Outline of Pearl River Delta Region Reform and Development Blueprint Announced
The State Council's information office announced this morning (Jan 8th) the outline of the blueprint for the Pearl River Delta's reform and development from now until 2020 . According to the blueprint, the Pearl River Delta should take the lead by building itself a well-off society by 2012. It also specifies the way Guangdong should handle specific issues and work arrangements. More from our reporter Zhu Yuzi.
Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission Du Ying said, the nation will allocate five billion yuan into construction on the Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao bridge to facilitate closer tie of the three regions.
"The outline specifies the next step the Pearl River Delta is expected to take to develop itself from the medium level developed region it is today, to a fully developed area by 2020. The goal will be hard to achieve without a close cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao. But this cooperation is already underway, as for example for the construction on the Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao bridge, expected to start this year."
The blue print for the first time positions Guangzhou as the national key city. As for Shenzhen, the forerunner of China's reform and opening up, the city will issue specific measures based on the outline as soon as possible.

Chinese Shares Open Lower than 1,900 Points
Affected by the fall in US stocks overnight, Chinese shares opened low today, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, tumbled below 1,900 points and closed at around 1878 points,down by 2.38%.  The smaller Shenzhen index was down 1.62% to close at 6616 points.