People's Daily:

General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to effectively propel the rise of the central region from a higher starting point. To this end, how can Hubei better fulfill its role as a strategic pivot in the new era?

Wang Zhonglin:

You've raised an important question, and I'll answer it. It's widely recognized that promoting the rise of the central region is a major strategic deployment made by the CPC Central Committee eying the big picture of coordinated development between regions. General Secretary Xi Jinping has high expectations for Hubei. During his visit to Hubei in July 2013, he called for the province to accelerate its development into a crucial strategic pivot in facilitating the rise of the central region. Over the years, Hubei has bravely shouldered its responsibilities and diligently pursued practical endeavors, achieving notable progress in its role as a strategic pivot. We are confident and determined to take on this vital mission as a strategic pivot and secure greater success in advancing the rise of the central region in this new era.

Last month, the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee convened a plenary session and made a systematic deployment on promoting Chinese-style modernization in Hubei and accelerating the building of an important strategic fulcrum for the rise of China's central region. The session clarified the "five defined functions" and the overall plan and key tasks. The five defined functions of the province are: quickly developing Hubei into an important hub for domestic economic flows and a vital link driving both the domestic and global economies; establishing it as a national base for scientific and technological innovation and manufacturing; creating a homeland security service base; serving as a national strategic region for water security; and designating it as a national high-quality agricultural production area. These are not only Hubei's responsibilities as a strategic fulcrum but also the focus of our work. We will double our efforts in the following five aspects. First, we will enhance the province's overall capacity and continue strengthening its supportive role as a strategic pivot. This means consolidating the momentum of sound and steady growth, promoting effective improvement in quality and reasonable quantitative economic growth, and striving to increase the provincial GDP by 2 trillion yuan in five years. Second, we will advance innovation-driven development and constantly enhance the province's core competitiveness as a strategic pillar. We will promote the integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, focusing on applicability. Our goal is to accelerate the development of Wuhan into a nationally influential scientific and technological innovation center. We aim to achieve breakthroughs in five major advantageous industries, including optoelectronic information. Additionally, we will strengthen and upgrade modern industrial clusters, marked by five one-trillion-yuan pillar industries, ten 500-billion-yuan competitive industries, and twenty 100-billion-yuan distinctive industries. This initiative will help us foster a pacesetter for developing new quality productive forces in the country. Third, we will continue to open up to the outside world and bring together more factors to enhance the province's role as a strategic fulcrum. We will make good use of channels for opening-up such as Huahu International Airport, the shipping hub of Wuhan for the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and the China-Europe Railway Express. We will also further develop the China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone and other platforms for opening-up, construct international industrial parks with countries including Germany, France, and Japan, actively foster a new system for a high-standard open economy, and build an inland hub for opening-up with stronger competitiveness. Fourth, we will promote green transformation across the board and constantly enhance the ecological carrying capacity of the province. We will integrate the development of industrialization, IT application, urbanization, and agricultural modernization based on comprehensive river basin governance. We will implement 10 major initiatives to improve the quality and efficiency of the Yangtze River conservation, establish 10 major green development systems, including the circular economy framework, build Hubei into a beautiful province, and accelerate its rise that is rooted in green transformation. Fifth, we will advance collaborative integration and make the province a more powerful engine driving the development of other areas. We will promote the development of the three metropolitan areas of Wuhan, Xiangyang, and Yichang-Jingzhou-Jingmen, deepen cooperation and linkage with other central China provinces, strengthen synergy with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and bolster the development of China's strategic hinterland to better integrate into and support the new development paradigm and make a greater contribution to the rise of the central region.

That's all from me. Thank you.