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Time for smarter not faster growth - City Party chief
By Wang Yong |
November 12, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FAREWELL, our skewed path of speed.
For around 30 years since the late 1970s, Shanghai has been part of, or indeed a pioneer in China's headlong economic growth.
Growth was good, but in many cases, it was far too fast and often biased against the environment and the larger public good.
Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng told a plenary session of local Party members on Tuesday that the time had come to redefine "development" as something more than just speed, indeed skewed speed.
He said: "Reasonably fast development doesn't mean fast speed only. It should not come at the cost of legitimate public interests or the natural environment. It should not cause social conflicts to occur or worsen." He addressed a meeting that discussed Shanghai's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), a blueprint designed to place the city in the country's forefront of exploring a new growth model based on innovation and low carbon footprints.
A timely speech, indeed. It should be a wake-up call against obsession with fast growth that more often than not resulted from quick sales of land and houses. Because sales of land and houses generate fatter and faster returns than industry or agriculture, many Chinese cities have raced to the bottom by bulldozing old houses in gross violation of public interests, and grabbing land from farmers in successive attacks on the already fragile agriculture sector where arable land is diminishing.
How can a country prosper on one twisted leg of real estate simply because this one leg could be quickly and artificially stretched?
Earlier this year, a real estate businessman told a conference of local people's congress representatives that he was proud of the real estate sector, which contributed 50 percent to Shanghai's economic growth last year.
I'm not sure whether he was being too modest - real estate might well have contributed more, if one considers the vast number of dusty construction sites peppering the whole city.
Anyway, Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng, who was in that audience, quipped: "Are you happy? I am sad. This only shows that Shanghai's economic structure is irrational."
Yu said on Tuesday: "Our growth cannot be sustained if we cannot reduce our reliance on land for fiscal revenues." A clear-headed conclusion, indeed. But how to reduce the city's reliance on land revenues? How to innovate?
Yu was to the point when he said that a key to innovation lies with Shanghai government officials, who must unselfishly work for the benefit of the people. That's indeed a key, or the key, to innovation.
If every official had been for the people, housing prices would not have been so high. Many officials were fast in approving new housing projects but slow in taxing them. Why? Some officials were part of the profit game at the expense of larger, public interests.
If all Shanghai's officials worked unselfishly for the people, there would be little difficulty in innovating to embrace a harmonious, low-carbon life in this great city of Shanghai.
For around 30 years since the late 1970s, Shanghai has been part of, or indeed a pioneer in China's headlong economic growth.
Growth was good, but in many cases, it was far too fast and often biased against the environment and the larger public good.
Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng told a plenary session of local Party members on Tuesday that the time had come to redefine "development" as something more than just speed, indeed skewed speed.
He said: "Reasonably fast development doesn't mean fast speed only. It should not come at the cost of legitimate public interests or the natural environment. It should not cause social conflicts to occur or worsen." He addressed a meeting that discussed Shanghai's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), a blueprint designed to place the city in the country's forefront of exploring a new growth model based on innovation and low carbon footprints.
A timely speech, indeed. It should be a wake-up call against obsession with fast growth that more often than not resulted from quick sales of land and houses. Because sales of land and houses generate fatter and faster returns than industry or agriculture, many Chinese cities have raced to the bottom by bulldozing old houses in gross violation of public interests, and grabbing land from farmers in successive attacks on the already fragile agriculture sector where arable land is diminishing.
How can a country prosper on one twisted leg of real estate simply because this one leg could be quickly and artificially stretched?
Earlier this year, a real estate businessman told a conference of local people's congress representatives that he was proud of the real estate sector, which contributed 50 percent to Shanghai's economic growth last year.
I'm not sure whether he was being too modest - real estate might well have contributed more, if one considers the vast number of dusty construction sites peppering the whole city.
Anyway, Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng, who was in that audience, quipped: "Are you happy? I am sad. This only shows that Shanghai's economic structure is irrational."
Yu said on Tuesday: "Our growth cannot be sustained if we cannot reduce our reliance on land for fiscal revenues." A clear-headed conclusion, indeed. But how to reduce the city's reliance on land revenues? How to innovate?
Yu was to the point when he said that a key to innovation lies with Shanghai government officials, who must unselfishly work for the benefit of the people. That's indeed a key, or the key, to innovation.
If every official had been for the people, housing prices would not have been so high. Many officials were fast in approving new housing projects but slow in taxing them. Why? Some officials were part of the profit game at the expense of larger, public interests.
If all Shanghai's officials worked unselfishly for the people, there would be little difficulty in innovating to embrace a harmonious, low-carbon life in this great city of Shanghai.
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