Liaoning:New Day for Old Industrial Base

by Cao Mengyue

On June 25， 2019， at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China， Chen Qiufa， secretary of the Communist Party of China （CPC） Liaoning Provincial Committee， and Tang Yijun， governor of Liaoning Province， revealed that the added value of Liaonings high-tech industries increased by 19 percent in 2018. In addition， the reform of stateowned enterprises in the province was carried out smoothly， and the business environment continued to improve. In recent years， the province has constantly made new progress and achievements in comprehensively advancing its revitalization.

Liaoning is a cradle of Chinas modern industry. More than 1，000“firsts” in the countrys industrial history came out of the province， including the first blast furnace， the first aircraft and the first 10，000 -ton cargo vessel.

From 1953 to 1957， 17 percent of Chinas raw coal， 27 percent of its electricity and 60 percent of its steel were produced by Liaoning， which played an important role in the construction of New China during the early stages of development.

In the new era， Liaoning has achieved vigorous economic and social development. In 2018， Liaonings GDP totaled 2.53 trillion yuan （US$367.8 billion）， 214 times the figure in 1952. Per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached 37，342 yuan （US$5，429） and 14，656 yuan（US$2，131）， respectively， 103 and 79 times the numbers in 1978.

Advancing High-Quality Development

Advancing high-quality development is the only way to completely revitalize Liaoning， declared Chen Qiufa， adding that a present problem affecting and restricting the revitalization and development of the Liaoning economy is structural imbalance. Traditional， resource-oriented and heavy-chemical industrial structures and products have difficulties adapting to market changes.

For this reason， Liaoning has vigorously promoted industrial restrictions and advanced supplyside structural reform to adapt to market demand. It did a good job in revitalizing “time-honored brands，”developing “raw material brands，”and cultivating new brands. It has strived to build a new pattern of industrial development featuring multiple pillars， strong drivers and diverse development.

At the same time， Liaoning has also made great efforts to promote transformation of driving forces， accelerate innovation-driven development， transform innovative resources into development advantages and advance regional coordinated development. Through implementation of a series of measures， old state-owned enterprises such as Anshan Iron and Steel Co.， Ltd. have gained a new look as a number of major projects have been in place.

The development of strategic emerging industries in Liaoning has also released new vitality. In 2018， Liaoning registered more than 1，000 new high-tech enterprises and over 4，500 small and medium-sized science and technology companies， and the added value of high-tech industries increased by 19 percent. The development of strategic emerging industries has injected new fuel into the deep adjustment of Liaonings economic structure and the optimization and upgrading of its industrial structure.

Driving Revitalization through All-round Opening Up

Expanding opening up is the only way to achieve Liaonings full revitalization. As the only coastal and border province in northeastern China， Liaoning is a gateway for Chinas economic and trade cooperation with Japan， Russia， Mongolia and the Korean peninsula， which is also an important region for the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

At a symposium on advancing the revitalization of northeastern China in September 2018， President Xi Jinping stressed the need to plan the northeastern regions opening up with strategic thinking and global vision and deeply integrate the region with the construction of the Belt and Road to reach new heights of opening up.

Subsequently， Liaoning moved up the launch of a proposal to accelerate construction of a new pattern for opening up to comprehensively drive revitalization. At the same time， the province drafted a plan to build a pilot free trade zone（FTZ） to better serve the Belt and Road Initiative and actively created the China and Central and Eastern European Countries （CEEC） “17+1”economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone.

Liaoning considers Belt and Road construction an opportunity and has strived to become an important gateway for the opening up of northeastern China.

Tang Yijun outlined construction progress of the pilot FTZ in Liaoning Province at the press conference. As the only FTZ in Chinas northeastern region， the China （Liaoning） Pilot FTZ was officially launched on April 1， 2017.

Over the past two years， the FTZ has attracted 35，000 enterprises with registered capital of 530 billion yuan （US$77 billion）. About 113 of the 123 tasks of the pilot reform have landed， and 45 outcomes in system innovation have been promoted throughout the province， four of which have been promoted across the country. Liaoning has made remarkable phased achievements to become a major engine to increase the competitive capacity of old industrial bases in northeastern China and expand Liaonings opening up to the outside world.

In the first quarter of this year， Liaonings GDP grew by 6.1 percent year-on-year， the first time in 17 quarters that the provinces economic growth rate returned to more than six percent.

“The numbers from this year are of tremendous significance for Liaoning，” remarked Tang Yijun. “The growth indicates that Liaonings economy has overcome the most difficult stretch and is catching up with the pace of national development as it seizes stable and healthy development.”

“However， we realized that Liaoning remains at a critical stage and faces many real problems， difficulties and challenges，”conceded Tang. According to him， Liaoning will continue to stay firm， work hard and comprehensively drive its revitalization step by step.