It is time to boost economic development of China's central regions, says an article in the Oriental Morning Post. The following is an excerpt:

These regions have the right conditions for further development. Manufacturing costs are rising in the rich coastal regions, while low-end goods produced in the central regions like Jiangxi and Anhui provinces are rapidly growing.

However, the central regions are not following the export-oriented economic development mode of the eastern regions. Jiangxi and Anhui target their low-end products to other regions of China, especially the rich coastal ones.

Manufacturing costs like labor, water and electricity are conspicuously on the rise in the coastal regions, affording opportunities for the central regions to develop their export-related industries. Their most competitive edge - is low labor costs.

The average monthly salary in Anhui is 32 percent lower than that of Guangdong. Moreover, transportation in the central regions of China is very good and convenient. Jiujiang in Jiangxi and Wuhu in Anhui are both port cities along the Yangtze River, offering easy transportation of products to the container ports of Shanghai.

Manufacturers have noticed the central regions offer a good alternate for them to move their bases there from the coastal regions. The production of refrigerators and washing machines in Anhui has exceeded that of some coastal regions.

The huge domestic market and the unbalanced development among different regions decide that China's economic growth should not completely depend on exports.

(China Daily March 6, 2008)