Chapter 079 Visits to the United States and Japan

The 7th Plenary Session of the 11th Jiangdong Provincial Committee was held in Jinning from October 23 to 25, 2009. The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee presided over the meeting. There were 77 members of the provincial party committee and 12 alternate members attending the meeting. Members of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and responsible comrades of relevant departments attended the meeting as observers. Some grassroots party workers, grassroots party members and experts and scholars engaged in the study of party building work among the provincial party representatives were invited to attend the meeting.

The plenary session conscientiously studied and implemented the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 17 th CPC Central Committee and unanimously held that the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning Strengthening and Improving Party Building in the New Situation" adopted by the Fourth Plenary Session is a programmatic document guiding party building at present and for some time to come. General Secretary Gu Banglan's important speech is of great guiding significance for us to implement the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee and do a good job in our current work. Party organizations at all levels and the broad masses of party members and cadres in the province should regard the study and implementation of the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session as a major political task and conscientiously unify their thinking and action with the central authorities' policy decisions and arrangements.

The plenary session listened to and discussed the work report made by Comrade Xiao Chen on behalf of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, and fully affirmed the work of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee over the past year. The plenary session held that since the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11th Provincial Party Committee, Jiangdong Province's economic and social development has undergone major challenges and tests. Under the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Gu Banglan as the general secretary, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee adheres to the guidance of Zheng Nanxun, Xiao Fei Theory and the important thinking of "three represents", thoroughly implements the Scientific Outlook on Development, unites and leads the people of the province to actively respond to the severe challenges brought about by the international financial crisis, closely focuses on the primary task of maintaining stable and rapid economic development, fully implements a series of central decisions, deployments and policy measures, does everything possible to ensure growth, people's livelihood and stability, and coordinates the promotion of economic, political, and cultural construction. In social construction, ecological civilization construction and party building, the province's economy has shown a good trend of stabilizing and rebounding, the pace of structural adjustment and transformation of development mode has been significantly accelerated, the overall social situation has maintained harmony and stability, and new progress has been made in all aspects of work.

The plenary session deliberated and adopted the "Opinions of the Jiangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on Implementing the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Strengthening and Improving Party Building in the New Situation" and listened to Comrade Yang Yaomin's explanation of the "Opinions." The plenum held that the "Opinions" embody the integration of the spirit of the Central Committee with the reality of Jiangdong and the combination of summing up experience with exploration and innovation, and play an important guiding role in comprehensively promoting the new great project of party building and opening up a new situation in all aspects of work.

The plenum held that since the beginning of reform and opening up, especially since the party's first time, Jiangdong Province has achieved remarkable results in strengthening party building and accumulated useful experience. At the same time, there are still many problems within the party that do not meet the requirements of the new situation and new tasks and do not conform to the party's nature and purpose. Party organizations at all levels and the vast number of party members in the province must deeply understand the importance and urgency of strengthening and improving party building under the new situation, always have the heart of worrying about the party, fulfill the responsibility of rejuvenating the party, conscientiously implement the overall requirements put forward in the "Decision" of the Fourth Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee, adhere to the main line of building the ability to govern and the building of advanced nature, strengthen and improve party building in the spirit of reform and innovation, and earnestly improve the scientific level of party building, so as to provide a strong guarantee for the sound and rapid promotion of the "two firsts" and "happy Jiangdong".

