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On-line interview of Liaoyang mayor Tang Zhiguo
By Wu Yong and Guo Song (China Daily Liao Ning Office)
Updated: 2009-03-05 19:43

Q: That is to say despite all the challenges and difficulties, there are still a lot of potentials, right?

A: Yes, that’s right. An important respect is the restructuring of the three sectors in economy. Now the supporting economic force in Liaoyang is the heavy industry as it accounts for 60 percent of the gross productions. Relatively speaking, the service industry is not so developed as the other two sectors and accounts for only a small portion of the economy. By dealing with the global financial crisis, we will emphasize development, and will restructure the service industry and reallocate the proportion of the three sectors. Now the tertiary sector has covered a wide range of areas so the main target is to offer service to the real estate industry. We have decided to extend the city to new areas while reconstructing the old part and county towns. Meanwhile, we must attach equal importance to the construction of factories, shops and residence. Let the booming real estate industry accelerate the development of the city’s service industry so as to increase job opportunities, boost the social and economic development and thereby raise the happiness index and living standards. These are what we shall do in the crisis.

Q: You just mentioned the word ‘support’. I have heard that private enterprises in Liaoyang have played an important role in the city’s development. How will you support these companies in the crisis?

A: It is an essential part of the job of us. When the financial crisis happened, we anticipated that enterprises, especially private ones, would be affected. Private enterprises in Liaoyang developed better than many other cities in Liaoning so we are determined to protect them and speed up their growth during the hard time. It is unacceptable for the all these years’ accomplishments to be demolished by the failure of private enterprises because of the financial crisis. We has organized a research team and directed individual interviews with the head of each corporation to know what the government can do for them in the crisis. After problems had been collected and sorted, we put forward 26 guidelines to support the development of manufacturing enterprises and published on media in case some companies might overlook them. These guidelines were well received by most companies because they were helpful.

Those companies felt satisfied for the guidelines covered all the problems the government could solve for them. Take the financing problem for example. Nowadays, market demand is crucial to the growth of an enterprise. The demands have changed at home and abroad and the government cannot represent the consumers so we encourage enterprises to explore new markets. What we can do for these enterprises is maintaining a good environment, financing service and support in policy and system and so on.

We have adopted many financing policies. For example, there is a guideline concerning how to be quick and convenient. An enterprise wanted to extend the term beyond the maturity date, or paid back the bank and applied for a new loan after the maturity date. In such cases, in the past, the enterprise had to register again at some office of the land and resource department and reassessed its properties as the mortgage. According to the new guideline, reassessing and re-registering are unnecessary and no more additional charges either. A minimum fee for necessary cost and a certificate are enough, which has shortened the time for a company to apply for a loan. The enterprises are satisfied with this guideline. The guidelines have promoted the development and increase the confidence of the enterprises. Now, despite the difficulties, the private enterprises in Liaoyang are in high spirit. That is very important. Government, offering support, and private enterprises, being confident, will make a joint effort to build the image and fame of private enterprises in Liaoyang.

Q: The most important part of Liaoyang’s economic development is the base of the aromatic hydrocarbon production. What is the progress achieved in the base?

A: This is a key point of Liaoyang’s development. The central government has adopted the strategy of revitalizing the old industrial base in northeast China. A key purpose for Liaoyang to revitalize old industrial base is to build up a new industrial base and therefore the base of the aromatic hydrocarbon production is a crucial part of Liaoning’s economy. Why the base is built? One reason is that PetroChina Company Ltd. has a branch in Liaoyang which refines crude oil imported from Russia and produces aromatic hydrocarbon and related chemicals. These aromatic hydrocarbon products are served as the raw materials to be further processed.

The second reason is that the chemical enterprises are the main force in manufacturing industry, with a number of more than 500 chemical enterprises of large scale and more than 1000 kinds of products. That’s why the city has got a foundation for local private enterprises to produce chemicals from crude oil.

Finally, we have an advantage in human resources. The number of technical professionals working for the chemical industry is more than 8000, let alone the technicians and workers in this industry.

These three advantages are unique in Liaoyang, so we have decided to build a base of aromatic hydrocarbon production. The provincial bureau of environmental protection has approved our plan and the use of land has been approved by the provincial bureau of land and resources. The infrastructure will include water and energy supplying and the sewage purification plant. Most part of the road system is either finished or under construction but the road construction has not affected the progress of the infrastructure projects. We started nine projects in 2008. And there will be two additional ones in 2009.