President Xi Jinping: Pingtan faced with once-in-a-life-time opportunity
Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), is inextricably linked to Pingtan Island. While working in Fujian, he had been to Pingtan Island for inspection and investigation 20 times and has special feelings concerning all goings on there. In particular, since the construction of the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone, President Xi has been closely monitoring Pingtan’s economic reform and has repeatedly given important instructions as an offer of unwavering support. When he was leaving after a visit there on November 1, 2014, President Xi told the head of the experimental area that the development of Pingtan is facing a once-in-a-life-time opportunity.
During his seven-year tenure as the Secretary of the Fuzhou CPC Municipal Committee and the Governor of Fujian Province from 1993 to 1999, Xi Jinping spoke about the development of the tourism industry in Pingtan three times. Today, Pingtan has finally been approved to be built into an international tourism island.
On March 28, 1993, when Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Fuzhou CPC Municipal Committee, spoke about the development of Pingtan’s tourism industry at the Pingtan Investigation Symposium, he said Pingtan’s tourism resources are comparable to Sanya in Hainan and the US island state of Hawai’i. Pingtan abounds in tourism resources with its unique ocean scenery that is something of a rarity in China and even in the world, a promising indication of a potentially booming tourism industry in the future. He pointed out two things for people to note: the first is not to be in a rush for quick results with haphazard construction; and the second is to go full steam ahead after having selected the most appropriate method and not to “walk like women with bound feet.”
During his speech at the Field Office Meeting for the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee and Fuzhou People’s Municipal Government at Pingtan on May 25, 1994, Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Fuzhou CPC Municipal Committee, pointed out that the State Council has recently approved Pingtan as a national key scenic spot, something quite hard to come by. He demanded that the local government should take advantage of the situation, do a solid job, and make valuable tourism resources benefit both the county and the people. At the same time, he also reminded that attention must be paid to three issues. The first is finding a long-term perspective and scientific planning process. The second is the strengthening of publicity and the expansion of influence. (To the outside world, national key scenic spots are publicized as “national parks of China”, and this is where Pingtan’s natural edge and assets come into play.) The third is the combination of development and protection efforts. Once good natural landscapes are altered, they cannot be recovered by just throwing money into them. Finally, he emphasized that Pingtan should be gradually built into a beautiful “national park” through development as planned.
During his speech at the Investigation Symposium in Pingtan on October 24, 1999, Xi Jinping, then governor of Fujian Province, emphasized that tourism is a realistic yet long-term issue for Pingtan. After entering the 21st century, the tourism industry is sure to become increasingly developed and more important. He also said that among Pingtan, Lianjiang, Minqing, and Yongtai, which are all important parts of the tourism industry in Fuzhou, Pingtan shows the greatest potential.
More than 20 years later, General Secretary Xi Jinping still has a special liking for tourism development in Pingtan. It was on November 1, 2014, that he landed on Pingtan Island for his 21st time and also the first time that he did not have to take a ferry to the island. He happily came to the terminal, inspected the work in inspection and quarantine, customs, and border inspection facilities in the Passenger Inspection Building, and boarded the “Cross Strait Ferry” (CSF) for a field trip to learn about the operation of direct flights between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
He pointed out that what Pingtan faces is not a once-in-a-century but more of a one-and-only opportunity. Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone is China’s first, so increased efforts should continue to be demonstrated to explore and truly build Pingtan into a common homeland for compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