The plenary session pointed out that it is necessary to innovate ideas, measures, and systems in close connection with the actual conditions in Jiangdong, and comprehensively implement all tasks for strengthening and improving party building under the new situation. Actively build a learning-oriented party organization and a learning-oriented leadership group, unremittingly arm party members and cadres with the Huaxia special socialist theoretical system, carry out in-depth study and education of the socialist core value system, and solidly carry out large-scale training of party members and cadres. Adhere to and improve the system of democratic centralism, actively promote the construction of intra-party democracy, improve the leadership system and working mechanism of party committees, give full play to the role of the full committee of party committees, improve and improve the system of party congresses, effectively protect the dominant position and democratic rights of party members, and implement the rights of party members to know, participate, vote, and supervise. Deeply promote the reform of the cadre and personnel system, adhere to the standard of having both ability and political integrity and putting morality first, establish and improve the mechanism of selecting and employing people in a democratic, open, competitive and merit-based manner, and promote the recommendation of the difference between the candidates for the main posts of the party and government in cities and counties and the main positions of the department, the difference is examined, the difference is brewed, and the difference is voted on, and the general implementation of the public promotion and direct election of the leading bodies of township, village, and community party organizations is generally carried out when the leadership groups of townships, villages, and communities are directly elected, and the pilot projects of the leading groups of other grass-roots party organizations are carried out in depth, and the intensity of open selection, public election, and competition for posts is increased. We should pay more attention to the training and selection of cadres in practice, implement the requirements of strict education, strict management, and strict supervision of party members and cadres, and strive to build a contingent of high-quality cadres that meet the needs of scientific development. Solidly promote the "strong foundation project", select and strengthen the secretaries of grass-roots party organizations, focus on expanding the coverage of grass-roots party organizations in non-public economic organizations and new social organizations, innovate the form of organizational settings, realize the effective coverage of party organizations and party work in the whole society, improve the education, management and development of party members, improve the long-term mechanism for the advanced construction of party members, and strive to promote the overall development of urban and rural grass-roots party building work, and continuously enhance the creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness of grass-roots party organizations. It is necessary to further strengthen the building of the party's work style, vigorously promote the style of maintaining close ties with the masses, the style of seeking truth and being pragmatic, the style of arduous struggle, and the style of criticism and self-criticism, so as to ensure scientific development with a fine work style. Accelerate the construction of a punishment and prevention system, earnestly strengthen the education of honest government and the work of leading cadres on honesty and self-discipline, seriously investigate and deal with cases of violations of discipline and law, improve mechanisms for restraint and supervision of the exercise of power, and promote the construction and innovation of anti-corruption and clean government systems.

The plenary session stressed that strengthening and improving party building under the new situation is a major political responsibility of party organizations at all levels in the province. Party committees at all levels must adhere to the principle that the party should manage the party and govern the party strictly, strictly implement the responsibility system for party building work, establish and improve a long-term mechanism for party building work, build a high-quality party affairs work force, and ensure that all tasks of party building are truly implemented.

The plenary session stressed that it is necessary to take the study and implementation of the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session as a strong driving force, carry out the third batch of in-depth study and practice of the scientific outlook on development activities, and earnestly do a good job in the current economic and social development. When the economic situation improves, we must keep a clear head and resolutely guard against blind optimism and complacency. We will continue to go all out to ensure growth, people's livelihood and stability, unswervingly develop an innovative economy, vigorously promote economic transformation and upgrading, and ensure the completion of economic and social development goals and tasks for the whole year, while actively planning next year's work and the development of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", so as to lay the foundation for sound and rapid development in a longer period.

The plenum called on party organizations at all levels and all members of the province to closely unite around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Gu Banglan as the general secretary, keep pace with the times, work hard, comprehensively promote the new great project of party building in the spirit of reform and innovation, and unite and lead the people of the province to make unremitting efforts to promote scientific development and build a better Jiangdong!

After this meeting, Tianxin, Hualian, Taihu three major groups have officially entered the Jiangdong housing industry, the next three years of affordable housing construction dozens of pieces of land was instantly taken away by the three powerful giants, the stagnant construction site of the affordable housing finally knew that the provincial party committee is not a joke, this is real, hurriedly started work quickly, while up and down to find a way, to see what else to take, the provincial government squarely expressed understanding of the sabotage some time ago, and said that everyone can pick up the construction of affordable housing, As long as the qualifications meet the requirements, they can participate in the auction.

