Shoots of growth in rust-belt Chinese province but little to entice investors
Liaoning has come clean about cooking its books but the hard work is just beginning in the former industrial base
A northern Chinese rust-belt province bounded into growth in 2017 as it reversed a long-running decline and confirmed that some officials had made up economic data.
Liaoning governor Tang Yijun said on Saturday that the province’s economy grew 4.2 per cent to 2.39 trillion yuan (US$378 billion) last year, reversing continued falls since 2011.
In his annual work report to the provincial legislature, Tang also said Liaoning’s fiscal revenue rose by 9.4 per cent to 419.8 billion yuan during the period.
Liaoning trailed national growth of 6.9 per cent in 2017 but it was the province’s best performance in two years mainly because of a low base. In 2016, Liaoning reported unprecedented negative growth of 2.5 per cent.
Once a thriving industrial base, Liaoning has struggled with a population exodus and ailing state-owned enterprises, and had little to entice private and foreign investors. Only a quarter of companies in northeast China were profitable in 2016, compared to a third in central and eastern China, according to the China Society of Market Supervision.