The Changchun-Hunchun Intercity Railway went into operation last year, becoming a main transport line connecting the inner region of Northeast China to Russia and the DPRK. [Photos Provided to China Daily]

Jiang Chaoliang, governor of Jilin province, delivered the 2015 government work report at the provincial people's congress on Jan 26 in the capital Changchun.

Provincial leaders have overcome the challenge of securing and developing a balanced economy, featuring emerging industries, agricultural production and opening the province to international trade, according to the report.

"The past year has been an unusual year for Jilin because we faced mounting difficulties from the slowdown in economic growth," Jiang said. "President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Jilin last year boosted our confidence to overcome our difficulties and inspired us to do a better job."

Last year, Jilin's economy grew about 6.5 percent. Jiang said the government aims to keep growth between 6.5 and 7 percent this year.

Jiang said the government will continue to focus on stimulating enterprises to create technological innovations, renovating shantytown communities and spurring infrastructure construction in transportation, water conservancy and energy.

Government revenue reached 122.93 billion yuan ($18.69 billion) last year, up 2.2 percent from 2014. Its goal is to keep revenue growth above 2 percent this year.

In delivering the work report, Jiang pledged to lower energy consumption per unit of GDP by 3.2 percent this year.

Last year, Jilin attracted 683 billion yuan in domestic investment and $8.57 billion in foreign capital, up 16.1 percent and 12 percent from 2014, respectively.

An industrial base in China from the 1930s, Jilin wants to rejuvenate its aging economic structure. The provincial government insists that it must make good use of its historical industrial heritage and explore new advantages.

Bayinchaolu, Jilin's provincial Party secretary, has stressed that the province has five advantages to develop its economy: its industrial foundation; national grain production base; proximity to the ocean and use of developed waterways; richness in ecological resources; and its strong universities and institutes.

He proposed five basic development philosophies: to be innovative, to strike a balance, to work in a green, environmentally friendly way, to be openminded and to be more sharing.

The concepts will bring marked changes to Jilin's current economic structure, which the report characterized as having slowdowns in the province's conventional industries, such as manufacturing and heavy industries, and growth in emerging industries, services and consumer goods, and in the number of private businesses.

Output value in emerging industries in Jilin reached 351 billion yuan last year, up 10.1 percent year-on-year, while the added value from the service sector reached 534.1 billion yuan, up 8.3 percent year-on-year.

Output value for Jilin's biopharmaceutical and healthcare industries reached 202.92 billion yuan while its equipment manufacturing industries totaled 242.34 billion yuan in output value last year, up 13.5 percent and 11.4 percent year-on-year, respectively.

The proportion of private companies to the overall number of businesses in Jilin currently exceeds more than 50 percent. By the end of last year, the number of self-employed entrepreneurs and private businesses reached 1.36 million and 258,000, respectively, increases of 7.6 and 19.8 percent from 2014. Revenue for self-employed entrepreneurs and private businesses rose 8.8 percent year-on-year last year.

But for a better look at how Jilin's economy has been restructured, the report points to the region's boom in tourism.

Inns in the town of Erdaobaihe at the foot of Changbaishan Mountain in eastern Jilin began accepting reservations for the winter in early October. The winter season, when outdoor temperatures drop to below minus 30 C, is the busiest time for the inns, many of which are run by farmers. Travelers from southern China brought in about 231.4 billion yuan in tourism revenue to Jilin last year, up 25 percent from 2014.

Compared to 2014, last year Jilin province had the nation's fastest growth in tourism revenue for the National Day holiday in the first week of October.

Airports in Jilin handled 86,000 flights and 10.6 million passenger trips over the past year, up 13 and 16.3 percent, the fastest growth figures in Northeast China.

At a time when the growth rates of Jilin's auto and agricultural industries have slowed, the rise of the tourism industry has become a new engine for the province's economy.

Jilin's rich ecological resources and preserved natural environment are the foundations for the robust growth of tourism in the province. Last year, its wetlands increased about 600 square kilometers in total area.