High Starting-Point Initiation of Revitalizing Shenyang

In 2004, good news came one after another in Shenyang. In this year, “one palace and two mausoleums” won successfully in application for being listed as world heritage; International Flowering & Gardening Exposition 2006 was decided to be held in Shenyang; Shenyang entered the list of “the ten most economically active cities in China” and was entitled “model environmental protection city in the country”. In this year, Shenyang realized the high starting-point initiation of revitalizing the old industrial base of the northeast and accelerated development process.

High starting-point initiation can be found expression in great and rapid economic development. The prerequisite for revitalizing the old industrial base of Shenyang lies in speeding up the economic development. The municipal Party committee and government have followed a significant strategy of stimulating adjustment by opening, taking economic development as a key step in advancing structural adjustment, industrial upgrading and increasing reserves for development, taking advantage of “Korean Week”, “Equipment Manufacture Exposition”, “National Exchange Fair” and “China Exchange Fair” etc. to enlarge the scale and scope of making use of domestic and foreign investment. Powerful measures are taken to strengthen five pillar industries, speed up development of economies in county areas, and carry on construction of “South-North Golden Corridor” and “Silver Belt along Hunhe River” and push energetically to make the city's economy have a favorable tendency. The three major industries are growing at a two-digit rate for the first time in ten years. Some key economic indexes have set new high records for the past thirty years.

High starting-point initiation is also reflected by improvement of both software and hardware environment. Competitions among regions and cities are competitions of development environment in essence. The municipal Party committee and municipal government have steadily established the new concept of winning the competition as well as the development speed by environment, setting the year of 2004 as “a year of environment” so as to construct a city with best environment for development. In the aspect of software environment construction, actions such as changing functions of the government, furthering reforms in systems of examination and approval which reduces the number of administrative issues to 165 and makes Shenyang a city with the least administrative issues to be examined and approved among similar cities in the country. In the aspect of hardware environment construction, emphasis is laid on increasing urban construction and management, landscaping of the city and reconstruction of major streets, implementing the lane project and village environment renovation program by emphasizing comprehensive environmental treatment to improve appearance of the city. The overall enhancement of the city appearance has attracted attentions from the whole country and even countries over the world. Shenyang is becoming a hot land for investment favored by businessmen at home and abroad.

High starting-point initiation is reflected by the progress made in various social causes. The internal requirement for revitalizing the old industrial base is to realize the overall, harmonious and sustainable development of economic society. Over the past year, we followed the strategy of leading the overall situation with the outlook of scientific development, strengthening cultural construction and further implementing the policy of “vitalizing the city by science and education” while speeding up the economic development, pushed the constructions of social public causes energetically. The steps for innovations taking social management systems are quickened. The work of maintaining social stability and social security has been done in a careful way to make people feel safer. The whole society takes on a new look: the country is prosperous and the people are living in contentment.

High starting-point initiation is also reflected by the great improvement of people's living standard. The key for making people feel more confident about revitalizing the old industrial base lies in enabling the people to obtain real benefits in a short time. In the past year, the municipal Party committee and municipal government were people-oriented, taking realizing, keeping and developing basic benefits of the mass people as the starting as well as the ending point of all work. Projects of common aspiration of the common people and re-employment activities are widely carried out. The social security system is constantly improved with all forces in the society mobilized to help the poor. Activities such as work practically for the people are developed. Disposable income of the people in the city and net income of the farmers have increased greatly, which has stimulated the enthusiasm and initiatives of the cadres and the mass and set solid foundations for further progress. This is where our confidence about speeding up the revitalization process lies.