Deputy Li Fashen is a passionate exponent of the development of
western China and at the First Session of the 10th NPC he is
putting forward some of his ideas. As president of
Lanzhou
University, for 10 years, itself situated in the west, he has
some real experience of what he is talking about.
"In the west, universities are like sand stations attempting to
battle with the endless encroachment of the desert," says Li
Fashen. As university president he is familiar with the strategic
position occupied by these organizations.
His university has done pretty well in that regard and can boast
courses in many disciplines that include organic chemistry,
ecology, geography and regional economics. The university also
specializes in research areas that reflect local concerns such as
atmosphere studies, plant physiology and glacial studies to name a
few.
The university has always tried to hold true to its slogan as a
first-class university with a western Chinese perspective. Li
Fashen was born and grew up there and naturally holds strong
personal feelings of his homeland. He hopes for great changes.
As
a deputy for several terms, he has delivered many congress
proposals which reflect his interest in the relationship between
the east and west of China. He believes that the differences in
place reflect differences in development. This gap he suggests
reflects the development task at hand and can be seen in the
government's projects to turn farm land into forestry and
grassland, upgrade infrastructures and deepen reform. He says:
"The aim of developing the west campaign can be understood in terms
of filling the development gap and harmonizing the development of
the whole nation."
After years of observation and contemplation, he points out that
the government has now begun to address the issues of the
differences between the two parts of China but there are still huge
disparities between economic growth, GDP and average income in the
two areas.
Speaking in broad terms, he suggests that the solutions lie with
government plans and puts forward the idea of a warning system to
tackle imbalanced economic development all over China and a
critical index system that would allow departments to know exactly
what is happening and why it is happening in concerned parts of
China.
However, the deputy is happy with the 16th Party Congress report
which mentioned a greater and fairer distribution of development
finance. He has suggested that state support should invest more in
the cultural infrastructure of Gansu Province, maintaining its
original policy to favor the province as a place of development
because of the high proportion of ethnicities that occupy the
region.
(China.org.cn by Staff Reporter Yan Xinxia, translated by Li
Liangdu, March 17, 2003)