Partnership experience

"Sichuan's reconstruction is a miracle," said Huang Xinchu, head of the Publicity Department of Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

As of May, more than 98 percent of the planned 29,692 post-quake reconstruction projects funded and built by the 18 provinces and municipalities had been finished. By September 2011, the remaining projects will wrap up, according to the latest figures from Sichuan Provincial Government.

The partners, Huang said, have done some unprecedented in the history of reconstruction projects. "What they have accumulated during the process could become known as the Sichuan experience," he said.

Partnership assistance is a special arrangement and an innovative creation of the Chinese Government, said Wei Hong, Deputy Governor of Sichuan Province. Since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, similar programs have been applied to Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions throughout the decades.

Besides the partnership assistance, Sichuan also received help from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as foreign governments, enterprises, NGOs and individuals.

When the partnership assistance program concludes in September, a long-term cooperation mechanism will be established between assisting provinces and municipalities and quake-affected cities and counties in Sichuan, Wei said. "The partnership assistance will evolve into partnership cooperation," he said.

His words were echoed by Han Guijin from Beichuan. The industrial and agricultural parks in his new town can help outsource Shandong's labor-intensive industries and boost huge market potential. "In this way, Beichuan is returning the favor and helping Shandong's industrial restructuring," Han said.

Partnership Assistance Pairs

Shandong Province—Beichuan County

Guangdong Province—Wenchuan County

Zhejiang Province—Qingchuan County

Jiangsu Province—Mianzhu City

Beijing—Shifang City

Shanghai—Dujiangyan City

Hebei Province—Pingwu County

Liaoning Province—Anxian County

Henan Province—Jiangyou City

Fujian Province—Pengzhou City

Shanxi Province—Maoxian County

Hunan Province—Lixian County

Jilin Province—Heishui County

Anhui Province—Songpan County

Jiangxi Province—Xiaojin County

Hubei Province—Hanyuan County

Chongqing—Chongzhou City,

Heilongjiang Province—Jiange County

(Source: Sichuan Provincial Government)