Jilin province's economy had a robust year with breakthroughs in innovation and achievements in restructuring and public services.

At the provincial annual meeting on economy on Dec 26, the province said it would maintain steady progress this year in response to President Xi Jinping's "new normal" theory.

According to Xi's elaboration on the theory during APEC meetings in November, a "new normal" economy is one that has shifted gear from high speed to medium-to-high speed growth.

The economic structure is constantly improved and upgraded and the economy is increasingly driven by innovation instead of input and investment.

According to the provincial meeting, the ever-changing economic environment will create difficulties and pressure for Jilin to maintain steady growth. However, the nation's stress on developing the northeastern region also creates opportunities.

Key objectives for this year, including economic restructuring, innovation, reform and improvement of people's lives, were also drawn up at the annual meeting in the provincial capital Changchun.

With robust growth and good environment, Jilin aims to made more breakthroughs in the coming year.[Lefu/China Daily]

Breakthroughs

According to Xinhua News Agency, China CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd provided electric multiple units (EMU), a type of intercity high-speed train, and subway trains for the World Cup in Brazil in June 2014. The first Chinese tramcars to be delivered to Africa rolled of the production line in August in Changchun. The trams were put into service in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

CNR sealed a deal to supply 284 subway trains to Boston in October, which marked the first time for CNR-made vehicles to be used in the United States.

In November, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region's first high-speed train system started operating with CNR trains. The company created a subway train for Chengdu in Sichuan province in August. The train is the first in China that is equipped with a homegrown network control system. The system can detect and release technical failures and malfunctions online immediately.

Local officials said that China CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd contributed a lot to the province's innovative development. One of Jilin's major projects last year, the Audi Q project, was launched in September. The project includes construction of a manufacturing base in Changchun to produce Audi Q models. Transport breakthroughs also took place last year. On Nov 24, a land route linking Changchun and Vladivostok in Russia opened, which will facilitate trade between the two regions.

The regional Songtao Railway started operation on Dec 10. The rail route connects Jilin with surrounding regions including Harbin in Heilongjiang province.

Restructuring

The provincial government stepped up efforts in industrial restructuring to maintain steady growth of traditional industries and nurture emerging ones.

According to official statistics, the growth in output value of strategic emerging industries reached 12 percent in 2014.

Strategic emerging industries refer to those that require a lot of knowledge and technology input, low-consumption and large potential, such as biology, new energy, advanced equipment and environment protection industries. Jilin's Tonghua city, known as China's "medical city", focused on modern traditional Chinese medicine, biopharmaceuticals and healthcare food.

The city is home to more than 100 pharmaceutical companies. By Sept 2014 the output value of the city's medical sector hit 65.32 billion yuan ($10.55 billion).

This marked a 26.8 percent increase compared to 2013, according to official statistics. Further development of Changchun Xinglong Free Trade Zone, Changchun Airport Economic Development Zone, as well as an international logistics center serving Northeast Asia, is part of the provincial government's efforts to open up and to build a hub for innovation and economic restructuring.

Changchun Xinglong Free Trade Zone is working on e-commerce export businesses with Russia by enhancing its logistics facilities. The provincial government encourages local companies to carry out more international cooperative projects in R&D, production and sales. The province signed an agreement with Zarubino port in Russia to develop a logistics hub in Hunchun, a city wedged between the DPRK and Russia.

Jilin has long been recognized as a leading grain producer. The province had the top grain yield by per unit last year. The provincial government has carried out reforms to develop modern agriculture and improve its ecological environment, which in turn improves rural lifestyles. The provincial government also paid more attention to the employment of college graduates.

It released policy measures to encourage graduates to work in rural areas and provided financial support for small enterprises hiring fresh graduates. A range of financial support from the government is also ofered to graduates who want to start up their own businesses. With the government support there has been a boom in the private economy with a rise of 10 percent in the sector's total revenue, according to oficial statistics.

The provincial annual meeting on economy noted that the government will keep working on affordable housing projects, improving the social welfare system and carrying out more programs to help the poor.