Problems the Northeast must solve

Cost is high from over-reliance on heavy industry with too many smokestack industries and mines and too few private firms

Editor's Note: Now that the Chinese government has adopted its growth strategy for this year and the nation's five-year plan from 2016 to 2020, we have decided to publish a regular Policy Review Page to brief our readers about what the policies are and what they include, their underlining realities and political considerations. In this edition, we take a look at the challenging conditions in some of China's northern and northeastern provinces, and at the central officials' attitude toward China's capital outflow and the possible measures they may adopt should the outflow become so large it threatens the economy's overall health.

Overseas commentators sometimes wonder how China has maintained a high economic growth rate for more than three decades without encountering a crisis. But the fact is China's economy has encountered various crises, one after another, in its regions.