North China's coal-rich Shanxi province got the go-ahead to break its dependence on resources and build a development model with diversified sectors.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning body, said on Monday that it has approved the establishment of a "pilot economic transformation zone" in Shanxi to diversify the province's resource-dependent economy.

Inside a workshop of an auto factory in Yuncheng, North China's Shanxi province, Dec 13, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Currently, coal, coke, fuel-generated electricity and metallurgy account for about 85 percent of Shanxi's industrial output, which relies heavily on demand from outside the province.

The goal of the pilot zone is to transform conventional industries and strike a balance among the agricultural, industrial and tertiary sectors in Shanxi, Peng Sen, deputy head of commission, said at a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office.

The zone is also designed to help Shanxi achieve green and sustainable development, bring about equal public services for rural and urban people, and set an example for other central and western regions, he said.