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Read in Chinese
Speakers:
Mr. Li Bingjun, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guizhou Provincial Committee and governor of Guizhou province
Ms. Zhang Jingping, vice governor of Guizhou province
Mr. Luo Qiang, vice governor of Guizhou province
Mr. Qiu Zhenguo, director of the Guizhou Provincial Development and Reform Commission
Chairperson:
Ms. Shou Xiaoli, director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson for the SCIO
Date:
June 14, 2024
Shou Xiaoli:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). This is the 31st press conference in the series "Promoting High-Quality Development." Today, we are pleased to be joined by Mr. Li Bingjun, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guizhou Provincial Committee and governor of Guizhou province, who will brief you on promoting high-quality development and building a thriving economy, better living standards and sound eco-environment in Guizhou, and answer your questions. Also present today are Ms. Zhang Jingping, vice governor of Guizhou province; Mr. Luo Qiang, vice governor of Guizhou province; and Mr. Qiu Zhenguo, director of the Guizhou Provincial Development and Reform Commission.
Li Bingjun:
Good morning, everyone. I am delighted to have this opportunity to share with you the progress of Guizhou's high-quality development. Thank you for your interest in and support for Guizhou.
Guizhou, with its beautiful mountains and rivers, pleasant climate, abundant resources and hardworking people, is a dazzling pearl in southwestern China. Once, Guizhou was characterized by its rugged terrain and extremely inconvenient transportation. Now, with countless bridges spanning its landscape, it is well-connected in all directions. Once, Guizhou was one of the poorest regions in the country. Today, the fight against poverty has transformed its impoverished and backward appearance, and it is embarking on a new journey of high-quality development.
In February 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Guizhou and urged us to prioritize high-quality development in all aspects. He entrusted us with the important mission of pioneering new paths in boosting the development of China's western region in the new era, and blazing new trails in rural revitalization, the development of the digital economy, and eco-environmental conservation. In recent years, we have shifted our focus from consolidating poverty alleviation achievements to promoting high-quality development. To fulfill our important mission, we are steadfastly pursuing new industrialization, new urbanization, agricultural modernization, and tourism industrialization. While consolidating our poverty alleviation achievements, we have accelerated the transformation of our growth model, moving away from an investment-driven growth model. By finding our position in the new development pattern, we have effectively pursued higher-quality economic growth and appropriately increased economic output. Our economic aggregate has reached a new milestone of 2 trillion yuan ($275.18 billion), with high-quality development becoming the main theme of Guizhou.
In recent years, we have continued to consolidate and expand our poverty alleviation achievements and carry forward rural revitalization. We are committed to increasing rural residents' incomes, with rural per capita income growth consistently outpacing that of urban residents and the overall economic growth rate. We have maintained the bottom line of preventing large-scale return to poverty. We are dedicated to developing rural industries, and now, tea gardens, orchards, fields and forests can be found all over the province. Guizhou's distinctive industries and non-timber forest-based economy are also rapidly developing. "Lao Gan Ma" chili sauce, among other brands, has been sold worldwide. The tea grown in our misty mountains is clean, healthy and naturally pollution-free. Our green and black teas are well-received in the market, and our matcha is exported to over 40 countries. We are committed to improving the rural environment, learning from the Green Rural Revival Program, and accelerating the construction of livable, business-friendly and beautiful rural areas. The lives of our people are more convenient, and the rural environment is more beautiful, with mountains and rivers visible everywhere.
In recent years, we have utilized our natural resources to build a modern industrial system. Guizhou is the only province in the country without plains, yet it is rich in mineral resources, with reserves of 49 types of minerals all ranking among the top 10 nationwide. In recent years, leveraging our resources, we have vigorously promoted "efficient mining," which means accurately identifying, effectively exploring and efficiently using our mineral resources. We are accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system that reflects local features and holds a significant position in the national industrial layout. Guizhou has focused on developing six major industrial clusters at the provincial level, with each city and county developing their own leading industries. Our industrial sector has contributed 43.8% to economic growth, becoming the primary driving force for development. Meanwhile, we have been actively promoting the quality enhancement of distinctive mountain agriculture and tourism, and the core structure of Guizhou's modern industrial system has begun to take shape.
