National Development and Reform Commission,the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the"push to build a 21st century Silk Road economic zone and maritime SilkRoad vision and action" (the "Vision and Action").
Among them, in Chapter 6 “Chinese localcities’ open posture” clarified the position of the provinces in the"vicinity of the way" planning. This means that China will give fullplay to comparative advantages of various regions, to enhance the open economy,remodeling the pattern of openness to outside world.
According to "Vision and Action",Xinjiang is positioned as the "Silk Road Economic Zone core area",Fujian were positioned as a "21st century core area of the Maritime SilkRoad."
"Vision and Action" indicates that We should make good use of Xinjiang's geographic advantages and its roleas a window of westward opening-up to deepen communication and cooperation withCentral, South and West Asian countries, make it a key transportation, trade,logistics, culture, science and education center, and a core area on the Silk Road Economic Belt.
It is understood that Fujian is developingopinions of "Marine Silk Road" core area; the program is still underdevelopment.
In addition to Xinjiang and Fujian,"Vision and Action" also explained the position of other provinces:
-Guangxi is an important gateway of 21stcentury Maritime Silk Road and the economic connection of Silk Road. We should give full play to the unique advantage of Guangxi Zhuangautonomous region as a neighbor of ASEAN countries, speed up the opening-up anddevelopment of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and the Pearl River - the West River Economic Belt, building an international channelto the ASEAN region, to create the Southwest, and South Africa’s opendevelopment of new strategic pivot.
-Yunnan is a transport corridor connectingChina with South Asia, Southeast Asia. Weshould make good use of the geographic advantage of Yunnan province, advancethe construction of an international transport corridor connecting China withneighboring countries, develop a new highlight of economic cooperation in theGreater Mekong Subregion, and make the region a pivot of China's opening-up toSouth and Southeast Asia.
- We should strengthen the port construction ofcoastal cities such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen,Zhanjiang, Shantou, Qingdao, Yantai, Dalian, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou, Haikouand Sanya, and strengthen the functions of international hub airports such asShanghai and Guangzhou. We should use opening-up tomotivate these areas to carry out deeper reform, create new systems andmechanisms of open economy, step up scientific and technological innovation,develop new advantages for participating in and leading internationalcooperation and competition.
- We should give full scope to the economic andcultural strengths of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the ethnic and culturaladvantages of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Qinghai province, buildXi'an into a new focus of reform and opening-up in China's interior, speed upthe development and opening-up of cities such as Lanzhou and Xining, andadvance the building of the Ningxia Inland Opening-up Pilot Economic Zone withthe goal of creating strategic channels, trade and logistics hubs and key basesfor industrial and cultural exchanges opening to Central, South and West Asiancountries.
- We should give full play to Inner Mongolia'sproximity to Mongolia and Russia, improve the railway links connectingHeilongjiang province with Russia and the regional railway network, strengthencooperation between China's Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces andRussia's Far East region on sea-land multimodal transport, and advance theconstruction of an Eurasian high-speed transport corridor linking Beijing andMoscow with the goal of building key windows opening to the north.
In addition, "Vision and Action"also made clear as to other related areas’ functions.
For example, weshould promote the border trade and tourism and culture cooperation betweenTibet autonomous region and neighboring countries such as Nepal. We shouldaccelerate cooperation between regions on the upper and middle reaches of theYangtze River and their counterparts along Russia's Volga River. We shouldpromote the development of the Zhejiang Marine Economy DevelopmentDemonstration Zone, Fujian Marine Economic Pilot Zone and Zhoushan ArchipelagoNew Area, and further open Hainan province as an international tourism island.For Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, "Vision and Action" proposed: Weshould leverage the unique role of overseas Chinese and the Hong Kong and MacaoSpecial Administrative Regions, and encourage them to participate in and contributeto the Belt and Road Initiative. We should also make proper arrangements forthe Taiwan region to be part of this effort.