The concept of the West Coast Zone was initially proposed by Lu Zhangong, then governor of Fujian Province and now secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee, at a meeting of the Fujian Provincial People's Congress in early 2004. The State Council issued an opinion to support the construction of the West Coast Economic Zone in Fujian, "Fujian is at the forefront of cross-strait relations, and we are very pleased that the central government has given Fujian some supportive policies, hoping to build Fujian into a special zone suitable for Taiwanese businessmen and compatriots to work, live and receive education."
The Hercynian region is separated from Taiwan by water to the east, bordered by the Yangtze River Delta to the north and the Pearl River Delta to the south, and is an important part of China's coastal economic belt, which is in an important position in the layout of the country's regional economic development. Fujian Province in the West Coast region in the main position, has a unique advantage of interaction with Taiwan.
The meeting said that in the current new situation of significant positive changes in cross-strait relations, more vigorous measures should be taken to further capitalize on the comparative advantages of Fujian Province, to give early and pilot implementation of policies to accelerate the construction of the West Coast Zone, and to promote the economic and social development of Fujian Province in a good and fast manner.
The State Council supports Fujian Province in accelerating the construction of the West Coast Zone, and calls for focusing on seven aspects of work: first, strengthening cross-strait industrial cooperation and cultural exchanges; second, accelerating the construction of modernized infrastructure; third, the development of featured industries from a high point of departure; fourth, the promotion of cross-provincial regional cooperation; fifth, the pilot test of a number of major reforms, and continue to play the role of the West Coast Zone in opening up to the outside world first; sixth, to accelerate the development of social services; seventh, to accelerate the construction of ecological civilization. The seventh is to accelerate the construction of ecological civilization.
The strategy of the West Coast Region is an important initiative for Fujian Province to cope with the new situation of China's regional economic development and to seek a new leap forward in the development of Fujian Province.
In October 2005, in the central government's proposal for the 11th Five-Year Plan, "supporting the economic development of the west coast of the Taiwan Straits and other areas where Taiwanese investment is relatively concentrated" was included in the section on "cross-strait relations". "In January 2006, General Secretary Hu Jintao visited Fujian Province and recognized this strategic concept.
Since then, the construction of the West Coast has received strong support from various ministries and commissions. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) sent a delegation to Fujian to study the West Coast issue; the Ministry of Railways (MOR) invested more than 100 billion yuan to build several major railroads such as Wenfu and Fuxia; and the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) embarked on a number of highway and port construction projects in Fujian. In addition, *** more than a dozen ministries and central enterprises have signed letters of agreement and memorandums with Fujian to support the construction of the West Coast of the Taiwan Strait.
In 2006, "supporting the economic development of the west coast of the Taiwan Strait" was incorporated into the outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan. And on January 29, 2007, the fifth meeting of the tenth session of the National People's Congress of Fujian Province formally voted to adopt the "Outline of the construction of the economic zone on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait in Fujian Province", the construction of the overall objectives include: through 10 to 15 years of efforts, built for China's economic development of an important region, the frontier platform to serve the cause of the reunification of the motherland. At that time, Li Jianping, president of Fujian Normal University and a blogger, said that the West Coast Zone will become another major economic region in China and a new engine of China's economic growth following the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Bohai Rim economic zones.