BEIJING, Mar. 13 -- No. No more. Never.
The "don't"s, in the draft of China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) are as
significant as the "do's" to meet various development goals, feel legislators
who vote on it tomorrow.
"By saying 'no' to certain practices, the nation has expressed its
determination to adopt a new growth model and follow a scientific concept of
development," remarked Li Changjie, a National People's Congress (NPC) deputy
and factory owner from Henan Province.
Some of the practices under scrutiny are:
Water screens: Xi'an, one of the cities that suffers from a severe water
shortage, reportedly has the world's largest water screen built in April 2005.
Scenes in Xi'an during the prime of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-904) are shown
on the 80-metre-tall, 120-metre-wide screen which is the main attraction of a
theme park, in which the local district government reportedly invested 1.3
billion yuan (US$160.5 million).
Such wasteful projects, along with industries which consume too much water,
are forbidden in the plan.
"Besides water screens, cities have been competing to build huge squares
and large lawns," said Fu Yonglin, NPC deputy and language professor from
Chengdu.
"The plan is wonderful in that it says 'no' to these extravagant practices
as the nation builds a 'saving society'," he said.
Watertowns: When artist Wu Guanzhong visited the Yangtze River Delta to
make sketches in the 1940s, ancient watertowns like Zhouzhang were thriving all
over the area.
But of the nearly 600 that existed in the area five decades ago, only six
are largely preserved while the others have shrunk or even disappeared,
according to surveys released by the cultural heritage authorities of East
China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in 2005.
In the last five years alone, seven nature reserves were encroached upon
?one became a coal mine, a hydropower station was built in another and others
had expressways cutting across them, according to a statement by the State
Environmental Protection Administration in November 2005.
Fortunately, the 11th Five-Year Plan draft stipulates that development is
forbidden in the country's 243 State-level Nature Reserves, 31 World
Cultural/Natural Heritages sites, 187 State Key Scenic Spots, 565 National
Forest Parks and 138 National Geographic Parks.
"By designating zones forbidden for development, China's planners are
paying close attention to the preservation of natural environment and cultural
heritage, and in this way, to the long-term benefit of the nation,?said Li
Mingtao, NPC deputy and chief urban planner of Beijing.
Business practices: When a businessman in East China's Anhui Province moved
to his factory to a new location, he placed 35 metal plaques ?certificates from
various local authorities such as the tax, commercial and public health bureaux
testifying that the business had passed their inspection ?in a warehouse.
He tucked them away inside since he did now want the gold or
silver-coloured metal plates cluttering his new gate.
But the authorities would not budge and he finally had to hang them on his
gate.
The government has no say in what has to be hung on the gate, according to
the 11th Five-Year Plan draft.
"Governments must not directly intervene in the running of businesses, or
in the normal running of the market,?it stressed.
"This shows that the nation is determined to let the market play the
fundamental role in the allocation of resources,?remarked Gao Qing, an NPC
deputy and government official from Jiangsu Province.