In recent years, we have dedicated ourselves to protecting Guizhou's lush mountains and clear waters. Here, I'd like to share an interesting story. In the main urban area of Guiyang city, there is a place called Qianling Mountain. It boasts an excellent ecological environment and dense green forests. Thousands of wild macaques live there, and tens of thousands of birds roost there. Every day, 30,000 to 40,000 residents and tourists come here for leisure and sightseeing. Some residents have even formed bonds and friendships with the macaques, vividly illustrating the harmonious coexistence between the people of Guizhou and nature. In recent years, we have continued to strengthen ecological protection and restoration. The forest coverage rate across the province has reached 63%. Guizhou boasts the highest number of World Natural Heritage sites in the country, ranking third nationally in terms of the variety of plant and animal species. The air quality in the province's major cities remains excellent, and the water quality at the boundaries of its major rivers is also outstanding. Each year, Guizhou provides over 100 billion cubic meters of high-quality water to the Yangtze and Pearl rivers. It can be said that Guizhou's beautiful mountains, rivers, and landscapes, along with its fine liquor, tea and quality of life, make it an ideal place for nurturing the body, mind and health.
Over the years, we have strived to make the lives of our people increasingly happier. We have consistently increased our input in projects related to people's wellbeing, dedicating nearly 70% of our fiscal spending to this cause every year. Last year, we added 186,200 school places of various types. Five regional medical centers at the national level began operation, and the medical system at the provincial, city, county, township and village levels was rapidly improved. Guizhou's educational and medical conditions are improving at an accelerated pace. We are making great efforts to build Guizhou into a model province for fostering a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, resulting in greater unity and harmony among all ethnic groups in Guizhou.
Today, Guizhou is making every effort to write its chapter in pursuing Chinese modernization, aiming for economic prosperity, improved living standards, and a beautiful ecology.
That's all for my introduction. Thank you.
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Shou Xiaoli:
Thank you for the introduction, Governor Li. Now, let's proceed to the Q&A session. Before asking a question, please state the news organization you represent.
Phoenix TV:
Earlier, Mr. Li mentioned that Guizhou has abundant mineral resources, with reserves of 49 types of minerals ranking in the top 10 nationally. How does Guizhou leverage these mineral resources to build a distinctive modern industrial system? Thank you.
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your question. I'll address it. Building a modern industrial system is crucial for promoting high-quality development. Guizhou possesses abundant mineral resources. To harness the economic value of these resources, we have identified leading industries based on our comparative advantages, resource endowments, and industrial foundations. We have accelerated the construction of six major industrial bases: an intensive processing base for resources, a new energy power battery and material R&D production base, a national computing power guarantee base, a baijiu production base, a new comprehensive energy base, and an advanced equipment manufacturing base. In short, we focus on projects where we have advantages, whether in mineral resources, industrial foundations, or comparative advantages. These six industrial bases align with the country's overall interests and leverage Guizhou's unique strengths. They involve both the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries as well as the innovative development of emerging and future industries.
In recent years, Guizhou's traditional industries, such as coal, electricity, tobacco, and liquor, have accelerated their transformation, upgrading, and quality improvement, revitalizing old industries with new growth. For instance, we have increased production capacity and enhanced safety levels through large-scale operations and smart technologies in the coal industry, bolstering our reputation as the "Coal Sea in Southern China.
Simultaneously, we have extended industrial chains, vigorously promoting the integrated development of the coal chemical and phosphorus chemical industries. Guizhou's coal has become a crucial raw material for modern chemical industries. In terms of electricity, while conventional thermal power dominated with 300,000 kilowatt units in the past, ultra-supercritical units of 660,000 kilowatts now lead the way. Moreover, we strive to develop clean energy, with clean energy installations accounting for over 56%, achieving a synergy of hydro, thermal, wind, solar, and storage energies. Guizhou not only meets its own electricity needs but also contributes to national energy security by supplying electricity to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and surrounding provinces.
Additionally, by seizing opportunities, we have accelerated the development of emerging and future industries such as new energy batteries, new materials, intelligent computing, and advanced equipment. While ensuring a stable fertilizer supply and national food security, Guizhou's phosphorus chemical industry is expanding into the new energy battery materials industry. We have attracted leading enterprises and promoted the dual-track development of "power batteries and energy storage batteries." One in every three electric vehicle batteries in China contains phosphorus from Guizhou. For example, in big data, we are vigorously developing the computing power and artificial intelligence industries, building on our data storage center foundation. Huawei Cloud and China Telecom have established intelligent computing centers here, making Guizhou one of the regions with the most abundant and powerful computing resources nationwide. Our computing power will provide strong support for the computing needs of the eastern regions and even the entire nation.
Today, Guizhou's industrial development shows promising momentum and a bright future. Thank you, everyone!
