【英语财经】中国拟投入上万亿人民币振兴东北 China earmarks trillions to aid rust belt

China is ploughing trillions of renminbi into projects in its north-eastern rust belt in an effort to revive growth in

one of the country’s worst-performing regions, one of the clearest signs to

date that Beijing is attempting to stimulate its way out of slowing economic growth.

In the first quarter of this year the north-east, home to the state-backed heavy industrial companies and state-owned farms that form the Communist party’s traditional support base, reported some of the slowest growth rates in China. One province, Liaoning, reported negative growth, the first provincial contraction in seven years.

The cash, earmarked for about 130 separate projects, could be dispensed over the next three years, according to Zhou Jianping, director of the office in charge of transforming the north-east’s economy at the National Development and Reform Commission. He did not identify the projects or clarify whether any had already been incorporated under other initiatives.

Mr Zhou said the spending was not a “subsidy” for the region but that the central government had recognised that “the people’s livelihood needs more support”. The spending total Mr Zhou referred to was not included in the heavily abridged official transcript of the press conference.

Companies that required support included coal mines, Mr Zhou said. “Some of them date from before the Communist liberation [in 1949] and after liberation a lot of them were low-tech. The north-east has contributed a lot to China in terms of coal, oil and human resources, so Beijing needs to help with pensions and a sustainable environment” among other areas, he said.

Last year at least three cities in the north-east reported negative growth — Daqing, the ageing oil production base operated by China National Petroleum Corp, and two cities, Jixi and Qitaihe, whose economies are dependent on coal mines operated by debt-laden state-owned Longmay Group.

Policies would focus on relieving state-owned companies’ “social burden” as well as problems including resource depletion after decades of mining and oil extraction.

“The north-east was the earliest area to introduce the planned economy and now it’s the region that feels its impact most heavily,” Wang Jianguo, vice-director of the Heilongjiang province planning commission, said.

The NDRC also planned to improve policies for private enterprise, which is relatively under-represented in the north-east, officials said.

中国正在向东北老工业区注入上万亿人民币的项目资金，力图恢复这一经济增速最慢地区的增长势头。这是迄今最清晰的迹象之一，表明北京方面试图通过刺激摆脱经济增速放缓。

今年第一季度，东北地区——构成中共传统支柱的国有重工业企业及国有农场所在地——成为中国经济增速最慢地区。辽宁省出现了负增长，成为7年来中国首个出现经济收缩的省份。

中国国家发改委(NDRC)东北等老工业基地振兴司司长周建平表示，指定用于约130个独立项目的资金将在未来3年内拨付。他并未指出具体项目名称，也未说明是否有资金已包含在其他项目内。

周建平称，这部分支出不是对该地区的“补贴”，但中央政府认识到“东北人民的生活需要更多支持”。他提及的投资总额并未出现在此次记者会被大量删减的官方通稿中。

周建平表示，东北企业需要支持，其中包括煤矿。他说，一些煤矿始建于1949年以前，其中很多一直处于低技术水平。东北地区在煤炭、石油及人力资源方面为中国做出了很多贡献，因此，北京方面需要在养老金、营造可持续发展环境等方面给予帮助。

去年，东北地区至少三个城市出现了负增长，包括中国石油天然气集团公司(China National Petroleum Corp)经营多年的老石油生产基地——大庆以及在经济上严重依赖负债累累的国有龙煤集团(Longmay Group)下属煤矿的鸡西市与七台河市。

中央的政策将集中于减轻国企的“社会性负担”以及其他问题，包括几十年采矿采油造成的资源枯竭问题。

黑龙江省发改委副主任王建国表示，东北是中国最早施行计划经济的地区，但如今这里也是受计划经济影响最严重的地区。

官员们表示，发改委还计划改善面向在东北处于相对弱势的民营企业的政策。

译者/申凯