Shandong Province will see nominal GDP growth of 10 percent this year and will achieve the goals set out in its 11th five-year plan, Shandong Governor Jiang Daming Sunday told a panel discussion on Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report.

Shandong Governor Jiang Daming.

The province's nominal GDP grew 11.9 percent to 3.38 trillion yuan (US$495 billion) in 2009, the 18th consecutive year of double-digit growth.

Shandong ranks third among Chinese provinces, behind Guangdong and Jiangsu, in terms of GDP. To keep up its growth momentum, it has published an ambitious plan to build an Eco-Economic Region in the Yellow River Delta, an area of 26.5 thousand square kilometers, with a population of 9.85 million. The Delta includes China's second largest oilfield and one of the country's most extensive wetland areas.

The State Council approved the development plan last December and a budget of 1.5 trillion yuan has been allocated.

Another proposal is to develop the area around Qingdao as a "blue economy" zone. "This would give an added boost to the province's most developed region. Shandong has many advantages in terms of resources, expertise, science and technology that make it ideal for developing a blue economy. We hope the National Development and Reform Commission will include this proposal in the next five-year plan," said Governor Jiang.

This year, Shandong is highlighting five areas for development; new energy, new materials, new medicine, new information, and marine technology development. Jiang outlined Shandong's new energy proposals for the 12th five-year plan. Currently the highest energy consumer among Chinese provinces, Shandong plans to increase the share of new energy in its energy mix to 5-10 percent. "Developing new energy is one of the goals of Shandong's economic restructuring," said Jiang.

As regards industrial restructuring, Shandong has devoted 60 percent of its industrial investment to equipment and technology upgrades for the past several years. It is cooperating with western provinces to transfer over-capacity industries, such as agricultural equipment manufacturing and chemical fertilizer, to the west.

Shandong's urbanization level is 48.3 percent, lower than the average for eastern costal provinces. It plans to reach 50 percent by 2012, and 60 percent by 2020. "With over 94 million people, urbanization will open up a new consumer market and make a great contribution to the economy," said Jiang.

"Shandong is a microcosm of China. Its GDP is big in absolute terms but small in per capita terms. And there is an imbalance in development between east and west. The province has several regional development programs, including the Yellow River Delta Zone, the Blue Economy Zone, the Jinan Capital City Cluster and the Southern Economic Belt. How to balance development among them is our primary focus. We are working on an integrated plan for resource allocation, infrastructure, transportation, and telecommunications for these regions," said Governor Jiang.

Increasing household incomes and boosting consumption is another goal. Last year, Shandong's retail sales of consumer goods increased by 19.1 percent, 4 percent more than the national average.