China to build industrial clusters along Yangtze River

BEIJING - China will focus on building world-class industrial clusters for making electronics, high-end equipment, automobiles, home appliances and clothing along its longest river, sources said.

This year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will make public a guideline for building industrial clusters in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily on Monday quoted an unnamed official as saying.

Creation of the clusters will be centered around cities with industrial capabilities and build on more than 100 development zones and industrial parks.

Wu Qi of the commercial bank research center of the Hengfeng Bank said the economic belt enjoys the advantages of cheap water transportation and close industrial cooperation.

"Building the five industrial clusters can give better play to the resources and development advantages of provinces and cities along the Yangtze River," Wu said.

The Yangtze River Economic Belt consists of nine provinces and two municipalities that cover roughly one-fifth of China's land. It has a population of 600 million and generates more than 40 percent of the country's GDP.

China issued a development plan for the economic belt in September 2016 and a guideline for green development of the belt in 2017.