The soaring swan of Northeast China

China Daily | Updated: 2007-10-26 07:05

In the Northeast of China lies a piece of land resembling a flying swan, this is Heilongjiang, a province named after the unpolluted Heilong River.

The total area of the province is 454,000 sq km. It has a population of 38 million, similar to the state of California in the United States.

Heilongjiang enjoys a beautiful natural environment with large forests and vast wetlands, while the Greater and Lesser Hinggan Mountains and Wandashan Mountains form a natural ecological shield.

Heilongjiang possesses fertile soil, which is high in organic substances. The Songnen and Sanjiang plains form one of the world's three black soil belts. With the largest cultivated land area in China, Heilongjiang's main agricultural crops are soybean, wheat and rice. The amount of soybean produced annually by the province is almost one-tenth that of the United States. The organic food produced here is popular both at home and abroad.

With large pastures, rich resources of crop straw, and protein-rich grass, Heilongjiang is termed the cradle of China's animal husbandry industry.

Heilongjiang is also a major mineral resource province, with 132 varieties of minerals. It has rich reserves of oil, graphite, coal and gold. The Daqing Oilfield is the biggest in China. The yearly production of crude oil in Daqing is close in volume to the production of California, and annual coal production in Heilongjiang is almost one-tenth of that of the US.

The Wudalianchi is one of the world's three largest cold volcanic springs and Jingbo Lake is the largest alpine barrier lake in the world.

Strong industries

Heilongjiang has a complete industrial structure with a good foundation in the energy, manufacturing and petrochemical industries.

For half a century, Heilongjiang has provided two-fifths of China's crude oil, one-third of the national timber wood, one-tenth of its coal, and massive amounts of heavy and national defense equipments, making a great contribution to the nation's development.

Heilongjiang is situated at the highest latitude among Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Its tourism resources are rich and unique.

The province is famous for tourist attractions such as ice and snow, forests, wetlands, long border rivers and big border lakes. It is a world of ice and snow in the winter and cool and comfortable in the summer.

The capital of Heilongjiang is Harbin. The city combines the cultures of the East and the West. It is known as the "Paris of the East". In 2009, Harbin will host the Winter Universiade.

Heilongjiang is home to beautiful natural landscapes and unique cultures. The World Tourist Organization was so impressed by its natural beauty, freedom, fashion and atmosphere of romance, that it named Heilongjiang the "Cool Province".

Located in the center of Northeast Asia, Heilongjiang has obvious geographical advantages. It shares over 3,000 km of borderline with Russia, and has 25 first-class national ports. Its border railways are connected with the Russian Siberian railroad system, thus forming a direct link with the center of Russia and European countries. Heilongjiang has 64 air routes, connecting destinations such as Los Angeles and other important cities around the world.

In 29 years of reform and opening-up, China has made great achievements, and Heilongjiang is witnessing rapid economic development.

As China's old industrial base, Heilongjiang has supplied the country with large amounts of crude oil, timber, coal, commodity grain and engineering goods. The province is proud of its contributions to the nation, but it simultaneously also suffers the painful result of heavy resource consumption and declining environment. It is undergoing an experience similar to that of US cities such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago, which contributed greatly to the nation's development, but also suffered the decline of many industries.

Revitalization

The central government has implemented the strategy of revitalizing old industrial bases in Northeast China. China is advocating harmony between human beings and nature as it pursues scientific development.

Heilongjiang is rejuvenating like a beautiful swan soaring into the sky. Based on the new concept, Heilongjiang people will learn from others' mistakes, and never trade nature for economic development. We value environmental protection, and seek harmony between material and ecological wealth. Therefore, learning from the revival experience of the American industries, Heilongjiang will further adjust its economic layout, integrate industry resources and regulate disorder and over-expansion. We are creating material wealth, while protecting nature. This has become our guideline for further economic growth and social development.

As part of revitalization of its old industrial bases, Heilongjiang is constructing the Ha(Harbin)-Da(Daqing)-Qi(Qiqihar) Industrial Corridor, which will showcase these new concepts.

Located in the southwest of Heilongjiang, the Ice City of Harbin, the Oil City of Daqing and the Crane City of Qiqihar are like three shining pearls on the "swan's neck". From east to west, the cities echo each other at a distance of 300 km. Using the abundant saline-alkali land and wasteland resources of this area, the Ha-Da-Qi Industrial Corridor will focus on hi-tech, export-oriented and eco-friendly industries.

We believe that after the Daqing Oilfield, the industrial corridor will create another miracle in the near future in Heilongjiang, transforming the saline-alkali land and wasteland into a thriving and prosperous modern industrial zone.

This is an abridgement of a speech given by Li Zhanshu, executive vice-governor of Heilongjiang, at the opening ceremony of the Charming Heilongjiang TV Week in Los Angeles