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RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0093
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RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC 0136

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 000237 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, S/P, INR/EAP 
STATE PASS USTR CHINA OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EIND ECIN ECON PGOV CH HK
 
SUBJECT: HOW REALISTIC ARE THEY? CHINESE GOVERNMENT GOALS FOR THE 
PEARL RIVER DELTA'S DEVELOPMENT 
 
REF: A) GUANGZHOU 112; B) GUANGZHOU 30; C) 2008 GUANGZHOU 518; D) 
2008 GUANGZHOU 456; E) 2008 GUANGZHOU 406; F) 2008 GUANGZHOU 419 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000237  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly.  Not for release outside U.S. government channels. Not 
for internet publication. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: What's new in the Pearl River Delta? Yet another, 
newer, improved development plan for one thing.  The Chinese 
government recently unveiled its "Outline of the Plan for the Reform 
and Development of the Pearl River Delta," though it seems to be 
based largely on existing policy.  So, what's new in this newest 
plan?  According to local experts, there's more cooperation among 
municipal governments, for one thing; for another, the "double 
transfer policy" has received formal central government blessing. 
However, absent a more formal mechanism for implementation, the 
goals of this plan, like ones past, will be difficult to meet. 
Experts also told us the new plan is less ambitious than previous 
incarnations.  The plan may have been drafted without outside input, 
but since its release, provincial authorities have made 
unprecedented efforts to solicit feedback from the public.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
Can't We All Just Get Along 
--------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) The new PRD Development Plan was unveiled to much fanfare 
in December 2008.  The 122-page document lays out development goals 
for the region in 28 different economic areas.  While local experts 
agree that the overall plan is a positive step forward, its success 
will depend on increased cooperation between local governments. 
Competition among municipalities has been blamed for preventing the 
effective administration of PRD-wide issues such as law enforcement 
and transportation, according to prominent blogger and Sun Yat-sen 
University Professor Guo Weiqing.  The new development plan 
addresses this problem by requiring governments at the local, 
provincial, and national levels to work together on specific issues 
such as law enforcement and the construction of transportation 
infrastructure. 
 
¶3. (SBU) However, Professor Wen Xianyuan of the Guangdong Academy of 
Social Sciences (GZASS) said the plan lacks any formal mechanism for 
implementation/coordination and does nothing to improve China's 
current administrative structure, which effectively discourages 
cooperation between local governments.  Those same governments - 
with local officials recognizing their promotions are based on their 
performances - focus exclusively on GDP growth and tax revenue of 
their cities.  So little has really changed as there remains a near 
single-minded focus on boosting the GDP of one community without 
regard for optimizing new development projects with nearby 
municipalities.  Cities have built competing infrastructure like 
airports and port facilities in an effort to lure key industries to 
their areas, and this has weakened broader regional competitiveness 
and reduced the effectiveness of each individual project.  In many 
PRD cities, there is so little cooperation that a road built in one 
municipality will simply dead-end when it reaches the border of the 
neighboring government jurisdiction. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Professor Guo Weiqing said many experts recognize these 
problems, and there was some discussion of forming a committee of 
PRD-area municipal governments based on the structure of the 
European Union.  Plans were abandoned because such an approach would 
not easily mesh with existing government structures.  In fact, 
rather than creating a new body to oversee the local governments, 
Professor Guo said the plan also calls for local governments to be 
granted greater autonomy - a contradiction with which the plan is 
supposed to achieve, i.e., greater coordination.  Other contacts 
expressed skepticism that municipal governments would be able to set 
aside old differences and cooperate without a formal structure. 
GZASS Professor Wen suggested that the city of Guangzhou should take 
the lead in implementing the plan, while Professor Guo felt that 
active intervention by central and provincial government officials 
would be necessary for success. 
 
New Plan Less Ambitious Than Previous Versions 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000237  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Local contacts acknowledge that there is very little new 
content in the PRD Development Plan.  Points of emphasis have 
changed and some of the specifics are new, but most of the plan was 
drawn from existing government policy and previous development 
plans.  In 2004, former Guangdong party secretary Zhang Dejiang 
announced the Pan-Pearl River Delta Cooperation Plan with a similar 
flourish of publicity.  The 2004 plan included even more ambitious 
goals including formal integration of Hong Kong and Macau into the 
PRD region greater regional cooperation with SE Asia.  Experts said 
the 2004 plan was never fully implemented, and commented that this 
new plan is an effort to lay out a more attainable set of goals. 
Sun Yat-sen University Professor Guo said the new outline is more 
focused and realistic than previous development plans, despite its 
weaknesses. 
 
Out With the Old Factories, In With the New 
------------------------------------------- 
¶6. (U) Guangdong leaders used the PRD Development Plan to further 
bolster the province's so-called "Double Transfer" (shuang zhuanyi) 
strategy and officially make it a central element of the region's 
economic future (reftels A, E).  Although the provincial government 
has encouraged such relocation efforts for some time (reftels B, C, 
D), and some feel this should have been tried four-five years ago, 
the policy has so far not met with much success, according to GZASS 
Professor Wen.  Provincial leaders had been unable to secure central 
government approval for the double transfer strategy until it was 
codified in the broader PRD Development Plan. 
 
We Welcome Your Input, After We Announce Our Plan 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶7. (SBU) Following the plan's debut, Guangdong Party Secretary Wang 
Yang toured nine PRD cities and held meetings with prominent 
professors, bloggers, and think tank representatives to discuss 
development in the region.  Li Jiankang, an entrepreneur who met 
with Wang, said that the meeting involved an open and honest 
exchange of ideas between the government and civil society that had 
not taken place in Guangdong for a long time.  Contacts were 
optimistic that the meetings signaled a greater degree of 
transparency and openness in government, but Sun Yat-sen University 
Professor Guo noted that the PRD Development Plan was still 
formulated in the old style - by the government with very little 
outside input.  Professor Guo also said it remains to be seen 
whether the provincial government will take any action based on the 
outside suggestions received so far. 
 
GOLDBERG