Program a new growth area of Liaoning

The government of Liaoning province is now implementing a massive industrial development program, aiming to revitalize this old industrial base in Northeast China.

This program was proposed by the Liaoning provincial government in 2005, as an important part of the province's 11th Five-Year Development Plan (2006-10).

The program, called the Development of the Coastal Economic Corridor, covers 21 districts and 12 counties in six cities in the coastal areas.

Focusing on the development of the Dalian Changxing Island Port Industrial Zone, the Yingkou Coastal Industrial Base (including the Panjin Shipbuilding Industrial Base), the Jinzhou Bay-Rim Coastal Economic Zone (including the Jinzhou Xihai Industrial Zone and Huludao Northern Port Industrial Zone), the Dandong Industrial Zone and Dalian Huayuankou Industrial Zone, and the construction of the 1,430-km coastal highway linking the key development areas, the program is also called the "Five-Point along One-Line" Program.

The Coastal Economic Corridor will have a planned area of 583 sq km, and the first-stage development area is 220 sq km.

Significance

The provincial government of Liaoning deems the program an important part of the ongoing program to revitalize the old industrial bases in Liaoning, expecting it can further improve the province's industrial layout and enhance its comprehensive economic strength.

Liaoning is an important traditional heavy industry base in China. Most of the province's large industrial operations are located in the central regions, including such cities as Shenyang, Anshan and Fushun.

Except for the port city of Dalian, the coastal region is comparatively weak in industrial development.

However, the coastal region has their unique advantages for industrial development.

The region, connecting Northeast China and North China and neighboring the Bohai Bay and the Yellow Sea, is the major sea transportation channel for Northeast China and Northeast Asian countries like Mongolia.

The region's seaports, including Dandong, Dalian, Yingkou and Jinzhou, have business links with the seaports in more than 160 countries and regions in the world.

The region also has more than 2,000 sq km of deserted saltpan, saline-alkali land and barren beach, which are not good for agricultural production but suitable for industrial development.

In addition, the region has well-developed railway and highway transportation networks, linking the region to the rest of the country.

Development targets

Because of these advantages, this region will focus on building itself into a port-oriented industrial base, involving such sectors as equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals and metallurgy.

According to the province's 11th Five-Year Development Plan, the first stage of the Coastal Economic Corridor will be completed by 2010.

Dalian, the most important port in Northeast China, is now gearing up to building a shipping center in Northeast Asia. It is expected to become an international logistics center by 2020.

Building Dalian into an international shipping center need the coordination and will surely drive the development of the neighboring ports like Dandong, Yingkou, Jinzhou, Huludao and Panjin.

Shenyang, although not included in the program, will also benefit from the Coastal Economic Corridor development. An important industrial base and an inland transportation hub in Northeast China, this capital of Liaoning province will offer a convenient link between the port cities and the inland areas of Northeast China.

In addition, the coastal region will also enhance cooperation with Jilin, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia in the fields of energy, raw materials and mineral resources developments.

Development plan

To achieve a sustainable development for the region, the Liaoning provincial government has mapped out the Development Plan for the Coastal Economic Corridor.

Fully considering the economic, social and environmental factors, the plan offers guidance in the fields of infrastructure construction, environmental protection, industrial layout and investment promotion.

With respect to infrastructure construction, emphasis will be placed on the building of port facilities such as crude oil, container, iron ore and steel berths. The large port infrastructure projects will include deep-water berths in Dalian's Changxing Island, Yingkou's Xianren Island and Huludao's Liaotiaogou; a 300,000-ton crude oil terminal in the Dalian Port; a container terminal in Yingkou; a large bulk cargo berth in Jinzhou Port; and a multi-purpose berth in the Dandong Port. The port companies will be encouraged to cooperate with domestic and foreign partners in port construction.

Construction of transportation facilities will be another highlight of the Coastal Economic Corridor.

New railways linking Dalian and Harbin and Shenyang and Yingkou, and new expressways connecting Dandong and Tonghua, Dandong and Haicheng, Chaoyang and Chifeng and Fushun and Meihekou, as well as a highway network connecting all the coastal cities will be built.

In addition, airport facilities in Dalian and Shenyang will be further improved, making the two cities important logistics centers in the entire northeastern region.

In the meantime, a batch of water supply, energy and petrochemical projects will be built in the region.

To achieve a sustainable growth, the development requires local authorities and companies to enhance investment in environmental protection.

Solid waste treatment, air pollution control and wastewater treatment projects will be launched in every development area in the region.

The local authorities are required to implement strict environmental impact assessment standards when approving investment projects. Projects with high energy and resources consumption, and heavy pollution will not be approved in the key development areas.

In addition, industrial development should go along with protection of wetland, marine environment and coastal forest belt construction, according to the development plan.

Investment opportunities

The development of the Coastal Economic Corridor presents huge opportunities for investors from home and abroad.

To attract investment from outside the region, a comprehensive investment promotion mechanism involving governmental bodies, intermediary organizations and enterprises will be established in the region.

The region will target Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore as well as China's eastern regions, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan province as the major source markets of investment.

In addition, the local governments and investment intermediary organizations will strengthen cooperation with foreign investment promotion organizations and foreign embassies in China to introduce the region's business environment to foreign investors. Also, investment promotion offices will be set up in overseas regions to attract foreign investors.

Investors from outside the region should pay attention to the overall development plan for the region to find appropriate investment projects.

According to the plan, various industrial clusters will be formed in different areas in the region.

For example, the Changxing Island in Dalian will focus on industries like shipbuilding, petrochemicals, precise instruments production and port logistics; while the priority industries in Yingkou will be metallurgical and mining equipment manufacturing, steel making and shipbuilding. Also, Jinzhou will focus on petrochemicals and non-ferrous metal processing and Dandong will be a major destination for such industries as automobile parts production, papermaking and paper making equipment manufacturing.

The region especially welcomes foreign companies to set up regional headquarters and research and development centers there.

(China Daily 03/05/2008 page26)