Xiao Chen didn't pay too much attention to this matter at this time, in this case, no one could turn the sky over, and he was starting to arrange a visit to the United States and Japan.

On November 21, local time, the special plane of the Jiangdong Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Political Delegation landed at New York's Kennedy International Airport in the United States.

In order to implement the results of General Secretary Gu Banglan's visit to the United States, further promote economic and trade cooperation and exchanges between Jiangdong and the United States, promote the development of two-way investment between Jiangdong and the United States, and expand Jiangdong's influence in the United States, the Provincial Department of Commerce, the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, and the New York State Department of Economic Development and other relevant institutions jointly held the "New Industry, New Opportunities - Jiangdong (United States) Economic and Trade Cooperation and Exchange Conference" (hereinafter referred to as the "Exchange Meeting") in New York on November 22. More than 500 Chinese and foreign guests attended the meeting, including more than 120 chairmen and executives of well-known American multinational companies and representatives of important institutions. The event was an unprecedented success and success.

Xiao Chen, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Jiangdong Provincial Party Committee, and Director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, delivered a keynote speech. Mr. John Dewey, Mr. McKellen, Senior Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. Peng Ying, Consul General of China in New York, delivered speeches respectively, and Mr. Shi Zhenglong, Chairman and President of Liangxi Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., Mr. Yang Mingsheng, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, Mr. Roosevelt IV, Managing Director of Barclays Investment Bank, and Mr. Messer, President and Chief Operating Officer of Emerson Electric Company, spoke on strengthening economic and trade cooperation.

In his keynote speech entitled "Strengthening Mutually Beneficial Cooperation and Promoting Common Development", Xiao Chen, in fluent English, first introduced the social and economic development of Jiangdong in recent years, especially the emerging industries, and the economic and trade cooperation between Jiangdong Province and the United States. Xiao Chen emphasized that Jiangdong should achieve sound and rapid development in the new area, and the key is to take innovation-driven as the core, accelerate the transformation of development mode, and promote economic transformation and upgrading: first, accelerate industrial optimization and upgrading; the second is to enhance the ability of scientific and technological innovation; the third is to promote green growth; fourth, cultivate new economic growth poles; Fifth, we should further open up to the outside world. Xiao Chen put forward four suggestions for further strengthening exchanges and cooperation between Jiangdong and the United States: first, actively deepen two-way investment; the second is to expand the scale of bilateral trade; the third is to strengthen cooperation in emerging industries; Fourth, vigorously promote exchanges in various fields.

New York Governor Mark Brown. In his speech, Mr. Dewey fondly recalled the history of friendly exchanges between Jiangdong and New York State, and said that the visit of a large delegation led by Secretary Xiao Chen to New York State will play a very positive role in further promoting and promoting cooperation between the two sides in all aspects. As a region with strong competitiveness in the fields of finance, trade and service industries, New York State and Jiangdong will further complement each other's advantages, strengthen cooperation and achieve win-win results in the future. Mr. Peng Yingyù, Consul General of Huaxia in New York, said in his speech that Jiangdong is the most important province and region for economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States, and Jiangdong has obvious advantages in all aspects, and hopes that the two sides can further deepen cooperation.

In their exchange speeches, representatives of well-known multinational entrepreneurs in the United States spoke highly of Jiangdong's good investment environment and pro-business services, and expressed their willingness to further open up the market and strengthen cooperation. Witnessed by the distinguished guests of both sides attending the exchange meeting, a grand signing ceremony was held for 23 projects in Jiangdong Province with a total investment of more than $2.4 billion in investment and utilization of US capital. Among them, Jiangdong has invested in 9 projects involving photovoltaics, biomedicine, advanced manufacturing and manufacturing, with a total investment of 350 million US dollars, and 14 projects involving US capital, involving biomedicine, new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, new materials, software and service outsourcing, and the Internet of Things, with a total investment of more than 1.8 billion US dollars. Subsequently, more than 400 American businessmen and entrepreneurs from 7 cities and 8 development zones in Jiangdong Province had a warm negotiation on more than 70 cooperation projects.

