VZCZCXRO8354
RR RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0011/01 0230115
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230115Z JAN 08
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2719
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3293

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000011 
 
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SENSITIVE 
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STATE FOR D AND EAP/CM 
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON SOCI CH
SUBJECT: GUIZHOU PARTY SECRETARY HOSTS LUNCH FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY 
NEGROPONTE 
 
CHENGDU 00000011  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  During a lunch banquet hosted for the Deputy 
Secretary, Guizhou Party Secretary Shi Zongyuan described his 
 
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professional challenges, especially the problems of economic 
development in the face of deep rural poverty.  He urged more 
high-level visits to interior China, claiming that such 
experiences would help dispel notions of a "China threat."  End 
Summary. 
 
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GUIZHOU'S ECONOMY: NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
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¶2. (SBU) In a welcoming toast, Shi described Guizhou as "less 
developed, but possessing great potential."  When later asked by 
the Deputy Secretary to describe the foundations of Guizhou's 
economy, Shi said agriculture is the mainstay (particularly 
rice, corn, and sweet potatoes), although since economic opening 
in the late 1970s, resource extraction has become more 
important, especially coal, phosphates, and bauxite.  While 
acknowledging the area's widespread poverty (he noted that 2.5 
million of Guizhou's population of 39.5 million lived under the 
poverty line), he stressed there has been a steady rise in both 
rural incomes and in GDP.  In 1985, he said, annual farmer 
income was RMB 1866 (USD 260), but by 2007 it rose to RMB 2300 
(USD 319).  Last year's GDP growth had been 13.7 percent. 
However, he also said that despite the economic gains, Guizhou 
was still China's only province in which per capita GDP was less 
than USD 800 - Guizhou's 2006 per capita GDP was only USD 736. 
 
¶3. (SBU) As an illustration of Guizhou's rural poverty, Shi 
described a visit to a farm family in Fazhao Village in Bijie 
Prefecture.  A family of four survives on 2 mu (one third of an 
acre) of farmland.  Of those four people, two are elderly or 
disabled, and one is a child.  "They didn't even have a bed," 
said Shi.  The local government is assisting such families by 
donating pigs, which could serve not only as a source of cash 
income but also for the generation of biogas. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Asked about challenges to development, Shi mentioned 
the need to develop transportation infrastructure and irrigation 
facilities.  Although annual rainfall averages 1.3 meters (51 
inches), much of that rainfall is unavailable for agricultural 
use due to the area's karst geology, which causes groundwater to 
drain away from the surface.  Shi said that to alleviate the 
problem, the province is constructing numerous retention ponds 
of 100 cubic meter (3500 cubic feet) capacity.  He also 
mentioned that much of Guizhou's economy is still "planned," and 
that the province is in need of deeper structural reforms. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Shi stressed the need for foreigners to visit China's 
interior: "They often go to Shanghai or Beijing, but they don't 
know China's poor areas."  According to Shi, such experiences 
would help dispel worries about a "China threat."  (Note: Other 
officials told the delegation that the visit marked the first 
time Guizhou had ever hosted such a high-level delegation from 
the United States, and the first time -- even prior to 1949 -- 
that a United States Ambassador had visited Guizhou.  End note.) 
 
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SHI'S BIO AND BACKGROUND 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Shi told the Deputy Secretary that he was born in 
Xi'an.  However, he said his birth there was due to the fact 
that his (unspecified) hometown in Hebei Province had been 
occupied by the Japanese during World War II, forcing the family 
to move west.  He noted he had worked in Gansu Province for nine 
years and then in Jilin Province before going to Beijing in 2000 
to serve as Director of the China Press and Publishing 
Administration and Director of the State Copyright Bureau.  His 
transfer to Guizhou in 2005 was the first time he had served as 
Party Secretary of such a large region.  He described his 
current position as a "tough job," adding that while his most 
important task is economic development, his most urgent priority 
is improving the living standards of the local people.  He said 
he feels the responsibility to develop the economy in order to 
"make the world more harmonious - then our work will be 
worthwhile."  He said that he would retire at age 65. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Note: Shi's official bio states that he is an ethnic 
Hui from Hebei Province, and was born in 1946.  He served as an 
unspecified "junior government official" in Hezheng County, 
Gansu province, in 1968, and was promoted to Vice Party 
Secretary and Head of the Hezheng County government in 1981.  In 
 
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CHENGDU 00000011  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
1984 he was appointed Vice Governor of Ningxia Hui Autonomous 
Prefecture, Gansu province, and became Party Secretary there in 
¶1988.  In 1993 Shi was appointed Director of the Propaganda 
Department of the Gansu Provincial Party Commission.  Five years 
later he was transferred to Jilin Province where he served as 
Director of the Propaganda Department of the Jilin Party 
Commission and President of the Jilin Party School.  In May 2000 
he was appointed Vice Party Secretary of Jilin, and was promoted 
to Director of the China Press and Publishing Administration and 
Director of the State Copyright Bureau in October 2000.  He 
remained in this position until he was appointed Guizhou Party 
Secretary in December 2005.  End note. 
 
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¶8. (SBU) Shi invited the Deputy Secretary to return to Guizhou 
and tour a distillery where Guizhou's famous "Maotai" liquor is 
made.  If the Deputy Secretary is too busy for such a trip, said 
Shi, the Deputy Secretary's wife and children are welcome, and 
Shi said he would personally accompany them on the tour. 
Referring to the Deputy Secretary's experience in the publishing 
industry, Shi suggested (facetiously) that the two consider 
setting up a printing house together. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶9. (SBU) Although Guizhou is a poor and underdeveloped province, 
leadership positions there can still sometimes attract the best 
and brightest: Hu Jintao was Guizhou Party Secretary from 1985 
to 1988 (prior to his stint in the TAR).  However, Hu was only 
42 when he went to Guizhou, while Shi's age of 58 puts him much 
closer to retirement. 
 
¶10. (U) This cable has been cleared by the Deputy Secretary's 
delegation and has been coordinated with Embassy Beijing. 
BOUGHNER