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SCMP Reporter

Guangdong is to merge Foshan with four other cities to speed up urbanisation.

The State Council has approved plans to classify Nanhai, Shunde, Sanshui and Gaoming as part of Foshan, making it the third largest city in the province after Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The new city, with an area of 3,813sq/km, will have a population of 3.35 million and a gross domestic product (GDP) of 107.85 billion yuan (HK$102.7 billion).

By comparison, Guangzhou's GDP is 258.7 billion yuan and Shenzhen's is 194.6 billion yuan.

'The decision by the State Council, provincial committee of the Communist Party of China and the provincial government reflects the economic and social development needs of Foshan,' state media quoted city mayor Liang Shaotang as saying.

'It is in line with the trend to speed up the urbanisation process and is favourable for the integration of resources in the area.'

Nanhai, Shunde, Sanshui and Gaoming were originally counties under Foshan's administration but were hived off as independent administrative units to speed up economic development during the early days of Guangdong's opening up.

Officials in the areas to be merged declined to comment on the move, saying it was 'sensitive'.

Talks about the merger first surfaced at the end of last year. However, the officials said they were surprised by Thursday's announcement.

'It has become a fact . . . we will go along with what the provincial government has decided,' one official said.

Mr Liang said the Foshan government would be responsible for planning and co-ordination and approval of infrastructure projects.

The four cities due to be merged will become districts of Foshan with other administrative powers.

The Guangzhou Daily  reported that following the merger, Foshan would spend 36 billion yuan over the next 20 years to build 13 main roads.

Its industrial output is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 15 per cent to reach 430 billion yuan in 2005, while value-added production will grow at an average annual rate of 12 per cent to about 85 billion yuan, the report said.

The enlargement of the Foshan metropolitan area follows the expansion of Guangzhou in 2000, which gave the provincial capital much coveted access to the Pearl River mouth via Panyu district.

Analysts said Foshan's merger would allow better co-ordination and freer movement of resources from the richer districts of Shunde and Nanhai to relatively poorer Gaoming and Sanshui.

Foshan, a temple town with a history dating back to at least the Tang dynasty, has long been a seat of administration and a light industry centre.

Its relatively small size, with a population of 451,500 and geographic area of 23sq/km, had limited its development, officials said.



Foshan merger to create a larger city