During its visit to Washington, the Jiangdong Economic Friendship Delegation led by Xiao Chen signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on cooperation in strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights. Jiangdong is the first province in China to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State-designate Burns, Senior Vice President of the National Chamber of Commerce McKellen, Chairman of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Owens, former U.S. Trade Negotiator Baczewski and other U.S. political and business leaders spoke highly of the U.S. political and business leaders. Locke said that the signing of the memorandum of cooperation fully reflects the foresight of Jiangdong Province in the field of intellectual property management, which will greatly enhance the confidence of foreign enterprises to invest and operate in Jiangdong, and at the same time better encourage and protect the development of an innovative economy, so that Chinese and foreign enterprises can benefit from it. The signing of the memorandum of cooperation has received wide attention from major media in the United States. The official website of the U.S. National Patent and Trademark Office, the International Intellectual Property Protection Network, the Intellectual Property Pioneer Magazine and many other professional media on intellectual property protection in the United States have published special articles on this matter.

During his visit to Washington and New York, Xiao Chen visited famous American companies such as Xinlan, Merck, IBM, Ogilvy and Mather, as well as the School of Business jointly organized by Jinning University of Finance and Economics and the State University of New York, witnessed the signing of the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in On-the-job Training for University Presidents" between the Provincial Department of Education and the State University of New York, and presented the Confucius Institute with the "Commentary on Chinese Thinkers Series" and "China Jiangnan Water Town Culture Series" published by Jiangdong. Xiao Chen also met with important overseas Chinese organizations such as the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Association of Overseas Chinese, and met with representatives of Jiangdong Province's trainees trained at the University of Maryland, encouraging them to "cherish the rare opportunity, learn more skills, and better serve the motherland and the people of Jiangdong."

At the end of its visit to New York State, the special plane of the Jiangdong delegation flew from the United States to Japan.

After the outbreak of the financial crisis, it quickly hit the real economy of various countries. Although Asia is a little farther away from the epicenter of the storm than Europe and the United States, the decline in market demand in Europe and the United States still brings tremendous growth pressure to the two export-oriented economies of China and Japan.

According to a report obtained by Xiao Chen, as of April this year, the cumulative amount of direct investment by Japanese enterprises in China has reached the second largest source of foreign investment. China's demand will serve as an irreplaceable driving force for Japan's future economic growth.

Michitaka Nakatomi, vice chairman of the Japan External Trade Organization, explained in detail to the reporters of the Jiangdong Provincial Daily the economic crisis at a meeting of opinions exchanged views between Japanese enterprises and the government of Jiangdong Province in early August this year.

The reporter asked him what are the main aspects of the impact of the economic crisis on the Japanese economy? What measures did the Japanese government take in response?

"The Japanese economy has been very affected by the economic crisis, and the impact on trade has been particularly pronounced, such as the decline in trade volume. Since the second half of last year, Japan's government has continuously introduced measures to stab the economy, and in April, Japan once again formulated a supplementary budget for the fiscal year with fiscal expenditures exceeding 2% of GDP in order to further stimulate the economy. The total amount of this supplementary budget will exceed 10 trillion yen, making it the largest supplementary budget in Japan's history. And these economic thorns have already begun to bear fruit. ”

The reporter also asked: At the beginning of this year, it was reported that many Japanese companies had withdrawn from China. Will this change as the economy improves?

Nakatomi replied: "We have followed this matter, but this is not the case. If we take a closer look at the actual behavior of Japanese companies, we will find that the reality is quite the opposite, and they are actually willing to stay. Take Koto Province as an example, from the beginning of the past few years to the present, Koto Province has attracted a large number of Japanese investment, compared to other provinces, it ranks first in China in attracting Japanese investment, and Jiangdong Province has also attracted a large number of investments from other countries around the world.

