China's first research report on the socioeconomic development
strategy of China's Hebei
Province, drawn up by Chinese and foreign experts with aid from
the Asian Development Bank (ADB), was released in Beijing on
Wednesday.
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The research report is the product of a technical assistance (TA)
project approved by the bank in November 2002, and financed with a
US$600,000 grant from its Asian Development Fund, according to the
ADB. The TA cost a total of US$800,000, of which the Hebei
provincial government contributed US$200,000.
This is the first time the bank has assisted a Chinese province
in preparing its development strategy.
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Hebei Province in north China, despite its coastal location and
proximity to Beijing and Tianjin, has lagged behind other coastal
provinces over the last two decades in terms of output growth,
employment growth, economic diversification, productivity
improvements, and social development.
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The ADB TA project is expected to help the provincial government
formulate a socioeconomic development strategy that takes advantage
of Hebei's easy access to Beijing, Tianjin, and thereby global
markets.
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In about 11 months, Chinese and foreign experts working for the TA
project produced a four-volume report which comprises strategic
considerations for Hebei Province's development; strategic
considerations from an international perspective; and sector
studies including poverty alleviation, the environment, industrial
restructuring, urbanization, Bohai coastal development, hi-tech
development, tourism, investment financing, and fiscal reform; and
17 international case studies in seven sectors.
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According to Guo Gengmao, deputy governor of Hebei Province,
experts from Shanghai, Canada and the United States who worked on
the report were invited through international tenders.
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Peng Longyun, economics officer with the ADB's Resident Mission in
China, said: "In fact, the Hebei government used the TA report as a
reference document in formulating its 11th Five-Year Plan for
Economic and Social Development."
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So far the ADB's total lending to Hebei Province stands at US$766
million for two expressway projects, one environmental protection
project, a power plant, and one wastewater treatment project.
(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2005)