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Cnr.cn:
We know that the Cun BA (Village Basketball Association) basketball tournament and the Village Super League football games in Guizhou have been consistently popular, and we are all paying close attention. As grassroots events spontaneously organized and participated in by villagers, these rural competitions have not only attracted active participation from local residents but have also garnered widespread attention from audiences nationwide. What makes Guizhou's rural sports events unique? What are the next steps being considered? Thank you.
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your questions. I would like to invite Ms. Zhang to answer.
Zhang Jingping:
The reasons behind Cun Chao and Cun BA receiving much attention and making Guizhou go viral lie in their unique features. I would like to share three keywords with you here:
The first keyword is happiness. When you go into a Cun Chao or Cun BA arena, you are greeted by a joyful atmosphere. There are no empty seats in the grandstands for around 10,000 people, and you can hear shouting, cheering and applause. These are all heartfelt expressions of happiness brought about by sport. This happiness vividly reflects the deep and fundamental changes, unseen in a millennium, to people's spiritual and material lives after comprehensively winning the battle against poverty. It can be said that people of all ethnic groups in Guizhou have become more confident and self-reliant on the new journey in the new era.
The second keyword is culture. Cun Chao and Cun BA are not only sporting events, but also cultural banquets. On the sidelines of these events, various folk performances, including Lusheng performances, wooden drum performances and the Kam Grand Choir of the Dong people, take turns to showcase various elements of Guizhou's colorful culture. Meanwhile, inside and outside the sites of competition, people in ethnic costumes can be seen singing and dancing. The prizes for the events are also our local specialties, and the whole process of the events integrate many aspects of our ethnic culture. People travel long distances to attend Cun Chao and Cun BA events and personally experience the cultural elements contained in them, while also being fascinated by Guizhou's unique ethnic customs. Guizhou, a magical land, has nurtured a colorful culture, enriching these sporting events with rich cultural connotations, and acting as a steady source of motivation for us to continue strengthening the construction of a colorful Guizhou as a cultural powerhouse.
The third keyword is rural style. Cun Chao and Cun BA were born in the countryside and are rooted in the countryside. Local villagers are the mainstay for organizing the events. They decide all the details themselves, and local Party committees and governments offer support to ensure the smooth running of the events. The organization and implementation of the events fully respect the principal role and pioneering spirit of the people, and constantly stimulate everyone's enthusiasm, initiative and creativity, reflecting the local essence of Cun Chao and Cun BA.
Currently, we are actively encouraging and supporting local areas to give full play to their natural and cultural resources and innovatively create brands for public sporting events. We believe that more sporting events with Guizhou characteristics will become a calling card of the beautiful province. We would also like to sincerely invite you all to travel to Guizhou, experience sport events, visit scenic areas, and appreciate up close the colorful ethnic customs and the charm of culture and sports. Thank you.
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Cover News:
As Mr. Li mentioned just now, the forest coverage rate in Guizhou has reached 63%. As such, it can be said that the lucid waters and green mountains have become a blessing for the Guizhou people. What positive explorations has Guizhou made in ecological improvement in recent years? Thank you.
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your question. I would like to invite Mr. Qiu to answer it.
Qiu Zhenguo:
As you said, the lucid waters and green mountains have become a highlight of colorful Guizhou and a blessing for the Guizhou people. In recent years, we have worked on two aspects, firmly safeguarding the two bottom lines of development and ecological protection.
On one hand, we are committed to promoting green development. We are committed to building a colorful Guizhou and preventing pollution. In terms of industrial development, we do not engage in any business that does not meet the requirements of ecological and environmental protection, no matter the economic benefits, and firmly adhere to the "green threshold." We are accelerating green and low-carbon development, promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries such as the phosphorus chemical industry and coal chemical industry, improving the level of clean and efficient utilization of coal, vigorously promoting the construction of "electric Guizhou," and further emphasizing eco-environment protection and carbon reduction in the process of development.