Last year, for example, Japan's foreign direct investment (FDI) in other countries almost doubled, which is a very large number. I don't know what the situation will be this year, but Japanese companies are eager to invest in other countries. And they also want to diversify their production. ”

The reporter asked again, what are the main considerations of Japanese companies when choosing to settle down when investing in China?

Michitaka Nakatomi replied, "I can't say exactly what companies will do, but what is certain is that Koto Province has attracted the most investment from Japanese companies so far. Japanese companies have shown greater interest in the energy sector in Koto Province, as well as the environmental sector.

For example, at the beginning of August this year, Japanese companies and the Koto Provincial Government held an exchange meeting in Jinning, which was the first time that such a dialogue was held in Koto Province, and I hope it will continue in the future. Japanese companies will give their views on the investment environment they are facing and the problems they face, including some management issues. By talking about these issues, everyone can negotiate a good solution. This is very important for attracting Japanese capital to [Koto Province] here. For Japanese companies, it helps to obtain a stable investment environment.

Another point is that intellectual property is also a very important issue. The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the Koto Provincial Government have cooperated well in the area of intellectual property. So far, the provincial government has taken some positive steps in the protection of intellectual property rights, and it is hoped that [such initiatives] will continue. I think some companies will also raise this issue at the meeting. ”

The reporter finally asked, we know that other countries are also recovering from this economic crisis. Will Japanese companies continue to increase their investment in China, or will they consider investing in other countries?

Nakatomi replied: "For businesses, businessmen will always look for places that are more suitable for their interests to invest, so there is always competition. In the last year, there has been a big increase in Japanese investment in Vietnam, as well as in India. But by far China has attracted the most Japanese investment. Nevertheless, we need to recognise that a good investment climate is important to attract companies to invest in a certain place or country so that they can benefit from it.

Until now, Japanese companies have invested mainly in the manufacturing sector. However, we hope to be able to invest further in the services sector in the future. It is possible to [invest] in the energy sector, but it is also possible in the service sector. If we have an ideal investment environment here, there will be a greater possibility for Japanese companies to invest further here. ”

There is a prerequisite for Xiao Chen's visit to Japan, that is, the development plan for the coastal areas of Jiangdong has just been approved by the Government Council, and it is precisely because of this plan that this visit has been approved.

On December 2, the Jiangdong Economic Friendship Delegation led by Xiao Chen, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the Jiangdong Provincial Party Committee, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, held a large-scale "Jiangdong Coastal Development Cooperation Briefing" in Tokyo, Japan, to publicize and promote this new platform for cooperation and development. Xiao Chen's keynote speech on "Enhancing Mutually Beneficial Cooperation and Promoting Common Development" at the cooperation briefing aroused enthusiastic responses from the Japanese economic circles. Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshihiro Nikai met with Xiao Chen, Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takamori Yoshikawa, and Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cui Xinjian attended the cooperation briefing and delivered speeches.

Coastal areas play an important role in the overall development of Jiangdong, and speeding up coastal development is of great significance to driving the development of northern Jiangsu and even the central and western regions of China, and promoting the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta region. On December 1, with the discussion and approval of the Jiangdong coastal area development plan at the executive meeting of the Government Council, the coastal development of Jiangdong Province was officially upgraded to a national strategy. With the theme of accelerating coastal development, the cooperation briefing and the delegation's visit and inspection activities attracted great attention by introducing this development platform full of opportunities to the Japanese business community, so as to deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Japan and seek common development.

