Down-at-heel district now economic 'miracle'

Just 14 years ago it would have been easy to dismiss Luyuan as a nothing more than a small out-of-the way, rundown district, never likely to provide much of a future for its 435,000 residents. It's not a mistake you would make today.

This unremarkable suburb of Changchun, the regional capital of the northeasterly Jilin province, is now the scene of a minor economic miracle - one that has bucked the global slide into financial misfortune and one that should give hope to the residents and local governments of towns throughout China.

Chen Kexin, the Luyuan party secretary, is distinctly upbeat about the prospects for this once down-at-heel district: