The problem is that governments in the west have been giving such breaks without Beijing's approval for years just to compete with similar preferential policies that have long applied to coastal areas. Five million people leave Sichuan province alone every year to seek work elsewhere. But most migrants can't obtain residency rights, leaving Sichuan to pay the costs of educating their young and caring for their elderly. Regional officials say Beijing should loosen the residency system to make it easier for the west to export its people to other regions. Chengdu and Xian are home to some of China's top technical universities.
Officials complain that all state funding for Internet development has gone to coastal cities.
Sichuan has an excess of hydroelectric power, which it would like to sell to coastal regions. Provincial officials are urging Beijing to stop approving new coal-fired and nuclear stations on the coast, but producer lobbies in those provinces have opposed the idea. Beijing has restricted the ability of other provinces to buy western provinces' grain surpluses, fearing a loss of grain-producing farmland nationwide. Review Publishing Company Limited, Hong Kong. All rights reserved.