Shandong poised to become national growth pole

According to the goals set forth in the report of the 12th Shandong Provincial Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which opened on May 28 in Jinan, the provincial capital, Shandong will promote coordinated regional development in a down-to-earth manner in order to become an important growth pole and a strong source of power in the country.

The report, delivered at the provincial Party congress, proposed to give full play to the leading role of the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration, support Jinan to build a national central city and Qingdao to build a global marine central city, and promote the integrated development of the three economic circles of the provincial capital, Jiaodong and southern Shandong.

The report also highlighted the development of the Yellow River basin. Shandong will steadily implement the national strategy for ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin, according to Shandong officials.

Shandong will cooperate with other provincial regions to manage and protect the river's upper, middle and lower reaches, its mainstream tributaries and its banks. Related projects include embankment construction, flood plain management and environmental restoration.

"We will plan a number of major policies and pilot demonstrations, implement a number of major support projects, strengthen practical cooperation with provinces and regions along the Yellow River in the fields of infrastructure, ecological protection, science and technology education, and make greater efforts to build a model ecological protection area, and a green and low-carbon development area," said Shi Aizuo, a 12th CPC Shandong Provincial Congress delegate and deputy director of the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission.