New policies set to support growth in Northeast China

Chinese authorities have begun a survey in Northeast China's Liaoning Province since early October, prepa-ring for new policies to support opening-up and development of Northeast China's border area, China Securities Journal reported Wednesday.

Support policies for the border area in Liaoning Province will focus on infrastructure such as port construction, as well as equipment manufacturing and emerging industries, the report said.

Liaoning Province's Dandong is a city bordering North Korea. The report said that as Dandong has a background in vehicle manufacturing and exports, it could become a production base for Sport Utility Vehicles.

Other areas of priority in the development plan include the Internet, telecommunications and the Dandong airport, experts said in the report.

Although Northeast China has traditionally focused on industries such as machinery and automobiles, the driving force for further development should be industrial upgrading, according to the report.

China began a strategy of revitali-zing old industrial bases in Northeast China in 2003, and since then, the region has shown signs of strong economic growth.

The central government has already released a series of policies to support Northeast China this year, the report said, noting that the National Development and Reform Commission released a guideline in July for revitalizing the area.