A Chongqing government spokesman on Thursday denied media
reports that another four million people would be relocated because
of environmental problems caused by the Three Gorges project.
Last month, China Business News quoted vice mayor of
Chongqing Yu Yuanmu as saying the ecological safety of the area was
at risk from the growing population.
But spokesman Wen Tianping, speaking at a regular press
conference held by the Chongqing authorities on Thursday, insisted
that the plan to encourage millions to leave their homes was just
part of the urbanization drive and was not a forced relocation.
"The reports that another four million people will be moved out
of the Three Gorges Reservoir area are not accurate," Wen said.
"The municipality aims to attract three to four million people
from rural to urban areas by 2020 to narrow the urban-rural wealth
gap," he said.
Another vice mayor of Chongqing Tang Xiwei said last month that
the municipality's development would focus on the areas within a
radius of one hour's drive from the downtown area.
Chongqing plans to have 22 million residents in the area by
2020, three to four million more than the current 18 million,
according to Tang.
The area accounts for 78 percent of Chongqing's economy volume
and is expected to account for 80 percent by 2020, Tang added.
On June 7, Chongqing and Chengdu, capital of neighboring Sichuan
Province, were selected by the National Development and Reform
Commission, the country's top economic planner, as pilot cities to
work towards coordinated and balanced development between urban and
rural areas.
In March 1997, the city, which sits on the upper reaches of the
Yangtze River, was approved as a centrally-administered
municipality, the fourth after Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. It
was expected to spearhead economic development in China's central
and western regions.
Covering 82,000 square kilometers, the municipality has a
population of more than 27.98 million, 55 percent of whom live in
rural areas.
China has relocated 1.22 million people for the Three Gorges
project so far and will have relocated nearly 1.4 million by the
conclusion of the relocation process by the summer flood season
next year, according to an official with the office of the Three
Gorges Project Committee of the State Council.
(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2007)
