Governor: Liaoning will catch up with Pearl River delta
By Gao Jinan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2004-05-24 21:58

A top Liaoning provincial official said the province, an industrial leader in China a decade ago, has every reason to catch up with the developed regions in the country, also in about a decade.

Governor Zhang Wenyue

First, the province has full support from the central government. The province is witnessing an unprecedented development opportunity after the central government announced the strategic decision to revive the northeast China in 2003. Zhang said this policy lays the foundation for the province's economic revival and the provincial government will fully implement this regional economic policy.

Second, the province has a solid talent and technological base for its economic development. In the past 50 decades, the province made great contributions in terms of raw materials, manufacturing industry and machinery industry when the entire country helped the province built up an industrial base. Zhang admitted that the province lagged behind because of the system and structural problems when the country's development priorities shifted to the Pearl River delta areas in south China and the Yangtze River delta area in east China. But the governor said the solid industrial and technological base would help the province to catch up with the delta areas.

He said the state-owned economy accounts for too high a percentage in the overall GDP, standing at about 75%. At present, the number of state-owned or in which the state has controlling stakes is 1,353, with operating state-owned assets amounting to 650.5 billion yuan. Of them, about 200 are on the verge of bankruptcy.

In the early 1980s, Zhang said, the province's GDP ranked the country, lowered to the fifth in 1990 and further down to the ninth place in 2003. And Liaoning's GDP was two times of that of Guangdong Province in the early 1980s, but Guangdong's GDP is more than two times of that of Liaoning. Zhang said this not only means pressure, but also an opportunity for the province.

Third, the province will bank on the development strategy of the Northeast Asia economic rim, linking northeast China with South Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Russia.

Zhang disclosed that the province would make hefty investment in technological renovation and upgrading in the coming years. Last year, the province invested 46.2 billion yuan in technological renovation projects, and the total amount in technological renovation has reached 115.7 billion yuan since 1990.

In the central government's rejuvenation strategy of the northeast, Liaoning will have a decisive role. At present, the province's GDP accounts for 46% of the total of the northeast three province, industrial added value accounting for 44%; fixed assets investment accounting for 47%; the import and export volume for 70%; and the amount of foreign investment for 78%. Zhang said the province is willing to cooperate with other two provinces and achieve the goal of industrial rejuvenation.

With all these advantages and opportunities, Governor Zhang said Liaoning has the chance and foundation to catch up with the developed Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas in a decade, or a little bigger longer.

By 2010, the province's GDP will reach over 1,180 billion yuan, 27,000 yuan per-capita (or US$3,250); the per-capita incomes will reach 12,500 yuan for urban residents and 5,500 yuan for rural residents.