21st Century Business Herald:

We have noticed that the State Council last year approved Guizhou's comprehensive reform plan for advancing the large-scale development of the western region. How has Guizhou implemented this plan? What progress and achievements have been made so far? Thank you.

Li Bingjun:

Thank you for your questions. These questions will be answered by Mr. Qiu Zhenguo, director of the Guizhou Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

Qiu Zhenguo:

After the State Council approved Guizhou's comprehensive reform plan for advancing the large-scale development of the western region, the country has given Guizhou greater power in carrying out reform. We have made full use of this opportunity to propose a series of specific reform measures focusing on market-oriented reform. We have encouraged bold experiments and breakthroughs, as well as proactive reforms in key areas including investment and financing, state capital and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and market-based allocation of production factors, which have achieved substantial results. Here I will give some examples.

In terms of investment and financing system reforms, we have regulated government investment management more strictly. We issued a "1+3" policy system, with "1" representing the regulations on the management of government investment projects and "3" representing three supporting measures involving decision-making evaluation, preliminary estimate management and fiscal budget assessment. Through reforms of these policies, we have enhanced management of government investment projects at all stages. It has become a consensus throughout the province to track the performance of investments and hold to full account wasteful investments. At the same time, we have innovated the way we use fiscal funds and have established industrial funds to advance new industrialization, new urbanization, agricultural and rural modernization, and the cultural tourism industry. With a shift from the government's direct investment to market-oriented fund investment, we have mobilized private capital and non-governmental investments, better leveraging the guiding role of fiscal funds.

In terms of state capital and SOE reforms, we have improved their core competitiveness and core functions. Take Guizhou Phosphate Chemical Group as an example. Through reform and reorganization, we merged two phosphate chemical enterprises in the province into one group, promoting full integration of resources, technologies, management and market layouts. Both the size and profits of the enterprise have been significantly increased, and the reform has had a remarkable outcome. We also carried out reform and reorganization of SOEs in the areas of energy, tourism and trade logistics, which has obtained significant results.

In terms of production factor allocation, we have ensured more effective use of resources. Among China's first group of provinces to carry out local trials for the development and use of public data resources, Guizhou has become a front-runner in transactions with data circulation. Data products from all over the country covering categories such as meteorology, electricity, and telecommunication have been traded at the Guiyang Big Data Exchange. We established a water price reform system covering water reserves, water supply and sewage discharge based on a user-pay mode, ensuring returns to investors and attracting private capital into the building of Guizhou's grand water network. We also adopted a time-of-use power price policy to stagger production times of industrial enterprises, effectively securing the steady supply of energy and lowering their electricity costs. During this year's Spring Festival holiday, we ensured consecutive production for enterprises.

Reform is the driving force for development. We will fully implement the new plans and requirements of the central authority for deepening reform as well as intensify reform efforts to explore a new path for making further progress in the large-scale development of the western region. Thank you.