NORTHEAST CHINA, the country's rust belt, has recently seen a batch of investments by big companies. China Daily writer Li Yang comments:

The big names include BMW, Intel and Alibaba. It is the first time in nearly three decades that the region has grabbed the attention of large enterprises. All of a sudden, it seems to have regained its appeal as an investment destination after experiencing decades of economic and social stagnation since the early 1990s.

Although the central government has vowed to revitalize the region since the start of the millennium, the region has not shown many signs of renewal. The migration of its working age population and low birth rate compounded the region's woes by accelerating the aging of the local population.

The influx of capital is expected to provide a shot in the arm to revitalize the region, which is nearly five times as large as Germany and home to 129 million people.

The local governments in the region have never ceased in their efforts to improve the business environment, exploit local advantages and rebuild the market's confidence in the region.

It is noteworthy that most of the investment flowing into the region is from private and foreign investors. This can reinvigorate the regional economy, which has been dominated by State-owned enterprises. It will help adjust the region's economic structure and prompt the governments to tilt more resources to private enterprises, which will boost the region's economic vitality.

The flourishing of private companies will in turn help attract talents, technology and more capital to the region.

As well as capital, the investors will also bring with them advanced technologies, such as the internet of things, artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles and robots, which can help the region upgrade its industries.

Hopefully, the region will take advantage of the opportunities presented by this influx of external resources to break through its development bottleneck, so the region is once again important on China's economic map.