Develop Lijiang, Join Forces to Create A Brighter Tomorrow

He Zixing, Party Secretary, Lijiang Naxi Nationality Autonomous County
Yang Tingren, Magistrate, Lijiang Naxi Nationality Autonomous County

Located in the northwest of Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, Lijiang Naxi Nationality Autonomous County borders with Ninglang and Yongsheng Counties in the east, Heqing and Jianchuan Counties in the south and Lanping and Weixi Counties in the west, while in the north across the Jinsha River, it overlooks Zhongdian County and Muli County of Sichuan Province. Lijiang County measures 155.7 kilometers from south to north and 112 kilometers from east to west. Territory of the County is 7,648 square kilometers, and is consisted of 24 townships or towns inhabited by 330,000 people respectively of the Naxi, Han, Pumi, Yi, Miao and Tibetan ethnic groups. Lijiang is the government seat of the Prefecture. As the important gateway of northwest Yunnan, the county is penetrated by National Highway 214 which leads to Tibet in the north and Dali in the south, and the county thus show strategic importance ever since the historic times. Because that Lijiang airport has been opened to air traffic, computerized telecommunication service has been put into operation and that Guangtong-Dali railway is to be opened to traffic in the near future, the county has gained easy access to all parts of China. The highest point of Lijiang County is the 5,596-meter-high Jade Dragon Snow Mountain which stands in the close vicinity of Lijiang County seat. The lowest place of Lijiang County is the river valley which is only 1,219 meter above sea level, along which cascade hydropower stations are under exploration and planning and will soon be built in the middle reaches of the Jinsha River. The segment of Jinsha River flowing in Lijiang County measures 447 kilometers. Because this river segment has water drop of over 700 meters with an average flow volume of 49.1 billion cubic meters which is enough for several large hydropower stations, Lijiang County is one of China's areas with abundant hydropower potential. Annual mean temperature of Lijiang County is 13.5^.c, and the County enjoys pleasant and diversified weather which is neither too cold in winter nor too hot in summer.
Located in a remote area, Lijiang is a piece of "clean land" which is free from pollution even today. The County is renowned for its magnificently beautiful natural scenes. The high mountains and deep valleys of the County are deposited with mineral treasures awaiting for development. Just to name a few, Lijiang's mineral treasures include copper, iron, tungsten, aluminum, potassium, coal, sand gold and marble, all of which show extremely rich reserves. The County is also praised as the "Kingdom of Plants", "Homeland of Medicinal Herbal Plants", "Suzhou on the Plateau" and "Oriental Switzerland". Mountains, rivers, flowers, ancient towns, culture, music, paintings, special food and industrious people of Lijiang County have woven into a uniquely colorful picture of ethnic folklore. The intense traditions and folklore of Lijiang County which show unique characteristics of the ethnic nationalities as well as ancient Chinese culture have won admiration of people from all over.
The devastating earthquake which hit Lijiang on February 3, 1996 had brought about unforgettable injuries to Lijiang people, yet what is even more deeply implanted in the hearts of Lijiang people are the considerate care of the Party and the State as well as the selfless help from friends all over the world. Presently, Lijiang people are encountered with hard-to-get opportunities of historic significance such as the overall post-earthquake re-construction, implementation of the poverty alleviation projects organized by the central and provincial governments, application for entering Dayan Town of Lijiang into the World Cultural Heritage listings, comprehensive development of the tourism and agricultural resources of northwest Yunnan Province, development of the biological resources with food resources as the key link and the hydropower resource development focusing on the middle and upper reaches of the Jinsha River. People of Lijiang County are determined to seize this opportunity for further development, while the following 6 targets are set for the 9th Five-Year Plan period of Lijiang based on the yearly GNP growth of 8.6% already reached in the 8th Five-Year Plan period:
I. Strive for substantial growth of the overall economic strength. Efforts must be made to maintain Lijiang's GNP growth at a rate higher than that of Yunnan Province, while annual progressive growth rate of 12% must be reached. The financial revenue must be kept at the growth rate of 10.2%, so as to guarantee the economic growth of Lijiang enters the foremost ranks in Yunnan Province. Annual gross grain output of Lijiang must be kept at a rate of 1.6%, so as to yield 139,550 tons of grain by the end of the 9th Five-Year Plan period.
II. Basically establish in Lijiang the 4 backbone industries respectively of tourism, development of biological resources, forests with fruit trees in particular and animal husbandry. Expected output value of those 4 backbone industries will be RMB 1 billion.
III. Based on the introduction of RMB 500 million of foreign funds used to develop the tourism facilities on both sides of the Middle Xueshan (Snow Mountain) Road, efforts will be made to pushing the opening-up of Lijiang to a higher level and to seeking for a breakthrough in the introduction of foreign funds so as to form the new framework of all-around opening-up of Lijiang County.
IV. Strive for vigorous development of all social undertakings such as education, public health and others. Lijiang County will basically popularize the 9-year compulsory education and eliminate illiteracy among the school-age children and young people. Grassroots-level health-care system will be basically established for the entire population of Lijiang County. Contribution rate of science and technology in the development of national economy, industry and agriculture must be upgraded to greater than 40%, 45% and 42%, respectively, so as to build Lijiang into one of the demonstration counties of China in popularizing and implementation of science and technology. Efforts must be made to strive for obvious improvements of facilities for education, public health, culture and sport undertakings. Coverage of the broadcast and television networks must be greater than 95% and 90%, respectively. Natural population growth rate must be kept under 13%0 and the gross population of Lijiang County must be kept within 369,000.
V. Strive for greater improvements in the infrastructure facilities. Based on the earmarked funds of RMB 500 million and locally raised funds of RMB 500 million, efforts must be made to gain greater support from the higher-level governments and funds of foreign investment. By taking into consideration the post-earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction, greater efforts will made to eliminate the restricting factors exerted by the under-developed transportation, power supply and telecommunication facilities on the economic construction and social development and to quicken the pace of urbanization.
VI. People's living standards of Lijiang County must reach the well-off level. Calculated on the price of 1995, the gross per capita GDP output value of Lijiang County must reach RMB 3,440 Yuan by the end of this century. The per capita annual income of the urban inhabitants must reach RMB 5,100 Yuan, and the per capita annual net income of the farmers must reach 1,220 Yuan. Efforts must be made to provide basic food and clothing to the 75,000 poverty-stricken people.
Lijiang is a land full of treasures because it boasts unique natural resources and other advantages. We will seize the opportunity to improve the infrastructure facilities, ease up relevant policies, introduce more foreign investments and draw in more talented people so as to enlist support from all over for the development. We know we are entrusted with an arduous task and there is still a long way to go to realize those tasks. Based in Yunnan, we are ready to open to the outside world. It is our sincere wish that our old and new friends would join forces with us in developing Lijiang and creating a brighter tomorrow.