Advanced manufacturing expedite economic restructuring in NE China

Jilin Delegation's open discussion at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, Oct. 19, 2017. [Photo: China Plus/Huang Yue]

As one of the country's original industrial bases, the northeastern province of Jilin Province has been striving to restructure its economy by promoting technological innovation and industrial upgrades.

CRI's reporter Huang Yue has more.

During the ongoing 19th National Congress of CPC, delegates from Jilin Province have been discussing the revitalization of the country's northeast region, with Xi Jinping once again underlined the importance of this specific development strategy in his report to the opening session of the Party Congress.

Jilin, as one of the three original industrial bases of China, is home to a highly-developed automotive sector, with China's First Auto Work, or FAW, setting up its headquarters in provincial capital, Changchun, in 1953.

Delegate Wang Junzheng is Secretary of CPC Changchun Municipal Committee. 

He says in addition to its traditional advantage, Changchun has also been accelerating the development of emerging industries to adjust the industrial structure.

"As the metaphor goes: 'if China FAW Group Corporation sneezes, Changchun will catch a cold.' It is true. The output value of FAW Group used to account for 60% of Changchun's economy. But with the strengthening of the emerging industries, such as the advanced equipment manufacturing, optical-electronic information industry and bio-pharmaceutical industry, the company's output value accounted for 40% of the whole city in 2016."

The old industrial city now plays an important role in China's fast-growing high-speed railway sector, not only in domestic areas, but also global sales.

Delegate Gao Guangbin, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Jilin Provincial Committee, notes that CRRC, Changchun Railway Vehicles Company, is the first in China that has exported its advanced manufacturing to the developed nations.

"Apart from the automobile industry, the emerging industry is now also booming in Changchun. Let's take the CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Company for example. The company just set the ship date of the subway rail cars that it built for Boston. In the past, we mainly exported textile products, but now, advanced equipment manufacturing products can also be exported."

Early in 2014, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Company signed a contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to build subway cars for Boston. 

The first of those subway cars has already rolled off the production line on October 16th, two days before the opening session of the Party Congress.

It is the first time Chinese rail equipment will be used in the United States.

Delegate Li Wanjun, a technician of CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Company, says they've received orders from a number of foreign cities around the world in recent years.

"The products of our company have been exported to over 100 countries and regions all over the world. 83% of the railways can see our products running. In recent years, we have obtained orders from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia as well as London. We have also built the manufacturing bases in Boston and Chicago."

The northeast province of Jilin was among the first regions in China to become industrialized. 

However, it later became part of the so-called 'rust belt,' after years of acute slowdowns amid a failure to modernize.

In 2003, the central authorities rolled out a revitalization strategy for the northeast's old industrial bases, which is made up of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang.

The document notes that expediting the revitalization of the northeast, a major "pole" of China's economic growth, is a significant part of the country's modernization drive and overall economic restructuring.

For CRI, this is Huang Yue.