By Liu Mingtai (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-06 15:42

Rapid economic growth, breakthroughs in State-owned enterprise (SOE) reform, improvements in urban facilities, impressive progress in social affairs - all are changes Changchun witnessed in the past five years.

The capital city of northeast China's Jilin province, Changchun's gross domestic product (GDP) doubled over five years to reach 207.3 billion yuan in 2007, while per capita GDP increased 12.5 percent on average annually over the same period to hit $3,695 last year.

The South Lake Park is an attractive tourism destination in Changchun.

Changchun's industrial enterprises reported a combined output value of 277 billion yuan in 2007, 3.2 times more than 2002.

By the end of 2007, 652 SOEs had completed ownership reform, transforming themselves into entities with modern corporate structures, governance and diverse ownership.

Rural suburbs of the city continued strong growth due to implementation of the new socialist countryside construction program and exemptions on agricultural taxes and related charges.

Thanks to the city's preferential policies to encourage development of private companies, they now play a more important role in the overall economy, contributing 65 percent of the city's GDP last year, compared to 57 percent in 2002.

Progress has also been made in foreign trade and investment. In the past five years, the city's foreign trade volume reached $26.3 billion, an average annual growth of 15.7 percent.

Its utilized foreign investment hit $5.91 billion in the same period, growing by 21.7 percent on average each year. The city's development zones and industrial parks have become major destinations for foreign investment and play an increasingly important role in Changchun's economy, generating 63.7 percent of local industrial output value last year.

A better life for residents

Increasing investment in infrastructure and public facilities has also resulted in a better quality of life for the city's residents.

Over the past five years, a number of large municipal projects have been completed, including the new Longjia International Airport, a forest belt along the Yitong River, two light rail lines and the Kaixuan Road highway transportation hub.

In addition, a range of environmental protection projects have been implemented. Eighty-three percent of the city's sewage, 85 percent of household refuse and 98 percent of industrial solid waste is either treated, incinerated or recycled. The widespread use of natural gas instead of coal for fuel has resulted in a substantial improvement in air quality.

Changchun has also witnessed rapid development in social and civic affairs.

During the past five years, the city's investment in education reached 8.61 billion yuan, increasing by 17.8 percent annually on average, with new and renovated school buildings totaling 2.98 million sq m. Efforts in professional development for graduating students has also been increasing effectively, with more than 95 percent of students landing jobs after graduation, a rate among the most advanced in the nation.

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