The northeastern province is doing its best to draw investors, the governor says
Private investment will become the main driving force of economic growth in Liaoning province as part of the national policy to revitalise the northeastern rust belt, the provincial governor said yesterday.
Bo Xilai said his government was focusing on attracting more private investment, both domestic and from overseas.
Under the national plan, the economies of Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces are to be rejuvenated to enable them to catch up with more prosperous coastal provinces.
Mr Bo, speaking at a Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce luncheon, said his government was supporting the growth of the private sector 'wholeheartedly' through a series of new administrative measures. He said the private sector already comprised 40 per cent of the local economy and was now at its fastest stage of growth.
The Liaoning Statistics Bureau said foreign direct investment grew 25.8 per cent from 2001 to US$3.92 billion last year. Mr Bo said foreign direct investment should reach US$5 billion this year and could rise to as much as US$6 billion next year.
He said Liaoning wanted to attract more investment from Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as from wealthy coastal provinces. He said direct investment from these provinces in the past 21/2 years amounted to 25 billion yuan (HK$23.5 billion) and had earlier said he hoped to raise the amount to about 150 billion yuan.
