Official urges entrepreneurs to contribute

The top official in Northeast China's Jilin province has called on businesspeople to focus on their home province and contribute to the development of Jilin.

Local entrepreneurs are the most important factor for driving the economic development and rejuvenation of Jilin province, said Bayinchaolu, Party secretary of the province.

"I sincerely hope that Jilin's entrepreneurs will continue, as they always have, to give back to the province once they achieve success," he said.

The senior official made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the First World Jilin Merchants Conference, which was held in Changchun, capital of Jilin, on July 28.

During the ceremony, Bayinchaolu summed up what he believes are the main virtues of Jilin's businesspeople, describing them as trustworthy, adventurous, innovative and grateful.

"Being trustworthy means having high moral standards and being honest," he said, adding that Jilin entrepreneurs have a reputation for conducting business in a virtuous manner.

Bayinchaolu encouraged local entrepreneurs to be bold and adventurous in order to explore their potential, citing the example of the Chuang Guan Dong - the pioneers who left the Shandong Peninsula a century ago for better lives in the vast, fertile lands of the northeastern region that was Manchuria.

He told the assembled businesspeople at the conference that progress is dependent upon the ability to be innovative and inclusive. He also urged them to contribute to their home province's development so that local residents could also reap the benefits of their success.

The senior official mentioned the inspection tours of the northeast region by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Ke-qiang last year, saying that such visits show the importance attached to the province's development by both the Party's Central Committee and the central government.

Earlier this year, the central authorities issued a document about the development of Northeast China's Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces.

The document called on local governments to improve State-owned enterprise mechanisms and provide a favorable environment to make SOEs more competitive and an integral part of the regional revitalization drive. SOEs should play a leading role in the drive and improve efficiency through technology, restructuring and better management, it said.

In addition, regional cooperation will be stepped up with Northeast Asia, the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The region should promote the development of advanced equipment manufacturing in sectors including electricity, petrochemicals, mining, engineering, aviation and shipping, the document said.

It also stated that the equipment manufactured by the northeastern provinces will be exported as well as distributed on the domestic market. The document went on to say that guidance and support should be offered to steer industries from manufacturing to production-based services. The region should also develop the financial modern logistics and tourism and leisure sectors.

The northeastern region should capitalize on the government's innovation and entrepreneurship drive to turn innovation into a major source of development, according to the document.

To promote innovation, the document underscored the need to establish an effective system for incubating regional innovation and integrating scientific and educational institutions into regional development. It also highlighted the importance of talent acquisition and training.

liumingtai@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/15/2016 page22)