CHINA’S north-east provinces of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang are developing plans to recreate their glory days as the nation’s industrial powerhouse and narrow the economic gap with the rapidly developing eastern regions.
A high-profile campaign was launched early this year to boost development of the three provinces, which had been the country’s industrial production base from the 1950s to the 1970s but have lagged far behind other regions due to large numbers of laid-off workers and outdated industrial structures in recent years.