On the other hand, we are unswervingly strengthening environmental protection and ecological improvement. We are strictly combating pollution and working hard to prevent and control pollution. A large number of ecological and environmental issues that were strongly reflected by the public have been resolved. What Guiyang citizens feel most deeply is that the Nanming River, which used to overflow with sewage, now flows smoothly through the city with clean water, enhancing their sense of gain and happiness. We have strengthened the governance and ecological improvement of the Wujiang River and other key river basins. Some prominent problems have been effectively managed and controlled, ensuring that rivers flow east with clean water. We have vigorously promoted the construction of "green Guizhou," and the area of rocky desertification has been halved in the past decade. We have promoted institutional innovation for promoting ecological progress, promulgated regulations on promoting ecological progress, established environmental courts, set up a trading center for ecological products, innovated mechanisms for realizing the value of ecological products, and carried out trials of carbon sequestration and carbon tickets for forestry. We have promoted the concept of ecological civilization, held 12 sessions of Eco Forum Global Guiyang, and continually transmitted China's voice on ecological civilization construction to the world. In Huawu village of Qianxi city in Guizhou, villagers have teamed up to regularly patrol and protect the river, safeguarded the Wujiang River's clear water, and developed rural tourism along the river. The environment is becoming increasingly beautiful, attracting more and more tourists. The dividends brought by lucid waters and green mountains are increasing the incomes of rural residents.
We will adhere to the principles of prioritizing eco-environment conservation and pursuing green development, safeguarding the sound eco-environment – the most inclusive benefit to people's wellbeing. We will strengthen ecological protection in the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Pearl rivers, aiming for new achievements in enhancing ecological conservation. Thank you.
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CCTV:
In recent years, Guizhou has actively promoted various welfare projects in areas such as employment, education, and medical care. Could you please specify what concrete actions have been taken? Have these efforts effectively addressed the public's pressing concerns and needs? What further measures are planned for the future? Thank you.
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your question. I'll answer it now. We have taken meeting the people's expectations as the goal of our governance. We have consistently acted on the people-centered development philosophy. Ensuring and improving the people's wellbeing are the core focus and foundation of all our work. We strive to make people's lives more prosperous and better. Let me provide an overview from several perspectives.
We strive to ensure stable employment for more people, promoting local job opportunities. Last September, Shi Chuanying, an embroiderer from Taijiang, Guizhou, showcased her exquisite Miao embroidery at Milan Fashion Week, demonstrating her exceptional craftsmanship. There are over 500,000 trained embroiderers in Guizhou like her. Many Guizhou natives working elsewhere are now finding opportunities back home. For instance, Zheng'an county in Guizhou has attracted talent to develop its guitar industry, earning the nickname "Hometown of Chinese Guitar Manufacturing" and creating jobs for 14,000 people. In recent years, Guizhou has added 600,000 urban jobs annually, organized labor exports, and maintained around 6 million workers outside the province under its "Six-Six Employment Stability Plan."
We strive to make travel more convenient for people. Every city and prefecture in the province now has airports and high-speed railways. Highways connect counties, and villages have cement roads. Industrial roads go directly to farmlands, and courier packages are delivered to farmers' doorsteps. People can now easily take buses right from their doorsteps, making isolated transportation a thing of the past. The transportation improvement in Guizhou has made travel more convenient and brought profound changes to people's thinking, production conditions, and way of life. Building roads connects not just vehicles, but hearts as well.
We strive to provide people with access to quality medical resources. We have established five national and regional medical centers, allowing people in Guizhou to benefit from the high-quality medical resources found in developed regions. Recently, the Guizhou Branch of Shanghai Children's Medical Center successfully performed liver tumor resection surgery on a baby just 6 days old, setting a national record for the youngest patient to undergo this procedure. At the same time, we are accelerating efforts to decentralize high-quality medical resources, allowing more people to receive excellent healthcare closer to home.
We strive to enable more young people in Guizhou to attend university and receive a better education. Currently, higher education in our province has entered a stage of universal access. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), we plan to add 154,000 higher education seats. At the same time, we are enhancing the development of scientific and engineering universities, colleges and as well as disciplines to meet the demands of economic and social development, particularly industry needs, and accelerating the development of vocational education. Last year, spending on education accounted for one-fifth of our government expenditures.
We are deeply committed to providing safeguards to enable extremely vulnerable groups to meet their basic living needs. For people living on subsistence allowances, children in welfare institutions, and people with disabilities, we are gradually raising social security standards in line with economic and social development. This ensures that everyone can share benefits of high-quality development.
Next, we will continue to implement more initiatives that deliver real benefits to the people to their satisfaction, ensuring that the people of Guizhou can enjoy a safer and better quality of life. Thank you.
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Science and Technology Daily:
We understand that Guizhou is one of the first regions in China to develop big data and is currently constructing a national-level computing power support base. Could you share what considerations Guizhou has in nurturing and expanding emerging digital industries? Thank you.
