China's western region includes 10 provinces and municipalities, including Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu. It covers an area of 491,000 square kilometers, or 51.15% of the country; its population is 272 million, or 22.7% of the country, and its per capita area is 2.46 times the national average. Since the reform and opening up of China, the great achievements made in national economic and social development have been remarkable. However, the gradual widening of the gap between the levels of economic development in the east and west of China has seriously affected the healthy, coordinated and balanced development of China's national economy. Accelerating the development of the western part of China and narrowing the gap between regions became an important strategic decision of the Chinese Party and Government at the end of the century. However, the western region is subject to the limitations of the natural environment and geographic location, constituting a number of unfavorable factors affecting the accelerated development of its economy.
- The overall economic foundation of the western region is poor, especially in the old revolutionary areas, ethnic minority areas, remote areas and poor areas, and the economic level is even more backward;
- The western region has a very poor economic foundation, especially in the old revolutionary areas, ethnic minority areas, remote areas and poor areas, and the economic level is even more backward;?
- The industrial structure of the western region is irrational, with a large proportion of agriculture, a fragile industrial base, and an extremely unsound tertiary industry;?
- The western region has a large number of poor people, low cultural and educational levels, and poor labor quality;?
- The western region is characterized by high plateaus, mountains and deserts, small arable land and poor natural conditions.
- The western region has inconvenient transportation, insufficient communication facilities and backward information exchange;?
- The implementation of the "natural forest protection project" involves the employment and resettlement of hundreds of thousands of forestry workers;
- The "natural forest protection project" involves the employment and resettlement of hundreds of thousands of forestry workers.
-- The "Returning Farmland to Forests" project, which is about to be implemented by the State, will also involve the employment and resettlement of more than 30 million agricultural workers.
Despite the above constraints on the development of the western region, the rich natural resources of the western region is a huge wealth. Table 1 shows a comparison of the major advantageous resources in the western region with the national average, from which we can see that, although the western region has a vast territory, the per capita arable land does not occupy a great advantage. Its main advantageous resources are forest resources, grassland resources, water resources, water energy resources and mineral resources. In particular, the western region can be developed water energy resources accounted for 80% of the country, of which only in Sichuan Province, water energy resources can be developed amounted to 110 million kilowatts, the annual power generation capacity of up to 550 billion kilowatts - hours. In addition, the western region of lithium, nickel, mercury, vanadium, titanium, methyl salt, asbestos and other mineral resources reserves account for more than 80% of the country. Only the western region of the proven minerals there are 44, of which vanadium and titanium reserves accounted for 64% and 95% of the country, magnetite resources ranked second in the country.
2, western economic development ideas: focus on the development of six industries.
One is the development of clean energy industry. Water energy is renewable clean energy. Hydraulic energy resources in western China for the advantage of one of the largest natural resources, only in the western region of the water resources can be developed up to 40.54 million kilowatts, after the development of the annual power generation of up to 205.9 billion kilowatt-hours. The development and utilization of hydro energy resources is of great significance in changing the energy structure of China and accelerating the economic development of western China. In addition, after the construction of reservoirs, in addition to providing electricity, can also play a role in flood control, sand, improve water quality and improve the ecological environment, etc., has a strong integrated function and socio-economic benefits. The higher altitude areas of Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang in western China are rich in solar energy resources and can vigorously promote the use of solar energy. Tibet is the region with the most geothermal resources in China, accounting for nearly half of the country's identified geothermal resources, and the development of geothermal energy has a high economic value. In addition, in some areas in the west with rich wind power resources, wind power generation can be vigorously developed.
The second is the development of green materials industry. (1) environmental degradation of plastics. It is estimated that by 2000, China's film and packaging materials only two of the amount will reach 300,000 tons and 400,000 tons, respectively. Only these two, the degree of white pollution has been very considerable, such as can not be well recycled or degradation, will bring serious pollution and damage to the ecological environment. Degradation of plastics, as a green technology to manage plastic waste, has made satisfactory progress after years of research and development, and many technologies have been industrialized. The rich natural resources such as starch, cellulose and minerals in the western region provide abundant raw materials for the development of environmentally degradable plastics. (2) Other degradable materials. In addition to a large number of degradable plastics, degradable materials can also be widely used in all aspects of agriculture and forestry. For example, the use of starch, cellulose and other plant resources can be used to manufacture biodegradable gel coat for wrapping seeds, slow-release fertilizers, slow-release pesticides, agricultural forest water retention agent. (3) Green fine chemicals. The modification of natural products to manufacture green fine chemicals is a very potential industry, such as starch modification through the manufacture of deformed starch has been widely used in food, paper, textiles, environmental protection, medicine, agriculture and other industries. Chengdu Organic Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, corn, potato and tapioca starch as raw materials, through emission-free green technology - fluidized dry esterification process for the manufacture of starch phosphate as a high-quality paper additives, has been built in Qionglai, Sichuan and Mucheon thousand-ton prototype plant, the operation of the situation is good.
