hefei’s Low-carbon Development.docVIP

hefei?s Low-carbon Development ALTHOUGH adjacent to the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone, Hefei belongs to Central China and its economic development lags behind eastern coastal cities. Traditionally an agricultural area, with per capita arable land of just 0.1 hectare, it is impossible for the millions of farmers that make up most of the city?s population to get rich. A solution to this is industrialization and urbanization, a course that Hefei has been pursuing for the past few years. All around the city, new apartment buildings are springing up to accommodate the rural laborers that are flowing into the city. These laborers find jobs at the newly built factories scattered in the development zones in Hefei?s suburbs. Many of these factories have moved from the economically developed eastern regions to take advantage of cheaper labor costs here. The factories still have to cope with scarce resources and energy, however, and Hefei must become more efficient by upgrading existing industries and prioritizing the development of hi-tech industry, strategic emerging industries and modern services. In 2011, Hefei?s GDP reached RMB 363.6 billion, an increase of 15.4 percent over the previous year, making it, for the seventh year running, one of the fastest growing provincial capitals nationwide and the fastest in Central China. More significantly, perhaps, 2011 also saw the disposable income of Hefei?s urban residents surpassing the national average for the first time. Green Companies only There is a tangible enthusiasm for attracting investment and boosting industrial growth among Hefei?s leaders. Last year the local government organized an impressive 3,000 teams to draw investors to this city of more than seven million people. Such efforts have had pleasing results. From 2006 to 2010, Hefei saw over 2,000 new industrial projects and 1,423 new industrial enterprises. In 2011 alone, the city drew in RMB 170 billion, a staggering growth of 30 percent over the