'Belt and Road initiative' offers opportunities
The latest efforts to boost industrial bases in Northeast China have shown progress, with local economies receiving new investment via the country's "Belt and Road initiative," central and local government officials said on Tuesday.
Local governments have stepped up efforts to cooperate with neighboring countries and regions to boost industrial restructuring reform and spur their local economies, the officials told a briefing held by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.
The initiative is beneficial to the opening-up and development of Northeast China, as it boasts a geographical advantage, Zhou Jianping, director of the department of Northeastern region revitalization of the NDRC, said at the briefing.
Investment of 1.6 trillion yuan ($245.44 billion) in 130 projects including infrastructure and Internet services will rejuvenate old industrial bases including those in Northeast China, Zhou said.
In December 2015, the State Council approved the establishment of an advanced equipment manufacturing industrial park with Germany in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province.
"The industrial park is crucial to open up Liaoning's economy and revitalizing the old industrial bases in Liaoning," said Yu Fei, deputy director of the Liaoning Provincial Development and Reform Commission, on Tuesday.
German companies including carmaker BMW Group, engineering giant Siemens and the KUKA Robotics Co have invested in 144 projects, of which 107 are in progress, Yu said.
Also, the Steinbeis School of International Business & Entrepreneurship in Germany will build a technology transfer center in the park to bring the technology of small and medium-sized companies in Germany to China, he added.
Although the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region isn't in Northeast China, it's part of the NDRC's rejuvenation plan. Like Liaoning Province, "the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued guidelines to strengthen cooperation with Russia and Mongolia," Bao Manda, director of the Inner Mongolia Development and Reform Commission, said at the briefing.
Last year, it signed 166 investment and trade projects with Mongolia. It is now pushing the construction of the China-Russia-Mongolia Pilot Zone and the Development and Opening-up Test Areas in Manzhouli and Erenhot, two cities in Inner Mongolia, Bao noted.
He added the region will also enhance cooperation with ports around the Bohai Rim, including Dalian port in Liaoning Province and the port of Tianjin in North China to achieve better results under the "Belt and Road initiative."
Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province will also boost economic growth by developing emerging industries such as health, equipment manufacturing and tourism, according to officials from the local development and reform commissions.