Luo Qiang:
Guizhou has been implementing its big data strategy since 2014, marking a decade of progress. As the first national comprehensive pilot zone for big data, Guizhou's big data industry has grown from scratch and achieved vigorous development.
In recent years, we have attracted a group of industry-leading enterprises such as Huawei, Tencent, and the three major telecommunications operators to establish big data centers in Guizhou. The province now has 47 key data centers operational or under construction. We have completed a series of new landmark digital infrastructure projects, including the operation of national internet backbone access points and international internet data dedicated channels. Last year, China Mobile completed the world's first 400-gigabit computing channel in Guiyang, enabling data transmission to Guangzhou and Shenzhen in just 10 milliseconds and to Hangzhou in 16 milliseconds. Additionally, we have developed important platforms like the Guiyang Big Data Science and Technology Innovation City and hosted international events such as the Big Data Expo. Guizhou's big data initiative continues to shine brighter on the global stage.
Today's Guizhou has become one of the eight national computing hubs of the country's east-data-west-computing project. Guiyang city and Guian New Area are sparing no effort to build the "data valley" of China. As China has decided to build Guizhou into a national digital economy development and innovation zone, the province will take this opportunity to advance emerging industries, like artificial intelligence, focusing on the three key areas of computing power, empowerment and industry development. In terms of computing power, Guizhou will expand intelligent computing center clusters to improve its capacity as well as create a globally competitive intelligent computing base. As for empowerment, the province will leverage Huawei Cloud's Pangu model to promote the intelligent transformation of industries, create new tourism scenarios and advance rural digital construction, thus empowering various industries with digital capabilities. In terms of industries, Guizhou will develop three 100-billion-yuan-level industrial clusters, namely data centers, intelligent terminals and data applications, so as to improve the industrial ecosystem and accelerate progress down the new path of the digital industry.
Guizhou has the foundation, advantages and confidence to build a computing power support base that serves the whole country. We will create the best environment for development and explore the blue ocean of digital economy alongside our friends from home and abroad. Thank you.
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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.
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Beijing Youth Daily:
Across the whole country, Guizhou has the largest population of individuals who have been lifted out of poverty and who are relocated from inhospitable areas. The province must have faced challenging tasks in both consolidating poverty alleviation achievements and promoting rural revitalization. For the next step, what will Guizhou do to better align its efforts to consolidate and expand poverty alleviation achievements with efforts to promote the revitalization of rural areas, so as to advance all-around rural revitalization? Thank you.
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your question. This question will be answered by Mr. Luo Qiang, vice governor of Guizhou province.
Luo Qiang:
Since Guizhou won the battle against poverty, we have focused on preventing large-scale relapses into poverty by monitoring and assisting those lifted out of it. Guizhou implemented a three-year action to increase residents' income. By the end of last year, the population with an annual per capita net income of less than 10,000 yuan had been essentially reduced to zero. After securing the bottom line, we have drawn on and applied the experience from the Green Rural Revival Program in Zhejiang province to further enrich the rural development program initiated in 2001 that focuses on prosperity, education, happiness, and beautified environment, to better implement the grand strategy of rural revitalization.
To achieve rural prosperity, we focus on employment and industries to continuously increase farmers' income. On the one hand, we have stabilized the scale of migrant workers, enabling 6 million people to find stable jobs outside their hometowns. On the other hand, we have continued to develop the county economy and expand rural industries to create local jobs, helping farmers earn money and secure a promising future without leaving home. For example, we have built over 1,300 employment assistance workshops in nearly 1,000 relocation communities across the province, helping 120,000 people increase their income through local employment.
In terms of rural education, we ensure farmers get the education they need, acquire useful knowledge, and achieve something from what they have learned. In recent years, we have focused on inspiring confidence and improving education, strengthening basic education in rural areas, and implementing vocational skills training programs to cultivate technicians and Guizhou cuisine chefs. This ensures that rural children can attend school and receive a good education while more farmers can acquire skills and rely on their own efforts to sustain a good life.
A happy rural life lies in civilized customs and effective governance. Nowadays, the spiritual outlook of Guizhou's villages is improving, and farmers' daily lives are no longer limited to traditional farm work. The thriving of Cun Chao and Cun BA, village football and basketball tournaments, vividly portrays the new life of Guizhou farmers. Consequentially, an increasing number of city dwellers are eager to experience the charm of rural life.
