(A closer look at China) China’s development signals from Xi Jinping’s trip to Hunan

　　China News Service, Beijing, March 22: China’s development signals from Xi Jinping’s trip to Hunan

　　China News Service reporter Liang Xiaohui Huang Yuqin

　　The spring equinox is full of life. From March 18 to 21, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited Changsha, Changde and other places for inspection and research. This is Xi Jinping’s fourth visit to Hunan since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and it is also Xi Jinping’s first local inspection after the National Two Sessions this year, which releases an important signal for China’s development.

From March 18 to 21, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected Hunan. On the afternoon of the 18th, Xi Jinping inspected BASF Shanshan Battery Materials Co., Ltd., a Sino-German joint venture. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yan Yan

　　——Enter Sino-foreign joint ventures in scientific and technological innovation and pay attention to two major focuses.

　　On the first day of this trip to Hunan, Xi Jinping walked into BASF Shanshan Battery Materials Co., Ltd., a Sino-foreign joint venture in scientific and technological innovation, to learn about the local situation of accelerating the development of new productive forces and expanding high-level opening up to the outside world.

　　At present, the development of new productive forces has become one of the key focuses for China to promote high-quality development, and technological innovation is the core element of the development of new productive forces.

　　"Scientific and technological innovation and high-quality development are the keys for enterprises to continue to grow and remain invincible. Private enterprises and joint ventures can make great achievements in this aspect." Xi Jinping said during an inspection of the enterprise.

　　"Develop new productive forces in accordance with local conditions" and "strengthen the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation"... At this year's National Two Sessions, Xi Jinping made new arrangements for the development of new productive forces many times. This time in Hunan, he walked into this battery materials company and once again focused on new productivity and sent a clear message.

　　From declarations to actions, China has continued to open up to the outside world. In the eyes of the outside world, as a Sino-foreign joint venture in science and technology innovation, this company has stepped into the forefront of China's development, and the Sino-foreign marriage has joined hands to stage a story of two-way development and mutual success. "China's door to opening up will open wider and wider. We are willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other countries around the world and welcome more foreign companies to invest and develop in China." Xi Jinping inspected this enterprise and sent a clear signal to expand high-level opening up to the outside world.

　　During Xi Jinping’s inspection in Hunan, Chinese officials announced on March 19 the “Action Plan to Solidly Promote High-level Opening Up and Make Greater Efforts to Attract and Utilize Foreign Investment.” The commentary pointed out that China is currently promoting high-quality development and expanding high-level opening-up at the same frequency, constantly interpreting that "the next 'China' is still China."

Video: Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on promoting the rise of the central region in the new era, emphasizing on solidly promoting the rise of the central region from a higher starting point.

Source: CCTV.com

　　——The high-level symposium planned the rise of central China from a higher starting point.

　　During this trip to Hunan, a high-level meeting focusing on the central region and looking at the overall situation - the Symposium on Promoting the Rise of the Central Region in the New Era was held in Changsha on the 20th. This is the first time in five years that Xi Jinping has hosted a symposium on promoting the rise of the central region.

　　The central region includes Hunan and other six provinces, connecting the east to the west and connecting the south to the north. At a symposium held five years ago, someone described the central region as the “backbone”. At that time, Xi Jinping vividly said that the "backbone" of the central region should be harder and "supplemented with calcium" to play a greater supporting role.

　　At this symposium, from technological innovation to high-level opening up, from green and low-carbon development to comprehensive rural revitalization, Xi Jinping focused on the layout and put forward specific requirements around giving full play to the comparative advantages of the central region and strengthening the important functions of the central region.

　　The outside world has noticed that this time Xi Jinping has particularly emphasized the need to strengthen the connection with other major development strategies - not only with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, but also with the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the ecology of the Yellow River Basin. The integration and linkage of protection and high-quality development.

　　Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the implementation of coordinated regional development strategy has become one of the major national strategies in the new era. Some commentators say that the rise of the central region urgently needs to overlap and interact with multiple regional development strategies, so as to transform the geographical advantage of connecting the east to the west and connecting the north and the south into a development advantage that can benefit both sides.

　　Those who do not plan for the overall situation cannot plan for one area. Coordinated regional development is an important way to solve the problem of unbalanced development in China. As Xi Jinping pointed out, "Imbalance is universal, and relative balance must be promoted in development. This is the dialectics of coordinated regional development."

　　From this perspective, China is striving to play a "concerto" in which the north and south support each other, the east and west connect, and both sides benefit from each other.

From March 18 to 21, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected Hunan. This is the afternoon of the 19th. Xi Jinping inspected Gangzhongping Village, Xiejiapu Town, Dingcheng District, Changde City. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yan Yan

　　——Securing a job is an eternal issue.

　　Huguang is familiar with it, and the world is full of it. Hunan has always been an important granary of China, with rice sown area and total output ranking first in the country. It was mid-spring. During his inspection in Changde, Xi Jinping walked into the local grain production comprehensive demonstration area of ​​10,000 acres to observe the progress of seedling cultivation and spring plowing preparations.

　　During spring planting, summer plowing, autumn harvest, and winter storage, Xi Jinping went to the fields many times during critical farming periods, whether he was watching the growth of corn in Jilin or watching the moisture content of wheat in Hebei.

　　During this inspection in Hunan, how to make people rich by growing grain is an issue that Xi Jinping is concerned about. He calculated input and output accounts one by one with major grain growers, agricultural technicians, and grassroots cadres, and demanded that efforts should be made to intensive farming to further increase the yield and quality of grain.

　　Of all things, eating is the most important thing. A handful of rice and a bowl of noodles are the livelihood of thousands of households and are also related to the confidence of the country's development. Xi Jinping once pointed out that the more we face risks and challenges, the more we need to stabilize agriculture and ensure the safety of grain and important non-staple food.

　　In recent years, the international grain market has been subject to frequent fluctuations. The key to the stability of the "rice bag" lies in focusing on agriculture and not relaxing its focus on grain. During his inspection, Xi Jinping once again emphasized the issue of food security and clearly demanded that "food security must be guaranteed by ourselves, and Chinese people's rice bowls should mainly be filled with Chinese food."

　　Food is stable and the world is safe. From the Central Rural Work Conference at the end of last year to this year’s Central Document No. 1, the issue of food security has been highlighted. It can be seen that solving the problem of feeding more than one billion people has always been the top priority in state governance. When food security is fully guaranteed, China will have sufficient confidence and strategic initiative to stabilize the overall situation, adapt to the situation, and open a new game.

　　It is worth mentioning that in the first local inspection after the National Two Sessions in 2022, Xi Jinping specially inspected the breeding situation and looked at food security from "a seed". It is not difficult to see that China’s top leaders have always attached great importance to food security. It can be said that in China's future development, making one's job more secure is an eternal issue. (over)