Peter Wilson

Guizhou: China's South West

I'm sitting in the airport waiting for the Beijing flight from Guiyang, capital of Guizhou. A slightly delayed flight is a good chance to blog!

It was the first time I've been for thirteen years.  I wanted to look at the effects of the economic crisis on one of China's poorest provinces. But like so many cities in China, Guiyang is almost unrecognisable from before. Martin and Sue Wakeling, who do remarkable work for children with special needs in Guiyang, have lived through all this, since 1997, so have seen the change from up close.  They mentioned ambitious hotel plans - and traffic jams!

Guizhou is landlocked. It has a population of 40 million, mostly rural.  It has a lot of raw materials, including coal. It also has amazing natural scenery, and 60 ethnic minorities - mostly in the countryside - many of whom have preserved their varied local traditions.

But no one in this globalised world is immune from the economic crisis.  Coal and electricity sales to other provinces are down.  Enterprises have closed. Some migrants (Guizhou has perhaps 6 million working outside the province) have had to return home. I met a few of them - hard-working people living hard lives, who have made a big contribution to China's remarkable growth, particularly in recent years.

But the crisis is also seen as an opportunity here.  Central government is investing large resources from its stimulus package. Local sources of funding should multiply that several times.  Guizhou has been relatively poor partly because it is mountainous and remote - so it wants to build dramatically better road and rail links to coastal provinces, and within the province.  In Guiyang there's construction everywhere.

Guizhou also has a big interest in pursuing a more sustainable model of development, that allows it to protect its natural environment, and promote sustainable tourism, for which it is well suited.  It has been the pioneer of a 'circular economy' approach that is now national - a distinctive contribution to global concepts of sustainable development. It is determined not to forget this as it seeks to deliver more sustainable growth for its population.

I was here so briefly, and for work. But I'd like to come back with more of my own time. Even the airport is surrounded by the kind of dramatic hills that make you want to miss your flight, and start walking

Posted at 15:04 24 April 2009 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[2]