China drafts guidelines for central economic zone

The central government has recently started drafting out guidelines to establish the Central Plains Economic Zone, or the Zhongyuan economic zone.

The main part of the zone is preliminarily located in Central China's Henan province and includes areas in the neighboring provinces of Shangxi, Shangdong, Heibei and Anhui, the Economic Information Daily reported on Aug 14 citing Fan Hengshan, director of the Regional Economy Department of the National Development and Reform Commission.

The zone covers an area of 290,000 square kilometers with a population of about 170 million. The guidelines will apply until 2020 in two phases.

The State Council put forward a document in November to guide the development of the zone focusing on industrialization, urbanization and agriculture modernization.

The central government will also provide fiscal support to Henan province, especially to major grain production counties, and will increase subsidies to farmers. Projects, including those related to agricultural infrastructure, will benefit grain production areas.