Old industrial bases urged to tap new growth

Premier calls on northeastern region to push revitalization, boost opening-up

Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that the country's northeastern region should accelerate its revitalization by giving full play to its strategic advantages and boosting its opening to the outside world.

Li made the remark as he presided over a meeting of the State Council's leading group for revitalizing old industrial bases in Northeast China and other areas. Li is also head of the leading group.

Efforts should be made to develop the northeastern region's coastal economic zones, expand cross-border business cooperation, enable port clusters to facilitate the region's development and actively participate in the Northeast Asian economy, he said.

Li said the region should grasp the new opportunities brought by the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement to accelerate opening-up and improve its competitiveness in international economic and trade cooperation.

The RCEP, which was signed last year by the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand, covers a market of about 2.3 billion people with a combined GDP exceeding $26 trillion.

Noting that the revitalization of old industrial bases in northeastern China remains at a crucial stage, Li called for greater efforts in advancing reform in key sectors and simplifying administrative procedures to spur the vitality of market entities.

He also stressed deepening the reform of State-owned enterprises, facilitating the sustainable and healthy development of private businesses and attracting more companies and talents to the region.

To accelerate the improvement and upgrading of the industrial structure in Northeast China, the premier said local authorities should boost support for developing modern agriculture, guide enterprises to increase investment in innovation and cultivate emerging industries, and form an industrial pattern in which enterprises of different sizes support each other.

He also underlined the importance of the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements in the region.

The fundamental purpose of revitalizing the region is to better guarantee and improve people's livelihoods, Li said, calling for efforts to promote employment, ensure that pensions are paid on time and in full and provide more public services in fields such as education, public health and nursing. To this end, the specific-purpose transfer payments earmarked by the central government should prioritize these areas, he said.

Participants in the meeting approved several documents, including a plan for revitalizing the northeastern region during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period and a guideline for the high-quality development of Liaoning province's coastal economic zone.

mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn