By Li Zengxin (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-25 15:05

Sichuan launched a program to support large companies and focus on development in the tourism industry to maintain high-speed economic growth, said officials of the western province at a meeting held in Chengdu on July 23.

On the opening ceremony of the “Perfect China, Magic Sichuan” online media reporting tour, Liu Xiaoming, vice governor of the province said the provincial gross domestic product grew 13.6 percent to 439 billion yuan (US$58 billion) in the first half of the year.

Disposable income of urban residents was 5,776 yuan per capita, up 21. 4 percent from last year while the average personal cash income of rural residents rose 13.6 percent to 1,858 yuan. Transportation and rural development were the focus of the year, according to the vice governor.

Sichuan built roads connecting cities and rural areas of 12,000 kilometers in the first half. To date, 16 of the total 18 counties and regions can be reached by road transport within four hours from Chengdu, capitol of the province with the third largest density of private-car procession in China.

On the other hand, the consumer price index (CPI) grew 4 percent in the first half, 2.2 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year, noted Huang Guoqin, vice chief of the Sichuan Bureau of Statistics. Food prices went up 8.4 percent, contributing the largest proportion to the CPI growth, said Huang. Pork price rose 30 percent, oil was 20 percent more expensive in this half than that of 2006, and egg prices also grew 20 percent.

The 4 percent growth in CPI indicated more inflationary pressures, but it fell within a normal range, Huang said. He expected the growth rate of CPI in the third quarter to drop and the year’s CPI to be around 4 percent.

The province is going to apply more preferential policies to large enterprises, said Yang Zili from Sichuan Province Economic Commission. The commission has started assessing the 195 applicants and will announce the names of the qualified on July 26, said Yang.

The 16 new supportive rules aim at four objectives: to enlarge the ranges of provincial purchases of new products and those from the western part of Sichuan; to gather productive materials such as electricity, gas and land, to the largest companies and reduce their cost for asset acquisition; to reward top managers of high-flying companies with 1 million yuan on every 10 billion yuan growth in operating income; and to provide one-stop auditing services to the companies.

The other major task the provincial government planned is promotion of the tourism sector. The travel industry realized income of 57.71 billion yuan in the first half, up 27.8 percent from the same period last year, said Zhang Gu, head of Sichuan Province Tourism Bureau. This year, the province will put more effort into developing its rural tourism industry, attracting more overseas tourists, encouraging travelers to stay longer and spend more in Sichuan by upgrading services, opening new sites and connecting separate spots into convenient and economical lines for visitors, Zhang said.