These deputies of the National Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), who are in the current First Session of the 10th NPC in this national capital Beijing, are optimistic about the future of their SEZs, by acknowledging the fact that these pilot areas are much more international and market-oriented thanks to the policies adopted for the SEZs more than two decades ago.

As a result, these SEZs could continue to play an exemplary role to other parts of the country as their economic system and rules are more compatible to the framework and regulations of the WTO, said Dong Mingzhu, an entrepreneur from Zhuhai city, in south China's Guangdong Province.

Li Chunhong, mayor of Shantou City in Guangdong, said the SEZs have accomplished the tasks entrusted by the central government to pilot the market-oriented reform and opening to the outside world over the past two decades, accumulated a wealth of experience and built up a good investment environment useful for their future development. "The SEZs should no longer rely on preferential policies endorsed by the central government," he said, "they must create new wealth by taping the advantages of their own."

Instead of turning to special policies and aid from the central government as before, Yu Youjun, mayor of Shenzhen said that the SEZs should probe into how to further deepening reforms and expanding the opening-up, he said, adding that "it constitutes the new mission for the SEZs."

In eight years from 1980 to 1988, China established the SEZs in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen cities, and Hainan Province. Since then, these SEZs have scored substantial progress and played a pioneering role in the country's reform and opening drive.

After more than two decades of growth, Shenzhen last year recorded 16 percent of China's total imports and exports and generated more than 80 billion yuan (about US$9.63 billion) in taxes, and turned some 50 billion yuan (about US$6.02 billion) to the State.

The development of SEZs are imbalanced, nevertheless, and a few SEZs, such as Hainan island Province, have lagged behind other open cities in the Zhujiang (Pearl) River Delta and Yangtze River Delta areas, because of various factors.

The reality has prompted Hainan to readjust its plan and define a new objective for the future development.

"The Hainan SEZ is an agricultural province, a province for farmers," said Wang Qishan, secretary of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), "it will be turned into an all-season lush green garden as well as a scenic tourist resort in China."

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2003)