Xia Deren was born in Dalian in 1955 and educated to doctoral level (finance) from Northeast China Finance and Economics University. A former university professor, vice mayor of Dalian and member of the Standing Committee of Liaoning Province Party Committee, Xia was elected mayor of Dalian and vice governor of Liaoning Province in January 2003. Recently he spoke to the weekly publication Sanlian Shenghuo Zhoukan.
Sanlian: The government of Dalian began to implement the management of its city very early on compared with other cities in the country and its construction is seen as a model for other developing cities around China. Would you tell us what it means to manage a city?
Xia Deren: In some ways, the government management of a city is like any commercial project. The goal (of government) in offering products and services to a society is to create a favorable commercial environment in order to stimulate investment that leads to increased economic prosperity. This in turn means the better the quality of public services and product, the more industries are attracted to engage in business. But the city is also an attractive tourist destination and this stimulates consumption as well as its local GDP. The government should try to resolve further problems on how to make the city even more attractive to tourism and the consumer by raising its reputation through public services. These are some of the ideas that go into managing a city.
Sanlian: Dalian has been an industrial base for northeast China for decades. How has it improved its competitiveness in a new and more economic environment?
Xia Deren: Thanks to the speedy development of cities all over China, the Chinese economy is doing really well. Generally speaking, to improve overall competitiveness of Dalian, we should give top priority to its functions and industries. To continue to operate the city?s industries well the government needs greater foreign investment. It also needs to strengthen its port transportation capacity as 70 percent of the international trade of northeast China is conducted through Dalian. Moreover, it is the only city in northeastern China that has foreign invested banks and a foreign insurance industry as well as a developing international financial center.
Sanlian: Many people like to put Dalian and Qingdao together and make comparisons between the two cities. However, it seems that Dalian has not produced as many successful brand products as Qingdao. In your opinion, what should Dalian do about this competition from other coastal cities in the future?
Xia Deren: Dalian?s principle advantage still lies in its location close to northeast China and in its transport logistics industry as well as its trade and finance industry. Dalian could offer favorable services to the economic development of northeast China as it connects widely to hinterland areas which other coastal cities do not. I believe that after several years of effort, Dalian?s industry will be highly competitive compared with other places.
Sanlian: Previously Dalian had a goal not to be the ?biggest? but the ?best?. Now it is known widely as ?Big Dalian?. Is this a signal of a change in the city?s development?
Xia Deren: The two ideas have no contradiction in essence: the former emphasizing the idea of strength and excellence, the latter, given at the end of last year, referring to the same issue. Of course, to develop a small city into a metropolis needs time and a system that works. It is important to solve our different problems according to different historical periods of development. For example, the former problems of old industry base reconstruction (pollution, redundancy and relocation) that were solved as a main task for us before the 16th CPC National Congress address China?s current focus on how to build an all-round affluent society in China. The purpose of putting forward ?Big Dalian? as a name is to speed up of the city?s economic development.
Sanlian: What impression do you want people in China and abroad to have of Dalian?
Xia Deren: I think it should be seen as a captivating city and above all, as beautiful, fashionable, graceful, clean and good to live in as well as a place admired by the world. Second, the city has positive economics and a sound legal framework; relatively low costs for business and, third, as the citizens are open-minded and educated to a high level, the people are very friendly and open to new ideas and things. In short, I hope Dalian will give the impression of a charming metropolis.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao April 11, 2003)