To create a beautiful countryside, we leverage Guizhou's natural mountains and rivers to enhance the rural living environment. This effort aims to create a livable rural environment that is clean and tidy, and with picturesque landscape. Today, Guizhou is home to many beautiful villages like Xijiang Miao Village and Zhaoxing Dong Village.
We continue to strive for beautiful landscapes, vibrant villages, and happy smiles from the villagers. We will continue to explore, work tirelessly, and make long-term efforts to accelerate urban-rural integration and promote comprehensive rural revitalization. Thank you.
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China News Service:
Guizhou vows to become a world-class tourist destination. How confident are you in achieving this goal? What measures will Guizhou take to enhance the tourist experience and promote high-quality development in the tourism industry? Thank you.
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your question. This gives me a chance to talk about Guizhou's tourism sector, which is very competitive and promising. This spring, it became a fashion to visit the province for mountain views. Guizhou is also a nice choice for avoiding summer heat thanks to pleasant weather during the season. Take Guiyang as an example. In the summer, the maximum temperature is about 30 degrees Celsius, and these days, it is about 27 or 28 degrees Celsius. You don't need to turn on the air conditioner at night. "Colorful Guizhou" and "Cool Guiyang" are not just empty words. When I first came to work in Guizhou, an old comrade once told me that no matter how hot it is in summer, I should bring a coat when I travel for work. I think this advice comes from years of experience. Remember to bring a coat if you come to Guizhou in the summer.
Currently, we are focusing on creating a group of world-class tourist attractions. In Guizhou, there are six most representative scenic spots. First is Huangguoshu Waterfall, the largest waterfall in Asia, renowned both at home and abroad. I'm sure it's quite familiar to all of you. Second is Xiaoqikong scenic area in Libo county, known as the "emerald on the earth's belt," with crystal-lucid water resembling a green gem. Third is Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, the world's largest and best-preserved Miao village. Fourth is Chishui Danxia, the largest Danxia landform in China, featuring the spectacular Chishui Waterfall. Fifth is the Forest of Ten Thousand Peaks. Xu Xiake once wrote, "There are many mountains in the world, but you will find a peak forest only here." So you can imagine its grandeur. Sixth is Fanjing Mountain, the highest peak of the Wuling Mountains, an isolated peak in a vast ancient forest, and also a Buddhist shrine. You might have seen Fanjing Mountain in the promotional video just now, with its towering thumb-shaped peak as if giving a thumbs-up to our great motherland. This showcases the unique charm of Guizhou's landscapes and is the most popular tourist destination in the province. Guizhou has many other great places, but I won't introduce them all due to time constraints. I'll just mention a few names: Zhijin Cave, Shuanghe Cave, Malinghe River Canyon, Qingyan Ancient Town and Zhenyuan Ancient Town. Guizhou is known as a "park province", with many more scenic places to explore.
We have inherited and developed Guizhou's colorful culture. The culture of ethnic minority groups is diverse with 18 ethnic minorities having lived in Guizhou for generations and 312 Chinese ethnic featured villages scattered all over the province. Due to inconvenience with transportation in the past, ethnic culture in Guizhou has been well preserved. Guizhou is the origin of Yangmingism. Wang Yangming attained enlightenment in Longchang, Guizhou, and his concepts of "the unity of knowledge and action" and "the extension of innate knowledge" have become influential Eastern philosophies worldwide. Historical sites like Wanyiwo and Yangming Cave are well preserved to this day and are worth visiting. The Zunyi Conference and the Four Crossings of the Chishui River led to heroic verses such as "idle boast the strong pass is a wall of iron; with firm strides we are crossing its summit."
We have vigorously promoted the integration of sports and tourism. Guizhou has over 300 days a year suitable for outdoor activities. Known as "the museum of world bridges," the province is home to nearly half of the world's top 100 tallest bridges. Visitors to Guizhou can enjoy marathons and cycling amidst lush mountains and clear waters, or indulge in activities like gliding, bungee jumping and rafting among high bridges and canyons. Unique ethnic sports such as single bamboo drifting and dragon boat racing are also available. The Guiyang Marathon will start the day after tomorrow, offering a rare opportunity to run a marathon in the cool summer breeze.
We welcome everyone to Guizhou for a joyful journey. You can experience a "Village Super League" or "Village Basketball Association" game, cheer alongside local communities and sing "Mrs. Shexiang" to feel the vibrant ethnic culture. You may attend a roadside concert to enjoy a combination of elegant and popular performances amidst the crowd. You can partake in a long table banquet to savor the tangy, sweet and spicy flavors of Guizhou cuisine. You can enjoy a cup of fragrant liquor to relish the idyllic lifestyle. This is the journey everyone dreams of, a journey of pure joy. I believe visiting Guizhou will be an unforgettable experience. Thank you!
