This is called zhaoshang yinzi, or briefing the investors
and raising capital.
The regional marketing blitz reached its zenith yesterday
when governors of the three provinces in China's northeastern industrial belt "
Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang " attended a joint briefing session sponsored
by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). This was certainly the largest
regional marketing event ever staged in China.
But long before the northeastern governors were outlining
their vision of future business opportunities, local officials from elsewhere,
particularly the southern coast, had already done the same thing. Some signed
their first foreign direct investment (FDI) deals around 20 years ago, when the
northeastern cities remained predominantly citadels of the now extinct planned
economy.
This explains to a great extent the fading lustre of the
northeastern industrial belt amid the economic reform and the nation's bold
interface with the world market.
As an economic powerhouse and a major supplier of coal,
crude oil, steel, and machinery from the 1950s through the " 0s, the
northeastern provinces saw their importance decline when they were caught
between the daunting task of reforming the nation's largest number of
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and a lack of new capital
resources.
As the premier discovered in his inspection trips last
year, the situation degenerated to the point where some of the northeastern
cities were running the nation's highest unemployment rates after their
traditional industrial resources were depleted.
This also explains the urgency now felt by the
northeastern governors, and shared by many of their constituents, to lead a
campaign to catch up with the eastern and southern coastal
regions.
Now, with the SOE reform drawing into its final stage and
new capital, including FDI, flowing into those provinces, the northeastern
industrial base has a better chance to be revitalized.
New industrial zones are being mapped along new
expressway systems and seaports, intended to be more accessible for overseas
buyers and investors.
Starting this year, the central government is also going
to run a pilot tax reform project in the northeastern provinces, likely to
generate further incentives for local companies.
But these developments, like the bright predictions for
the future, still require some crucial support to bring about a fundamental
change in the business landscape of the northeastern
provinces.
What the northeastern people need is not just money,
whether in the form of unemployment handouts or more capital investment. They
also need better protection from the government for their
entrepreneurship.
And as is the case in every successful regional economy
in China, the most powerful change, especially for once-impoverished towns and
villages, has been the nurturing of the local people's
creativity.
Sadly, in the 1990s the northeastern provinces were the
scene of a number of China's worst cases of official corruption and underground
societies " sometimes working in unison.
It was good to hear from yesterday's SCIO briefing
session that the governors also promised to maintain a higher standard for the
local civil service, to make it truly useful for business
development.
(China Daily )
