Shenzhen's economic zone will be preserved, Wen says
Premier Wen Jiabao has assured Shenzhen that its unique status as a special economic zone will be preserved.
He made the remark during a high-profile visit to Shenzhen from Friday to yesterday in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the special economic zone on Thursday.
'Not only will the Shenzhen special economic zone continue, we should make it even better,' Wen said.
His remarks came amid analysts' views that Shenzhen has lost its edge and uniqueness as a special economic zone because other parts of the mainland have also opened up to the world.
Shenzhen was picked by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping as one of the first cities to be opened to the world 30 years ago. As a special economic zone, it was given preferential policies such as tax breaks to attract foreign investors.
Wen, accompanied by Guangdong party secretary Wang Yang, visited enterprises, research institutes and the border checkpoints of Huanggang and Shenzhen Bay. He also inspected a Shenzhen-Hong Kong joint development project in Qianhai .
The premier reiterated that China's future lies in its open door policy and the country should promote 'political reform', without which the fruits of economic reform would be lost. He made similar remarks at the National People's Congress in March. Political reform, in Beijing's terminology, usually refers to administrative reform or democracy within the party.
Wen also said that there should be a favourable environment for the public to monitor and criticise the government and help solve the problem of a high concentration of power without restrictions.
Wen also visited an exhibition on Deng's contribution to economic reform and laid flowers at the paramount leader's statue in the exhibition hall. Shenzhen will hold massive celebrations this week.
