A key reform-themed meeting held in Beijing last month created new development momentum for Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, with the city's top official emphasizing that deepening reforms is a vital strategy for achieving comprehensive revitalization and promoting new progress.

"The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in July was a crucial meeting at a critical period of comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation with Chinese modernization," said Wang Xinwei, deputy Party chief of Liaoning and Party chief of Shenyang.

"It is imperative to implement the guiding principles of the meeting and promote practical results in the process, so that Shenyang can accelerate its overall revitalization with vibrant actions and initiatives," he added.

Shenyang, located at the center of the Northeast Asia Economic Circle, is a comprehensive hub connecting Northeast China with the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The city is also an important gateway for exchanges with Northeast Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, serving as a vital channel connecting Europe, Mongolia, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

It has attracted more than 100 Fortune Global 500 companies, including BMW from Germany, SK Hynix from South Korea, Panasonic from Japan and LyondellBasell from the Netherlands.

In the first half of the year, Shenyang attracted 172 new foreign trade enterprises. During the same period, it saw a 118.9 percent increase in exports to Russia, received 3.77 million cross-border e-commerce orders, and was approved as a national pilot city for cross-border trade facilitation.

BMW Brilliance Automotive, a joint venture of BMW Group and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, rolled off its 6 millionth car in May at its production base in Shenyang.

With the BMW Group's long-term commitment to being "At Home in China" to create shared value for Chinese society, its cumulative investment in the Shenyang base has reached 105 billion yuan ($14.7 billion) since 2010.

The group said it will further increase its investment in China by 20 billion yuan to upgrade and innovate the Shenyang plant.

In the first half of the year, three international passenger routes either opened or resumed in Shenyang, while the Central Industrial Park of the China-Europe Railway Express completed the establishment of platform companies, maintaining the leading position in Northeast China and becoming one of the best industrial parks in the country.

The China-Europe Railway Express (Shenyang) Hub, which opened in March 2023, has effectively promoted the construction of an important platform for the Northeast Maritime Silk Road and provided strong support for building Shenyang into a key international city in Northeast Asia. On Aug 2, the hub saw the journey of its 1,000th freight train.

Since the establishment of the Shenyang area of the China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone in 2017, the area has achieved phased results in the construction of the zone and promoted the high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce.

Various economic and trade activities have been launched at Sino-German, Sino-Japanese, Sino-South Korean and Sino-Russian industrial parks. Among them, the Sino-German park has introduced high-quality projects such as the BMW Brilliance Factory and the Desheng Pharmaceutical Industrial Park.

Shenyang is set to give full play to its geographical advantages, fully promote opening-up to the east and the north, deeply integrate with the joint construction of the Belt and Road, and become a key international city in Northeast Asia.

The city also plans to strengthen the construction of external channels and actively integrate with the development of major land and sea channels in Northeast Asia.

It is currently focusing on building an open platform for cooperation and accelerating the development of internationally competitive high-end industrial clusters and pilot fields for comprehensively deepening reform.

Shenyang is accelerating the construction of a "national central city" to achieve comprehensive revitalization, further deepen reforms at a higher starting point and vigorously contribute to Chinese modernization.

Contact the writers at zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn