizhou's progress on poverty alleviation and rural vitalization. I'll take your questions.

It is a hard-won achievement for Guizhou to eradicate poverty. We owe what we have achieved to the care and support of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee, the dedication and tireless efforts of our officials and people, and the firm support from paired-up provinces and cities in eastern China, the CPC and government departments, as well as all sectors of society. People in Guizhou will always remain grateful to the care of the CPC Central Committee and bear in mind the great support from all parties and sectors.

Poverty eradication is not the end, but the starting point for a new life and new endeavors. Poverty alleviation was once a formidable task in Guizhou, and the task of advancing and expanding the results of poverty eradication is equally difficult now. We must grasp the consolidation and expansion of the results of poverty alleviation as much as the battle against poverty, and resolutely guard the bottom line of preventing people from slipping back into poverty on a large scale. First, we are working to ensure the consistency of policies. We must take due responsibility for counties lifted out of poverty, meanwhile ensuring them consistent poverty alleviation policies, assistance, and supervision. The policy of the five-year transition period should be fully carried out to ensure the overall stability of supportive policies in the fields of fiscal resources, financial services, the use of land, and talents. We will continue to provide stronger industrial and employment support, and implement follow-up assistance policies to people relocated from inhospitable areas. Second, we are strictly carrying out all of our responsibilities. Party secretaries of the province as well as its cities, counties, towns, and villages will work together. Meanwhile, two parallel registration systems will continue to be used respectively by the provincial government's direct affiliates and local authorities, in a bid to hold both of them accountable for poverty alleviation works and possible misconducts. This ensures effective leadership and that every responsibility has been taken. Third, the efforts being made in this regard will stay consistent. To ensure the orderly and stable transmission of assistance works, we will continue to dispatch outstanding officials to villages lifted out of poverty and relocation sites for poverty alleviation. So far, a total of 32,175 officials in Guizhou have been dispatched to rural areas to serve as the first Party branch secretaries or village-based cadres. We have also set up 10,035 village-based working teams for rural vitalization. Fourth, we are working to ensure that no one is left behind in consolidating the progress of poverty alleviation. A comprehensive reviewing campaign was launched throughout Guizhou to continuously check the change of people's incomes, the situations concerning the basic living needs of rural poor population and their access to compulsory education, basic medical services, and housing, as well as safe drinking water supplies. Relevant problems will be quickly solved once spotted, so as to eliminate poverty amid dynamical adjustment.

To comprehensively promote rural vitalization reflects the historic adjustment of China's focus concerning issues relating to agriculture, rural areas, and rural people. We have adopted a categorized approach which takes local conditions fully into consideration. In light of different poverty-alleviation foundations, geographic conditions, and resource advantages, we grouped all the counties in Guizhou into three categories: model counties for rural vitalization, key-work-in-progress counties and counties in the starting phase. Provincial government officials will work to develop these counties and make new progress in rural vitalization. 

First, we will focus on the industrial side. We continue to promote typical industries which utilize local agricultural strength. We are working to establish industrial systems, production systems, and operation systems for modern agriculture, and developing a group of industrial clusters based on local agricultural advantages, in a bid to build Guizhou's strength in developing modern and efficient mountain farming. 

Second, we will focus on developing beautiful rural environments. We are doubling our efforts to carry out the rural construction campaign and continuing to comprehensively improve rural living environments. We will also work to address weaknesses in sewage and garbage treatment, meanwhile effectively preserving traditional village sites, households, and historical villages and towns of cultural significance, so as to better protect the lucid waters and lush mountains in our rural areas.

Third, we are making sound governance efforts. We are strengthening primary-level Party organizations, dispatching outstanding officials to serve as Party secretaries in villages, and further developing the collective economy at the village level. We are also working to improve rural governance, promote cultural and ethical progress in rural areas, and see the back of outdated social customs. By doing so, a civilized rural atmosphere with sound household manners and simple and honest people is being established, which continuously encourages the public to develop civilized rural environments and seek for happier lives.

Guizhou's performance in fighting against poverty has been excellent. I believe it will also do a good job in consolidating the achievements being made in poverty alleviation and promoting rural vitalization in an all-round manner. Thank you.

Mr. Chen mentioned earlier that this was the last question for today. I would like to take this opportunity and express my gratitude to the relevant parties. First, I want to thank the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee for providing such a great platform for us to introduce vibrant Guizhou to you. I also want to thank our friends from the media for their consistent care, support and publicity efforts for Guizhou. "Travelling throughout the scenery in China, you will be overwhelmed by the varied beauty of Guizhou." Guizhou is a natural park, an oxygen bar, an air conditioner, a treasure house, as well as a family for ethnic coexistence. We sincerely invite everyone to visit Guizhou and enjoy its beauty, coolness and comfort. We are waiting for you! Thank you!

Chen Wenjun:

Thank you to all the speakers and all of our friends from the media. Today's press conference is hereby concluded. Goodbye.

Translated and edited by Zhang Liying, Huang Shan, Zhang Jiaqi, He Shan, Wang Yiming, Liu Qiang, Yang Xi, Wang Yanfang, Duan Yaying, Li Huiru, Qin Qi, Huang Shan, Zhang Tingting, Wang Wei, Zhu Bochen, Wang Yanfang, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.