Heavy industry shares catch investors' fancy

SHANGHAI: Reports of an ambitious central government plan to revitalize the northeast provinces of China has focused the attention of many stock analysts and investors on the long-neglected heavy machinery producers, construction companies and equipment suppliers in the "rust-belt" industrial region.

An unnamed source at the National Development and Reform Commission said some of the top government officials and economic planners would meet shortly in Beijing to set the direction for a multi-billion yuan scheme to reshape the economic landscape of China's old and declining heavy industrial base spread across the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang.

The report has sparked the imagination of stock analysts and investors who are keenly looking for a theme to enter a market that has just begun to regain its footing after crashing more than 50 percent from its peak in late 2008.