By He Shan
China.org.cn staff reporter

A slogan at the gate of a local development zone reads that "Enviornmental protection is more important than economic development". [China.org.cn]

The geography of economics has changed as growth seeps inland from the coastal areas that have been the engine of China's phenomenal growth over the past three decades.

Driven by the impetus of some manufacturers to move their production to lower-cost sites as the global economic downturn has greatly eroded profits, Heyuan has begun to offer a welcome.

Heyuan is a northern city in Guangdong Province and for a long time its economy has lagged behind other cities because it is not so close to the major concentrations of business in China's booming Pearl River Delta.

"In the past, I regret to say, we were left behind by a lot of eastern cities, but Heyuan is determined to play its role," said the city's mayor, Liu Xiaohua, in an interview.

ZTE, a leading Chinese telecoms equipment provider based in Shenzhen, has already considered setting up a new manufacturing base as well as a research and development center in Heyuan, as part of the local government's plan to turn the city into China's telecoms town. Electric utility bill there is about 70 percent of levels in Shenzhen, which abuts Hong Kong and is one of China's traditional growth engines.

Heyuan is hardly a household name overseas compared to places like Dongguan and Shenzhen that are in the vanguard of China's growth, but its own recent growth has become a bright spot in Guangdong's economy.

The shift, which to some extent resembles America's westward migration in the 19th century, is helping to narrow the income gap between China's vast, neglected interior and relatively well-off coastal provinces that have attracted most of the investment coming from the government and companies.

Robust development in the past 30 years was concentrated in the east, leaving a lot of opportunities untapped, mainly in the interior.

The experience of companies like ZTE will support the fact that the inland could turn out to be one of the next wellsprings of China's economic growth.

Yet, unlike some cities merely giving away more land and building even bigger industrial parks to woo business, Heyuan is trying a different approach to growth – environmental protection has greater weight than economic development.

The landlocked city of no more than 4 million people is blessed with abundant natural resources and a good environment. It is the only city free of acid rain in Guangdong. Local people consider their environment to be one of life's blessings.

When assessing a company that wants to settle down in the city, the local government applies very strict green standards so as to discourage polluting factories, although many people here are still not as wealthy as those in the coastal cities.

Liu Xiaohua, said proudly that they have held off energy-exhaustive industries like ceramics to bring in greener, high-tech enterprises.

"We will continue to make a priority of environmental protection in the future," the mayor said.

(China.org.cn April 28, 2009)