On January 5, 2018, China established an open financial cooperation platform to help revitalize the country’s rust belt.
More than 40 financial institutions are involved in the platform, including the China Development Bank and the State Development and Investment Corp. It aims to bridge government agencies, financial institutions and local governments and enterprises in northeast China to help boost the traditional industrial zone.
The rust belt’s economy is stabilizing and is ready for investment, said Lin Nianxiu, deputy head with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), adding that the platform should help prevent financial risks and facilitate economic transition.
The region’s Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces expanded 6.3 percent, 5.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, in the first three quarters of last year, posting signs of economic recovery.
The new platform is open to all financial institutions, according to Zhou Jianping, a senior NDRC official who oversees the revitalization of traditional industrial bases.
Zhangjiakou Onshore Wind Farm in Hebei. Photo credit: China Development Bank.
The China Development Bank has been doing a lot of restoration and revitalization work lately. That includes infrastructure renewal, such as the creation of large onshore wind farms.
One of their more spectacular projects in the Daming Lake Restoration (pictured at top). Daming Lake is the largest lake in the city of Jinan, Shandong and one of city’s main natural and cultural landmarks. Located to the north of the historical city center, the lake is fed by the artesian karst springs of the area and hence retains a fairly constant water level through the entire year.
From March 2006 to April 2007, the Daming Lake Park was renovated and extended to connect all portions of the park for unified access. That expansion—a good investment in the city’s long-term quality of life—came at a big price for some local citizens: 1788 housing units were demolished to create an additional 30 hectares of park space.
Daming Lake Park now covers a total of 103.4 hectares. The bank considers the expansion to be a correction of local planning mistakes, as the housing never should have been built on those wetlands in the first place.
Featured photo is the Daming Lake Restoration.