New area opens doorway to north

Changchun New Area, the 17th national new area and located in Northeast China's Jilin province, will count on transportation hub development, high-end manufacturing, modern service and digital-based businesses to promote its global competitiveness, officials said on Friday.

Wang Haoyu, deputy director of the new area's planning bureau, said the area aims at expanding international trade channels and establishing an influential cooperation platform to improve investment activities, goods and people-to-people exchanges, especially with countries in Europe and the Northeast Asia region.

"Changchun New Area is expected to be more diversified in our market-oriented economy. In addition to heavy industries, we will develop more industry chains, including tourism, agriculture and high-tech, to spur economic growth," Wang said at Changchun New Area Opening-up and Development Forum in Beijing co-hosted by China Daily, the country's leading English-language newspaper.