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Jilin province reports big jump in GDP

By Liu Mingtai (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-12 08:04

Jilin Vice-Governor Chen Weigen (center) and Party Secretary of Yanbian Prefecture Deng Kai (second from left) take part in the ground breaking ceremony for the Japanese Industrial Park in Hunchun. [China Daily]

Jilin province recorded strong economic growth last year and is poised to repeat that performance despite the global financial crisis, said Governor Han Changfu.

The province's gross domestic product (GDP) reached about 640 billion yuan, a 16 percent growth from the previous year. And its per capita GDP surpassed the $3,000 mark.

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The northeastern province also benefited from the increasingly important role of private companies, which saw their revenues grew 31.4 percent over 2007.

While the nation's exports were dealt a blow by the global economic recession, Jilin's foreign trade volume managed to grow 29.5 percent from the previous year.

The domestic market in Jilin also kept up as retail consumer goods grew 24.3 percent year-on-year. The governor said he is confident that such a growth could be sustained this year and weather the financial crisis.

Han said the growth was achieved in a sustainable way, with its energy and emission goals realized in 2008. The energy consumption for production per unit of GDP was lowered 4.5 percent from the previous year.

Ambitious plan

Jilin is one of the important agriculture production bases in the country with grain being a major economic source of income. Last year, the province's grain output reached 28.4 million tons, a record high.

Han also revealed that Jilin started to implement an ambitious plan last year to substantially increase its grain output. The plan, which seeks to increase its grain production by 5 million tons in the next five years, was approved by the State Council last year, and is an important part of the nation's grain safety strategy.

The plan includes a number of large projects, ranging from the promotion of modern farming equipment and technologies, improvement of farmlands and construction of agricultural infrastructure projects.

One of the biggest projects under construction is the Hadashan Water Control Project near Songyuan in west Jilin. Consisting of a large reservoir on the Songhua River and a number of water diversion canals, it's the largest water control project in several decades in Jilin and it's expected to solve the water shortage problem in Songyuan and the entire western region of Jilin, upon completion.

The Hadashan project is just one of many large infrastructure projects in Jilin.

Last year, the province's fixed-asset investment totaled 560 billion yuan, a 40 percent growth from the previous year.

Large infrastructure projects under construction last year included highways, expressways, railways and airport facilities.

In 2008, the length of newly added expressways reached 382 km, with the operation of the Changchun-Jilin-Tumen Expressway.

Jilin Governor Han Changfu addresses the second session of the 11th People's Congress of Jilin province on January 17. [China Daily]

With the completion of a large capacity expansion project, the Changchun Longjia International Airport offered flight services to more than 3 million people last year. In addition, the Changbai Mountain Airport, located in the largest and most famous tourism resort in Jilin, also became operational before the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

With respect to railway construction, the Jilin section of the Eastern Railway Network was completed last year. Upon its completion, the railway network, which stretches from Dalian in Liaoning province to Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang province, will offer the easiest access to the sea for the entire eastern region of northeast China.

In addition, the Changchun-Shuangyang-Yantongshan Railway, another important railroad system in Jilin, also became operational last year.

Social progress

Along with its rapid economic development, according to Han, the province also made remarkable social progress last year.

People's living standard continued to improve, with the increase of residents' income and the extended coverage of a social security system.

Last year, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in Jilin reached 12,800 yuan and per capita net income of rural residents hit 4,930 yuan, increasing 13 percent and 17.7 percent respectively year-on-year.

In addition, the province created 525,000 new jobs, and a total of 12.81 million people were employed, the best in its history.

A comprehensive social security system, including pensions for the retired, insurance for the unemployed, medical care and free education, was extended to cover as many as 21 million people, or about 77 percent of its entire population.

The province also established a program to assist low-income families.

One of the goals of the system is to help zero-employment families - families with no one holding a job. In 2008, the province offered 100,000 new jobs to such families. As a result, each of the families had been offered at least one job by the end of last year.

In addition, a minimum living standard guarantee system was established to help the low-income families in cities and the countryside. In rural areas, the annual subsidy for residents reached 540 yuan per capita, whereas the monthly subsidy for urban residents was 120 yuan each.

To address housing problems faced by low-income families, the province built apartments that totaled 818,000 sq m, and offered them to low-income families at extremely low rates.

A production line of the Changchun-based FAW-Volkswagen, the largest automaker in China. [China Daily]