China will strengthen ties with foreign partners to revitalize
the economy in northeast China and to further cooperation in
Northeast Asia, a senior official said.
"The outside world has actively voiced support of China's
strategy to revitalize the traditional industries in the northeast
region. Officials and business leaders from many countries keep
coming to seek opportunities for cooperation," Vice-Premier Zeng
Peiyan said on Saturday at the International Conference on
Revitalizing Northeast China and Promoting Regional Cooperation in
Northeast Asia in this port city of northeast China's Liaoning
Province.
Sponsored by the National Development and Reform Commi-ssion and
the State Council's Office for Revitalizing Northeast China, the
two-day conference was held at Premier Wen Jiabao's suggestion when
he met with the leaders of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) members and Japan and the Republic of Korea last
October.
Participants include high-ranking officials and experts from a
dozen countries, international organizations and world-known
transnational companies.
With participation of the neighboring countries, "encouraging
progress has been achieved" in regional business cooperation, the
vice-premier said.
Rich in resources and known as a heavy industrial base,
northeast China has fallen behind in economic development in recent
years, Zeng said.
To attract foreign funds and technologies to the region, China
has mapped out many preferential policies to encourage foreign
partners to take part in the industrial restructuring of the region
by various means such as annexation or joint-stock of state-owned
enterprises, especially those in equipment manufacturing,
shipbuilding, automaking and petrochemicals, Zeng said.
The policies include exemption of agricultural taxes in Jilin
and Heilongjiang provinces and value-added tax reform in some
industries.
Commercial banks are allowed to take flexible measures to handle
non-performing assets and loans to State-owned enterprises.
Zeng said an improved environment and healthy market system is
needed for foreign investment.
The country has started 160 high-tech projects since last year
to restructure and upgrade traditional industries in the region,
said Zhang Guobao, vice-minister of the National Development and
Reform Commission.
Zhang said other plans are made or under discussion such as
master plans for the three provinces in the region and the plan to
build Dalian into an international navigation center.
Infrastructure such as power supply and communications are top
on the list of the commission's key tasks, said Zhang, also the
director of the State Council's Office for Revitalizing Northeast
China.
Zhang disclosed the Ministry of Railway has signed an agreement
with the provinces to build two new railway lines and one of them
is passenger railway line from Harbin in Heilongjiang
Province to Dalian in Liaoning Province.
Foreign and private funds are encouraged in the operation of the
projects, Zhang said.
(China Daily September 27, 2004)
