BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Located in the central region of China, Hubei Province had benefited for hundreds of years from its mother river -- the Yangtze River -- on irrigation, transportation and fishery.
Now this cradle of Chu culture, an important influence on Chinese civilization, is nurturing innovation and embracing openness as feedback to nature thanks to the local government and people's efforts.
"The optical fibers from the Optics Valley of China in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province, now account for 25 percent market share in the world, which is an epitome of Hubei's technological innovation," said Jiang Chaoliang, Party chief of Hubei, in a press conference about Hubei's high-quality development.
A capsule robot, rather than intubation, is now capable of finishing an accurate gastroscopic examination in the patient's stomach in 15 minutes without causing any discomfort.
Wang Xiaodong, governor of Hubei, said the capsule robot is an achievement of independent research and development by ANKON Technologies Co., Ltd, a company based in Hubei.
With enterprise being the cornerstone of innovation, the province now has 6,590 high technology enterprises as a result of the innovation climate Hubei government has fostered, Wang added.
According to statistics, the main economic indicators of Hubei province are higher than the national average and better than expected in the first five months of the year. Hubei's GDP reached 3.94 trillion yuan (572.63 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, expanding 215 times than 1952 with its average annual growth at 8.5 percent.
Hubei inherited the spirit of openness passed down in history. While its geographic position connected this region with nine provinces in ancient times, openness is now paving Hubei's new roads to the world.
The total value of Hubei's imports and exports came in at 52.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, increasing 643 times from that in 1953. Among the top 500 firms in the world, 280 have invested in Hubei Province.
As high-quality development set the tone for Hubei's economic progress, the ecological environment protection of the Yangtze River is listed as the priority in all projects.
According to Jiang, 22.3 percent of the province's landscape is included in the ecological protection red line. Along the Yangtze River green ecological corridor, 4,230 rivers and 755 lakes were covered by the water management system.
"Take a trip by boat on the flow of the Yangtze River all the way to Wuhan and enjoy the green landscape on both banks," Jiang said, as an invitation to all, at the press conference.
