Adhere to the overall planning of development and security-implementing the spirit of the symposium on promoting the development of the western region in the new era - the fourth urban agglomeration in the series | Xi Jinping | Summary

Beijing, May 14th. Title: Adhere to coordinated development and security - Implementing the spirit of the symposium on promoting the development of the western region in the new era, the fourth in a series of reviews

Gobi desert, snowy plateaus, rolling rivers...the western region, which occupies more than 70% of my country's land area, is the cornerstone of national security.

On the afternoon of April 23, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on promoting the development of the western region in the new era in Chongqing and delivered an important speech. He pointed out that we must persist in coordinating development and security and improve security capabilities in key areas such as energy resources.

To thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech, all western provinces must focus on the two major issues of development and security, base on their own resource endowments, accelerate the construction of new energy systems, actively explore regional coordinated development, and promote industrial agglomeration.

This is a photovoltaic power station photographed in the Photovoltaic Industrial Park of Delingha City, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province on April 23, 2024. Photo by reporter Zhang Long

Providing a good energy rice bowl and creating an energy resources highland in the western region

The western region is rich in resources and the rapid development of clean energy has built a solid security barrier for the high-quality development of my country's economy.

At the symposium, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that it is necessary to accelerate the construction of a new energy system and make a number of important national energy bases bigger and stronger. Strengthen the interconnection of pipeline networks and enhance the capability of “transmitting electricity from west to east”.

"High-quality development is inseparable from high-level safety." Luo Bixiong, chairman of China Electric Power Engineering Consulting Group, believes that the current international energy shortage problem is becoming increasingly prominent. my country's fossil energy resources are limited and its oil and gas are highly dependent on foreign countries. These problems are intertwined and pose challenges to my country's energy security. The key to solving the dilemma lies in finding sufficient alternative energy sources, and vigorously developing clean energy is the way out.

In Ningxia, the construction of the Ningxia Tengger "Shagehuang" 2.5 million kilowatt wind power base project of the National Energy Group is progressing steadily. This project is one of the first batch of wind power projects in my country's largest "Shagehuang" energy base.

Looking to the west, patches of blue "photovoltaic sea" are accelerating in the Tengger and Badain Jaran deserts.

In Sichuan, during the May Day holiday, the Sichuan-Chongqing 1,000 kV UHV AC project entered the peak period of tower assembly and line laying, and nearly 10,000 construction workers were working on the front line.

This is the Baihetan Hydropower Station taken on September 18, 2023. Photo by reporter Chen Xinbo

Sichuan has now completed and put into operation the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai, Yazhong-Jiangxi, Baihetan-Jiangsu and other UHV transmission projects, which are connected to the East China, Central China, Northwest China and other power grids, becoming the main force in the "West-to-East Power Transmission".

In the high mountains and ridges of the southwest, great rivers flow endlessly. The construction of hydropower bases in the Jinsha River, Yalong River and other river basins is in full swing.

On February 6, 2023, a gas transmission worker conducted an inspection in the installation area of ​​the first station of the Tarim Oilfield West-East Gas Transmission. Photo by reporter Li Xiang

"Accelerating the development of southwest hydropower will provide a strong guarantee for promoting the transformation of clean energy." Liu Zehong, vice chairman of the Global Energy Internet Development Cooperation Organization, said that my country's hydropower technology can develop about 600 million kilowatts, and the current development rate is about 50%. The development part is mainly concentrated in the southwest region.

"Transmitting electricity from west to east" and "transmitting gas from west to east"... A steady stream of clean energy is transported to the north and south of the Yangtze River, ensuring stable economic and social development across the country.

"Coal transportation from the north to the south" and "coal transportation from Xinjiang to the outside world"... The western region is rich in mineral resources, with various types of mineral reserves accounting for more than half of the country. "While clean energy is booming, coal, oil, gas, rare metals and other mineral industries must also enter the fast lane of high-end, diversified, and low-carbon development to further inject green momentum into economic development." Sinopec Southwest Petroleum Bureau Party Secretary Guo Tonglou said.

Snowy plateau, Chinese water tower. The western region is both a resource-rich area and an ecologically fragile area. It is also the birthplace of the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Lancang River and other rivers. It shoulders the important task of building a strong national ecological security barrier, which is not only related to the sustainable development of the western region, but also directly It is related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. "The next step is to adhere to local conditions, classified implementation, and rational development and utilization of water resources." said Chen Dan, deputy director of the Water Resources Management Division of the Ningxia Water Resources Department.

The high-quality development of the western region cannot be separated from the strong assistance of east-west cooperation.

