MOTION TO AMEND: Xie Mulan, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) drafts a document before the NPC meeting on February 28, 2012 (XINHUA)

Deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) from Jiangxi Province say an outline for developing and rejuvenating the Jiangxi old revolutionary base area is being investigated by the National Development and Reform Commission and will be submitted to the State Council for examination and approval as a national strategy.

The Jiangxi old revolutionary base area comprises south Jiangxi Province, west Fujian Province, and north Guangdong Province. Its public welfare services have developed slowly and living standards are relatively low since the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

In Ruijin City, central China's Jiangxi Province, 160,000 rural residents still live below the poverty line, earning less than 2,300 yuan ($364.28) per year. This accounts for 30.77 percent of Ruijin City area's overall rural population. In the Ruijin area, 1,921 villages have no roads, 3,480 villages no running water and 16,634 families cannot receive television signals. In addition, 28,000 people live in remote mountains and areas where geological disasters frequently occur.

Last November, officials of Ganzhou City first proposed plans for the development and rejuvenation of the old revolutionary base area. As most of the zone lies in Jiangxi, the outline was drafted mainly for that province.

Deputy to the NPC and Secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China Su Rong did not reveal the content of the outline, but it is learned that Ruijin has regarded the planning as an opportunity to secure the Central Government's support in variety of issue areas, including compensations for ecological damage, finance, taxation, banking, land acquisition, city extension, veterans' pensions, and bond issuing.

Ruijin will seek funding of no less than 750 million yuan ($119 million) in 2012 for at least 30 key projects slated for development and another 120 projects already underway. The city hopes to earn national and provincial economic development zone designations and upgrade the Ganjiangyuan Nature Reserve from the provincial to the national level.