The conference hall of the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo is full of rooms. More than 1,000 Japanese business celebrities and politicians attended the seminar, including more than 400 large Japanese companies and world-famous enterprises. In his speech, Xiao Chen, on behalf of the Jiangdong Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, extended a warm welcome to the guests, briefly introduced Jiangdong's active response to the impact of the international financial crisis and maintained steady and rapid economic development, and focused on the basic background, favorable conditions, strategic positioning and bright prospects of Jiangdong's coastal development. He said that the coastal areas of Jiangdong have obvious geographical advantages, superior resource endowments, industrial development has begun to take shape, and the infrastructure is becoming more and more perfect, and in the coming period, it will rely on the Yangtze River Delta, face Northeast Asia, communicate with the central and western regions, focus on the construction of large ports, introduce large projects, and develop large industries, promote the trinity of ports, industries, and towns, accelerate the construction of an important economic growth pole in eastern China and the eastern bridgehead of the new Eurasian Land Bridge, and build a regional shipping hub in the north wing of the Yangtze River Delta. It is a new industrial base along the coast of China, an important tourist destination, a reserve land resource development zone, and a livable area with a beautiful ecological environment and a rich life for the people.

Xiao Chen pointed out that since China's reform and opening up, Jiangdong has always attached great importance to the development of friendly exchanges and cooperation with Japan, and has formed a new pattern of multi-field and all-round exchanges and cooperation with investment and economic and trade as the main body. Japan's investment in the coastal areas of Koto has accelerated significantly in recent years, and good returns on investment have been achieved. In this unprecedented international financial crisis, the general trend of in-depth development of economic globalization will not fundamentally change, and the interconnectedness and interdependence of the economies of various countries will continue to be strengthened. The just-concluded Second China-Japan High-Level Economic Dialogue has reached many important consensus and positive results, creating favorable conditions for us to work together to overcome the current difficulties and deepen exchanges and cooperation between the two sides. With the implementation of China's macro policy of expanding domestic demand and ensuring growth, it can be expected that a new round of economic growth cycle will be ushered in after the crisis, which will bring unlimited business opportunities to investors from all over the world.

"As a large province with an open economy, Jiangdong will not waver in its policy of opening up to the outside world, and the pace of expanding opening up will not slow down." Xiao Chen told the participating entrepreneurs that at present, Jiangdong and southern Jiangsu are accelerating industrial transformation and upgrading, promoting the transformation of economic development mode, and enhancing international competitiveness. It is hoped that all entrepreneurs will continue to expand their investment in southern Jiangsu and invest their resources in the hot land of Jiangdong coast. Jiangdong will further optimize the investment policy in the coastal areas, reduce business costs, improve the investment environment, and make it a new international capital agglomeration area.

In his speech, Cui Xinjian said that in the context of major changes in the current international economic situation, it is a far-sighted move to hold a briefing on Jiangdong coastal development cooperation. This is not only an opportunity to publicize Koto and coastal development, but also a great opportunity for the Japanese economic circles to learn more about Koto and China. It is hoped that Japanese industrial and commercial enterprises and Jiangdong will give full play to their respective advantages and actively carry out cooperation, so that the coastal areas of Jiangdong will become another hot spot for deepening Sino-Japanese cooperation.

Through keynote speeches, presentations and promotional videos, the bright prospects of Jiangdong's coastal development were presented to the participants. Uichiro Niwa, President of ITOCHU Corporation, Hiroo Kasai, Chairman of the Japan Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Kunio Ishihara, Chairman of Tokio Marine Holdings Group, Kazuhisa Shinoda Shinoda, President of Oji Paper Co., Ltd., and Michitaka Nakatomi, Vice Chairman of the Japan External Trade Organization, delivered speeches and pledged to continuously strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Koto through new opportunities for coastal development. At the cooperation briefing, Jiangdong cities signed 33 projects with Japanese enterprises, involving electronic information, new energy, environmental protection, modern logistics, finance, software and other industries, with a total investment of 2.615 billion US dollars. The Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade signed an agreement to support the revitalization and development of northern Jiangsu, and the Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Mizuho Industrial Bank.

That night, even Xiao Chen didn't expect that an accident would occur in the hotel where he stayed......