Shenzhen upgrade ruled out
An influential think-tank in Shenzhen said yesterday the city would not become the fifth municipality directly under the central government because this would deepen rivalry between cities in the Pearl River Delta.
'If Shenzhen became China's fifth municipality, we would have a provincial capital [Guangzhou], a municipality and two special administrative regions in the Pearl River Delta,' said Yang Lixun, vice-director of the Shenzhen Academy of Social Science.
'That would make the chain of command very chaotic and it would be even more difficult for cities to co-ordinate with each other.'
Professor Yang said the move was also contrary to national development strategy, which was to divert resources from the rich coastal regions to the northeast provinces and backward western region.
Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing are the only cities designated as municipalities directly under the central government.
'The central government would have to allocate more resources to Shenzhen if it was raised to a municipality. But at the moment we need to support the west and the northeast, not the rich coastal cities,' Professor Yang said.
Many academics have called for Shenzhen to be raised to a municipality. They argue that this would give the city more flexibility in restructuring its economy.
Their hopes were raised after Premier Wen Jiabao sent an inspection team to Shenzhen last August to study the positioning of the city in the mainland's development.
But Shenzhen officials recently denied the city was seeking to become a municipality.
Professor Yang urged Hong Kong people to drop their 'petty mindset' and agree to extend a proposed bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau to Shenzhen.
'Some people may worry that the double-Y bridge would divert some traffic from Hong Kong to Shenzhen,' he said. 'But in the long run, the proposal will improve the overall goods flow and traffic in the Pearl River Delta. Hong Kong, as the logistic centre in the region, will also benefit.'
