Yunnan economy developing rapidly, deputy says

Yunnan province will better utilize its rich resources for economic development, and promote transition from them to industries, deputies to the National People's Congress from the province's delegation said during an open panel discussion in Beijing on Sunday.

"Although Yunnan is now relatively underdeveloped compared with other regions, it has outstanding advantages in its resources and location," said Wang Ning, Party secretary of the province, who is also a deputy to the NPC.

"Our mineral, green electricity, plateau agriculture, cultural tourism and biotic resources have advantages across the country and even the whole world. They are the biggest potential for our future development and chances of getting ahead of others as latecomers. We are striving to give full play to them," he added.

For example, the general output value of agriculture in the province reached 2.5 trillion yuan ($347.3 billion) last year. Tea, fresh-cut flowers, wild rubber, coffee, walnuts and traditional Chinese medicine all ranked first in the country in their plantation area and yield, Wang said.

Besides, he said, 95 percent of the coffee produced in China originated from the province and Yunnan has improved deep-processing techniques for coffee beans and begun to develop coffee-themed tourism.

"Last year, five coffee manors in Baoshan received about 60,000 visits, and gained an income of nearly 100 million yuan," said Wang.

In the next step, they will further tap potential of the resource economy, promote its development, and make it a strong driver for high-quality growth, said Wang.