Grasping the opportunities brought by the nation's strategy to revitalize the old industrial bases in Northeast China, Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, is expected to maintain a robust development momentum in the next few years, according to Gao Guangbin, secretary of the Changchun Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Gao noted that the city has a sound foundation for rapid and healthy growth.

After decades of construction and development, Changchun has grown into one of China's important industrial bases, with the automobile and agricultural products processing sectors as its pillar industries.

In addition, the city has well-developed educational, technological and cultural sectors, while also featuring a comparatively good living environment.

Gao said the city has already been put on a fast development track. In the first half of this year, Changchun's gross domestic product (GDP) and fiscal revenue witnessed a year-on-year growth of 17.1 percent and 49.4 percent respectively, while its industrial output value increased by 33.9 percent from the same period of last year.

Opportunities galore

Gao said Changchun is now faced with unprecedented opportunities for its future development.

First, the central government is now implementing a strategy to revitalize the old industrial bases in Northeast China.

The State Council recently approved the National Development and Reform Commission's plan on the revitalization of the industrial bases, which will provide an impetus to the development of Changchun, as well as other northeastern cities.

Second, businesses in China's developed regions are now shifting their investments and operations to Northeast China.

At the China Jilin Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo held in Changchun last month, many business representatives from China's developed areas came to Changchun to seek investment opportunities.

Third, the successful State-owned enterprise (SOE) reform in Changchun also offers strong backup to the city's healthy economic growth.

According to Gao, SOE reform is now as good as complete in Changchun, leading to the solution of many problems, such as outdated corporate operational mechanisms, redundant staff, idle assets and debt. Free from such historical burdens, many SOEs are now able to progress on a healthy track of development.

Fourth, the new developments in consumer markets also present new opportunities for Changchun's industries.

As living standards improve, the demand for cars and high-quality food is on the rise, meaning larger market potential for Changchun's automobile and agricultural products processing industries.

New targets

In view of these opportunities, Changchun's authorities have mapped out an ambitious blueprint for the next few years.

According to Gao, the city is expecting to double its present economic volume, fiscal revenue, per capita GDP and industrial output value by 2011.

In 2011, the city's GDP, gross industrial output value and fiscal revenue are predicted to reach 410 billion yuan, 500 billion yuan and 50 billion yuan respectively. Meanwhile, the per capita GDP is expected to hit $6,800, approximating the standards of the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions.

Gao also predicted that, with such positive economic growth rates, the per capita income of rural and urban residents will also double the present figure by 2011.

Gao said enlarging economic volume is key to the realization of these targets.

Large projects

"Launching large projects is an effective way to enlarge Changchun's overall economic volume," Gao said.

The city will focus on projects with high technology content, good economic efficiency, huge market potential, low resources consumption and low impact on the environment, he elaborated.

"Priority will also be given to projects that can create more job opportunities," Gao added.

This year, Changchun launched 91 large projects, covering such fields as agricultural industrialization, manufacturing, service, urban construction and other public facilities construction.

These projects, involving a total investment of 280.8 billion yuan, are expected to generate an annual industrial output value of more than 300 billion yuan when they are all put into operation, which is 100 billion yuan more than the present figure.

"So the implementation of these large projects is key to realizing our goal of raising industrial output value to 500 billion yuan in 2011," Gao explained.

The launch of the large projects is expected to nurture more large enterprise groups in Changchun.

At present, the city has only three super-large enterprises with an annual industrial output value of more than 10 billion yuan each. They are First Automotive Works (FAW), FAW-Volkswagen and Dacheng Group. With the expected implementation of large projects, the number of such super-large enterprises is expected to reach 10 by 2011, Gao said.

In addition to local enterprises, businesses outside the city, including foreign investors, are welcome to participate in these projects, the Changchun Committee secretary said.

"For investors, Changchun's advantages lie in its land resources, sound industrial foundation and strong technological and human resource backup," Gao pointed out.

Changchun has enhanced its efforts in investment promotion. A series of promotional activities have been launched this year or planned for the next few months, the recently held China Jilin Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo being the most important among these events.

Changchun's economic development zones and industrial parks will be the major locations of these projects.

At present, Changchun has two State-level development zones, 12 provincial-level development zones and eight provincial-level industrial parks.

(China Daily 10/18/2007 page23)