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Southern Daily:
All regions are currently placing great emphasis on technological innovation. We have noticed that Guizhou is developing a number of national-level innovation platforms. Could you please elaborate on Guizhou's approaches and considerations regarding technological innovation? Thank you.
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your question. Let us invite Mrs. Zhang to answer this question.
Zhang Jingping:
Guizhou has always attached great importance to technological innovation. Through continuous efforts, our technological capabilities have been consistently strengthened, and the achievements of our innovation efforts are unceasingly developing. I will introduce our efforts in the following aspects.
Firstly, we advance technological innovation by serving and supporting national strategic scientific capabilities. As we all know, a number of national scientific innovation teams, such as the "China Sky Eye" (FAST) and the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, are based in Guizhou. The "China Sky Eye" has made continuous breakthroughs in the number of new pulsars discovered, and the Institute of Geochemistry released a highly accurate geological "photo album" of the moon. These high-level teams are continually setting new records in their respective fields. While providing robust support services, we also learn from and adopt advanced innovation concepts from these exemplary teams, fostering Guizhou's technological strengths and laying a solid foundation for technological innovation.
Secondly, we promote technological innovation by leveraging our resource endowments and industrial structures. Mr. Li has already introduced Guizhou's resource endowments and industrial layout. We are committed to utilizing our resource advantages and industrial base, stimulating the vitality of enterprises as innovative main entities and aligning technological solutions with industrial demands. We are implementing six major strategic technological initiatives, which includes nurturing strategic scientific capabilities, achieving breakthroughs in mineral exploration, advancing mineral processing technologies, transitioning the energy industry to green and low-carbon development, supporting modern, efficient mountain agriculture and empowering industries through digitalization. By maintaining our continuous efforts, we have achieved new results. For instance, our breakthroughs in mineral exploration technology have enabled Guizhou to play a more crucial role in ensuring national resource and energy security as well as enhancing the resilience of supply chains and industrial chains.
Additionally, we focus on competitive strengths to advance technological innovation. We coordinate technological platforms, technologies, personnel, funds and policies, working to increase the quality and efficiency of technological innovation. Currently, we are integrating and reorganizing previously scattered technological platforms, and building a number of high-level technological innovation platforms. The national key laboratory for green pesticides established in Guizhou has made significant progress, especially in talent aggregation, technological breakthroughs, new product development and the transformation and industrialization of scientific achievements. Moving forward, we will continue to strengthen the construction of platforms.
At the same time, we recognize that our existing technological capabilities are insufficient to support the modernization of Guizhou's industrial system. Going forward, we will continue to advance major initiatives such as "Introducing Science and Technology to Guizhou," "Academicians' Trip to Guizhou," and "East-West Collaboration," actively introducing high-quality innovative resources from various fields to jointly contribute to Guizhou's technological innovation and high-quality development. We sincerely appreciate your interest and support for Guizhou's technological endeavors and hope you will continue to follow our technological innovation efforts. Thank you!
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Shou Xiaoli:
Let's continue with the questions. Okay, two more journalists have raised their hands. These will be the last two questions.
Farmers' Daily:
Specialty high-quality agricultural products from Guizhou have established a strong reputation and competitive edge in the market. Could you please tell us what work Guizhou has undertaken and what progress has been made in developing rural industries with local features and promoting the strengthening of the province's agriculture? Thank you.
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your questions. Mr. Luo Qiang will answer these questions.
Luo Qiang:
Guizhou has a unique mountainous, vertical climate, leading to longer growth cycles for our agricultural products, making them exceptionally flavorful and healthy. The distinct taste of the meat and vegetables here is deeply loved by consumers. In recent years, we have fully leveraged this advantage, targeted market demands and selected a number of key industries to develop based on our existing industrial base. We have witnessed the remarkable transformation of our "local specialties" into a new engine for promoting rural revitalization.
We have focused on variety, quality and brand to promote the expansion of industries with local features, improve quality and efficiency, and achieve better development. For instance, Guizhou Matcha, which Mr. Li Bingjun just mentioned, already holds more than 60 patents and has passed over 500 EU tests. Jiangkou County, situated at the foot of Fanjing Mountain and a former national-level poverty-stricken county, is now known as the "World Matcha Super Factory" thanks to matcha, helping nearly 100,000 local tea farmers increase their incomes.