Third, the development of low-emission paper industry. Due to the advantages in terms of plant fiber resources, the paper industry is the traditional industrial sector in the western region. However, the paper industry is also the most serious environmental pollution and ecological damage to the industry, the annual emissions of paper waste liquid 500,000 tons, accounting for the national industrial wastewater discharges of about 1/6, of which organic pollutants accounted for about 1/4. Due to technical and economic reasons, the paper industry can not be done to achieve the "full closure, zero discharge". However, through the use of various green technologies, the paper industry is still unable to achieve "total enclosure, zero emission". But through the use of a variety of green technology, it is possible to make the entire production process to achieve "low emissions, no pollution". Currently has reached the industrialization of the degree of application of clean processes and technologies include: - the application of alkali recovery technology to deal with the black liquor pulp; - the use of new bleaching technology, control of chlorine bleaching pollution; - the establishment of a perfect wastewater treatment system.
Third, the development of green tanning industry. Tanning industry is an important industrial sector in China. At present, China's annual output of pig leather more than 80 million, cattle leather more than 30 million, sheep leather more than 50 million, annual exports of more than 8 billion U.S. dollars. Especially pig leather tanning has the most characteristics, pig leather quality for the world first-class level. Western China is an important production area of pigs, cattle and sheep, tanning industry is an important industrial sector in the western region. The rapid development of tanning industry also brings serious environmental pollution and ecological damage. The use of green tanning technology has become an inevitable choice for the tanning industry to realize sustainable development.?
Fourth, the development of green food industry.
The rich biological resources in the western region of the development of food industry has unique conditions, and the western food industry has a certain scale, only in Sichuan Province, the annual output value of the food industry has reached the scale of 6 billion yuan. The food industry is at the end of a large agricultural industry chain, and its development can in turn stimulate the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, food distribution, and the processing of agricultural and sideline products. Therefore, for the relatively backward industrial base of the western region, the development of the food industry to expand the agricultural by-products outlets, improve added value and increase farmers' income is of great significance.
Fifth, the development of traditional Chinese medicine industry. The western region is China's natural treasure trove of Chinese herbal medicine resources, only in Sichuan Province, there are 4,350 kinds of Chinese herbal medicine resources. It is reported that the Chinese medicine industry in Sichuan Province has continued to grow at a high rate in recent years, with sales in 1998 exceeding 3 billion yuan. In recent years, there has also been a worldwide craze for Chinese medicines, with the sales of botanical medicines in the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Korea and other countries showing a high rate of growth in recent years. At present, the world market of Chinese herbal medicine has reached 16 billion US dollars, however, our country only occupies 3% of it, and the export amount is less than 600 million US dollars, and most of them are primary raw materials with very low added value, this phenomenon is very incompatible with China's status as a big country of natural Chinese herbal resources, and the traditional Chinese medicine industry still has a broad space for development. The Chinese medicine industry involves planting, collection, processing, transportation and sales, and at the same time, the related research and development work must be followed up. It needs to be organized and guided in different forms by different links under the guidance of policies, so that the huge treasure trove of natural Chinese herbal medicine resources in the western region can be fully utilized, and the traditional Chinese medicine industry in the western region can really become the pillar industry of the western economy.
Sixth, the development of tourism. The relatively intact natural ecological environment of the western region, a large number of scenic spots and beautiful mountains and rivers, constituting the region's rich tourism resources. The advantages of developing tourism in the western region include: 1) tourism is a "smokeless industry" that does not cause environmental pollution or ecological damage; 2) the development of tourism not only accelerates the construction of transportation, communication and other infrastructures, but also promotes the development of related industries such as food and beverage, entertainment, commerce and construction; 3) tourism has a large capacity for employment, which increases employment opportunities for the population in the western tourism region; 4) tourism is a major source of employment, and can be used to increase the number of jobs for the population in the western tourism region. 3) The employment capacity of tourism is large, which can increase the employment opportunities of the population in the western tourism area; 4) Tourism is an externally oriented tertiary industry, which can promote and accelerate the opening up of the western region; 5) The development of tourism will bring about a cultural renaissance in the western part of China, which will show the long-lasting and splendid local culture and folk culture of the western region. Therefore, the development of tourism in the western region has a very high economic value and comprehensive social benefits, which will enable the coordinated economic and social development of the western region. Tourism in the western region will develop from general sightseeing tours to ecological environment tours, folk culture tours, leisure and vacation tours, industrial science and technology tours and other professional tourism direction, and become the strongest growth in the western region of the emerging green industry.