At the symposium, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that it is necessary to innovate cross-regional industrial collaboration and optimize layout mechanisms, and orderly undertake the gradient transfer of industries.

Lu Gang, director of the Energy Strategy and Planning Institute of the State Grid Energy Research Institute, believes that under the "double carbon" goal, it is necessary to promote "westward use of electricity and westward shift of industries" to adapt to the large-scale development of new energy in the western region. New energy The huge market will drive related industries to move to the west. At the same time, industrial transfer can also promote the local consumption of new energy.

On May 1, 2023, in the Hemei e-commerce workshop of Minning Town, Yongning County, Yinchuan City, Ningxia, staff were packaging products. Photo by reporter Yang Zhisen

In Minning Town, Yongning County, Ningxia, the construction site of the centralized energy storage power station, the first "green power town" in the northwest, is in full swing.

"Minning Town is rich in land and power resources. In 2023, Xiamen, Fujian Province and Yongning County will jointly build the Minning Industrial Park, introduce Fujian big data companies, and accelerate the industrial upgrading of Minning Town." said Tian Peng, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Minning Town.

In recent years, the western region has introduced high-quality enterprises and resources from the east to develop emerging industries according to local conditions. Special industries such as electronic information, new energy, and digital economy have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. The regional GDP has increased from 20.5 trillion yuan in 2019. By 2023, it will reach 26.9 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 4.9%, and high-quality development has made solid progress.

Under the increasingly frequent linkage between the east and the west, the western region is accelerating towards the "opening frontier".

In 2023, Yunnan and Shanghai will explore "Shanghai-Dunnan N" collaboration models such as "Shanghai Enterprise Yunnan Resources" and "Shanghai R&D Yunnan Manufacturing". Shanghai Lingang Economic Development Co., Ltd. and Kunming Economic Development Zone will jointly build the Shanghai-Dunnan Lingang Kunming Science and Technology City. "Packaging" Shanghai experience to Yunnan.

From west to east, from the plateau to the seaside, the mountains and rivers are magnificent and have a long history. East-West cooperation is embarking on a new journey with a new look, contributing new strength to the realization of Chinese-style modernization.

The accelerated rise of urban agglomerations leads the high-quality development of the western region

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the symposium that we should vigorously promote the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle, actively cultivate urban agglomerations, develop and expand a number of provincial sub-central cities, and promote infrastructure connectivity and public service sharing between cities.

This is the Chongqing section of the Liangkai Expressway in Liangping District, Chongqing, taken on April 28, 2024. Photo by reporter Tang Yi

In the Chengdu-Chongqing region, on land, there are 21 inter-provincial highways under construction or completed between Sichuan and Chongqing; on the water, Wanzhou Xintian Port and Fuling Longtou Port have realized railway access...

Accounting for 1.9% of the country's land area and producing more than 6% of the regional GDP, the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle provides a sample for the regional integration construction of large-scale development in the new era.

Starting from the center of Xi'an, Shaanxi, drive 30 kilometers to Xianyang.

"The integration of Xi'an and Xianyang will form a powerful driving engine in the Guanzhong urban agglomeration, achieving the goal of leading the northwest, radiating the west, and serving the whole country." said Wang Kai, deputy director of the Xi'an Municipal Development and Reform Commission.

On April 20, 2022, staff assembled new energy vehicles at the automobile assembly plant in BYD Caotang Industrial Park in Xi'an, Shaanxi. Photo by reporter Liu Xiao

With the new energy vehicle company BYD settling in Xi'an, a number of companies have settled in the surrounding areas of Xi'an, promoting the accelerated rise of the new energy vehicle industry cluster.

The road network continues to expand and industries gather at an accelerated pace. Many provinces in the west have built new industrial structures, and a number of emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, and big data have gradually taken shape, forming an industrial agglomeration effect.

Walking into the Chaerhan factory area of ​​Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd., you will see endless salt fields and salt mining ships cruising in the middle. The local area uses new technologies to "squeeze out" the rich mineral resources of the salt lake, shifting from the development of a single element of potassium to the cascade development and recycling of magnesium, lithium, sodium, chlorine and other elements, and has initially formed a covering of positive and negative electrode materials, electrolytes , lithium battery industry chain for lithium battery manufacturing.

Industries are clenched into fists, and cities are accelerating into “clusters”.

The interactive development of urban agglomerations such as Beibu Gulf, Lanzhou-Xining, Hohhot, Baotou, Eyu, Ningxia Yanhuang, and the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains has also injected strong impetus into the development of the western region in the new era.