We have made significant efforts to cultivate and strengthen business entities. Leveraging the advantages of leading enterprises in terms of capital, talent, technology and information, we have focused on the cultivation of varieties at the front end and market sales at the back end to promote a comprehensive upgrading of our agricultural sector. By the end of last year, we have cultivated 12 national-level leading tea enterprises, ranking second in the country. Over the past five years, the number of our edible fungi-related enterprises has doubled, the annual average growth of the comprehensive output value for cacti has exceeded 30% and chili products have occupied nearly 70% of the domestic market share.
We insist on maintaining farmers' primary role in planting and breeding. We are ensuring that farmers take the lead in areas where they excel to reduce production costs. By unleashing their initiative, we make industrial development more sustainable. In the next few days, the honey plum from Liuma Town in Zhenning County, Guizhou, will hit the market. It has transitioned from an unknown "countryside fruit" to a "star" in the fruit world. This is the result of farmers choosing and expanding the right industry. Now, residents of the village enjoy modern homes and cars. Liuma Town has also proudly joined the ranks of China's towns with a characteristic industry generating an annual output value of at least 1 billion yuan.
Among the agricultural products from Guizhou, its beef has become well-known, its tea leaves have gone international, its small chili peppers have become a major industry and its honey plums have let farmers experience the "sweet taste of success," making people's lives increasingly prosperous. We will continue to work hard to grow and strengthen these industries with local features, leading more people to increase their income and become wealthy. Thank you.
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Shou Xiaoli:
Alright, last question.
China Daily:
It is understood that Guizhou is constructing a new high ground for an open inland economy, which is also a positioning given to Guizhou by the central government. As an inland province in western China, how will Guizhou promote high-level domestic and international opening-up as well as better serve and integrate into the new national development pattern? Thank you!
Li Bingjun:
Thank you for your question, I will answer this. As an inland province in western China, Guizhou, which is not along a river, the sea or the border, has relatively lacked in objective conditions for opening-up in the past. However, with the deep implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, especially the opening of the China-Laos Railway and the accelerated construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, Guizhou's opening-up pattern has fundamentally changed. Now, westward from Guizhou, through the China-Laos Railway to Vientiane, Laos, we can reach ASEAN countries; northward, through the China-Europe freight train and China-Central Asia freight train, we can reach Central Asia, North Asia and Europe directly; southward, through the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and the Guizhou-Guangdong transportation channels, we can easily reach the sea. It can be said that Guizhou's opening-up pattern has undergone profound changes, and the conditions for developing an open inland economy have been met.
As Guizhou embarks on its opening-up journey, it is crucial to define a clear direction. Given the current changes in the opening-up pattern, we believe that pursuing opportunities around the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), particularly in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia, holds the most potential. In the past two years, Guizhou's total import and export volume with countries along the BRI has increased by an annual average of 28.4%, and with ASEAN it has increased by 33.8%. Last month, I led a delegation to visit Indonesia, Thailand and Laos. The political and business communities in these three countries are very optimistic about the prospects for cooperation with Guizhou, which has led to a number of practical cooperative achievements.
Guizhou's opening-up requires the development of inland ports. By concentrating our efforts on developing the Guiyang International Land Port, we are transferring the functions of coastal ports inland, enabling direct export clearance and direct import entry. This has greatly improved overall customs clearance efficiency. We will further enhance the functionality of the inland port, providing businesses with more convenient "one-stop" services, establishing it as a major international logistics hub in southwest China.
Guizhou's opening-up necessitates the export of more specialty and high-quality goods, as well as increased imports of such quality goods. Currently, items such as Guizhou's baijiu, tires, chemical fertilizers, new energy battery materials, agricultural products and guitars are very popular overseas.
Going forward, we will continue to promote opening-up, enhance the development of our export industries and improve our international channels, platforms and environment. We will resolutely follow the Belt and Road Initiative and go global, contributing to the creation and construction of a new development pattern in Guizhou. Thank you!
Shou Xiaoli:
Thank you, Mr. Li. Thank you to all the speakers and participating journalists. Today's press conference will end here. Goodbye, everyone.
Translated and edited by Wang Yiming, Wang Wei, Mi Xingang, Huang Shan, Yang Xi, Liu Sitong, Liu Caiyi, Wang Yanfang, Li Xiao, Wang Qian, Wang Ziteng, Liu Jianing, Ma Yujia, Zhang Rui, Li Huiru, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Rochelle Beiersdorfer. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.
