BIZCHINA / Five Points & One Line
Growth engine
By Wu Yong (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-26 14:29
The coastal region development plan mapped out for Liaoning is all set to
explore a new port development mode and drive economic growth.
Li Keqiang, secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the
Communist Party of China, said Liaoning would implement the "Five Points
and One Line" strategy to develop its coastal regions.
The ports in the five cities of Huludao, Jinzhou, Yingkou, Dalian and
Dandong, all located along the coastline of Bohai Bay and Yellow Sea, are
to be expanded, according to the strategy.
"We should grasp the opportunity and make full use of the unique
advantages as a coastal province to speed up the development and
revitalization of the traditional industrial base, " said Li.
Moreover, local authorities also plan to build a road along the bay to
connect all the coastal cities, so as to push forward transportation and
logistics there.
"The essence of the policy is to form an all-round, multi-layered and
wide-ranging scheme. The coastal region will become a window and bridge
to the outside world," said Feng Guisheng, a researcher from Liaoning
Academy of Social Sciences.
And it will promote the overall development of two other Northeast China
provinces Jilin and Heilongjiang, Feng noted.
As the nation's traditional industrial bases, Liaoning and the two other
provinces launched a restructuring programme for their State-owned
enterprises (SOEs) in the mid-1990s. After a decade of efforts, they have
made good progress in solving the problems of laid-off workers and
bankrupt SOEs. It is now time for them to find a new engine to spur
economic growth.
Unique geographic location
Liaoning has 2,421 kilometres of coastline and nearly one-third of its
cities are located along the coast. It is the only province in Northeast
China with these advantages and has established trade links with hundreds
of ports across the world.
Located at the intersection between the Beijing-Tianjin city belt and the
Northeast China region, the province serves as a transportation hub for
Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and even the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region.
Furthermore, Liaoning is key to building the North Asia free trade zone,
due to its close connection with Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Sound industries
As a traditional industrial base, Liaoning enjoys great advantages in the
manufacturing and material industries. In the past decade, industries of
marine chemistry, petrochemicals, metallurgy machinery, electronics,
bio-chemicals, and grain have become the province's economic pillars.
Experts believe Liaoning's current focus on coastal areas development
will enable the area to grow into a large-scale, comprehensive and modern
industrial base, which will then lead to inland development.
Land, labour resources
Liaoning boasts of abundant land. Sources from the government say that
most of the land in the coastal areas is abandoned saline and sand beach,
not good for farming but suitable for industrial development. Moreover,
most of it is State-owned.
Within the framework of the nation's strict land use policies, the local
government provides incentives for enterprises. It also encourages
outside investors and will offer preferential policies for them.
Long industrialized Liaoning can furnish all types of skilled and
technical manpower.
Besides, costs are much lower than neighbouring Tianjin and Beijing.
Statistics from Huludao show that an average salary there is only 600
yuan (US$ 74.9) per month.
Open economy
Liaoning's coastal region is now seeing rapid opening-up. Dalian has
become one of the biggest seaports in China over the past few years.
Moreover, the belt has seen development for over two decades, and many
seaports, economic technological development zones, bonded areas,
high-tech development areas, and large-scale industrial bases have been
built there.
Dalian now has 80 berths for handling containers, oil, coal and other
cargo. Dalian Port operates China's biggest crude oil terminal with a
capacity of 300,000 metric tons.
Investment environment
Besides all these natural and social advantages, Liaoning also provides a
favourable investment environment.
Last June, the State Council released a special policy to encourage the
further opening up of Northeast China to help revitalize the traditional
industrial bases there.
It issued many preferential policies, including financial, land use and
taxation incentives, to encourage foreign companies to invest in the
three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang.
"With the unique advantage of coastal resources, Liaoning Province can
greatly enjoy these policies," said Feng.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
Most Popular Stories in 48 Hours
� Minister: global imbalances a concern
� Shenzhen home to largest number of migrants
� Golden week tour
� Shanghai maglev popular with tourists
� Housing fund ups its mortgage rates
Today's Top News
� US: China not manipulating currency
� Mayor blames Dalai Lama for conflict
� Beijing pledges to uphold human rights
� 'Promise' destroys pristine area
� Pay rises by 16% for State sector workers
Top Biz News
� World Bank raises growth forecast to 9.5%
� New boss at Sina.com; first-quarter profit down
� Gome profit up 22 percent in the first quarter
� Olympic organizers stress importance of ideals
� CISCO to set up new service entity
Alibaba is the largest B2B marketplace in the world. Source model ship,
wooden puzzle, one-piece toilet, RC hovercraft, photo album, prom dress,
pocket bike, Vaginal Speculum, Samurai Sword, String Panty and PVC Pipe.
Learn Chinese
No comments:
Post a Comment