CHINA DAILY

Agricultural modernization and infrastructure construction are the twin prongs for accelerated development being promoted the city government of Shaoyang.

Located in the central and southeastern part of Hunan, the city has the largest population in the province and has a sound industrial foundation, with improving strength in agricultural products, food processing, building materials, machinery, metallurgy, energy, medicines, chemicals, papermaking and textiles.

In 2012, Shaoyang grew at a rate higher than the provincial average in seven major economic indices, according to Guo Guangwen, Party chief of Shaoyang.

For instance, the regional gross domestic product increased 11.7 percent year-on-year to nearly 103 billion yuan ($17 billion) in 2012, compared with the provincial average of 11.3 percent.

In the first three quarters of 2013, Shaoyang's regional GDP increased 10.2 percent to some 85 billion yuan.

The city is promoting the modernization of agriculture－its traditional industry, and is encouraging the use of new technologies for producing cereals and cooking oils, dairy products, fruits, medical herbs, tobacco and other cash crops to achieve the comprehensive modernization of agriculture, according the government of Shaoyang.

It is also expanding the agricultural product processing industry.

So far, Shaoyang has 162 large agricultural product processing enterprises, among which two are the nation's leading companies and 31 are outstanding enterprises in the province.

Several brands including Kaikouxiao, Nanshan and Huapeng are known nationwide.

Improvement of infrastructure has become another strong engine of local economic growth, the government said.

To improve the city's road network, the local government has invested 200 million yuan to renovate and build 340 urban roads and alleys since last year.

At the end of 2012, Shaoyang had five expressways with total length of 295 kilometers. In addition, four expressways are now under construction with total length of 210 km. There are also plans for another six.

All the townships and 90 percent of the villages have been connected with roads.

The Shanghai-Kunming high-speed railway, which passes Shaoyang, is scheduled to be operational next year. Then it will only take an hour to get from Shaoyang to Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, two hours to get to Wuhan, three hours to Guangzhou, and four hours to Shanghai.

Construction began earlier this year on the Wugang Airport. And another airport in Shaodong－which will be used for both civilian and military purposes－is planned.

As for water transportation, the Zijiang River has been dredged and ports along the stream are being built or renovated.

Gong Wenmi, mayor of Shaoyang, said Shaoyang is no longer a landlocked and underdeveloped city. Instead, the city is new with convenient transportation networks, whether on the land, in the air or along the rivers.

He added that the government has already outlined a long-term development plan, aiming to turn the city into an important transportation and logistics hub connecting Hunan with neighboring regions like Guangxi.

Driven by the demand from local infrastructure construction and strong growth in the domestic market, Sany Hunan Automobiles based in Shaoyang has expanded its capacity to 20,000 concrete mixers and 30,000 heavy-duty trucks this year.（FENG ZHIWEI/XU XIAO）