Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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In northeast China, temperatures have already begun to plummet, announcing the early arrival of winter. In Changchun, the capital of Jilin province, the sight of bare trees and grey skies is now routine. “It has already snowed once in October, and we expect many more snowfalls in the coming weeks,” says Yu Haoda, an English language student at the Jilin University. Jilin provides a gateway to North Korea. From Changchun, the Hermit kingdom is 433 km away. Dandong is the last Chinese city before we begin approaching North Korea along a bridge spanning the famous Yalu river. Changchun was one of the first cities to industrialise after the 1949 Revolution. Its proximity to the former Soviet Union, a close ally of China before the two fell apart in the sixties, made the city a natural heavy-industry base, established with Moscow’s support. However, it was left behind when a second wave of industrialisation began to produce better quality products for a demanding international market in the faraway coastal province of Guangdong and its neighbourhood. Now, after years of stagnation, the northeast maybe on course for an economic revival, in tune with President Xi Jinping’s agenda of elevating the Chinese economy to the next high-technology level. Under Mr. Xi’s Made-in-China 2025 campaign, manufacturing and services sector are undergoing a major digital transformation. The northeast is part of this change. Ten pillar industries, including robotics, aviation and new materials, have been chosen, which will drive the economic makeover. Chinese planners are banking on leveraging the powers of the Internet, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and e-commerce to revolutionise their manufacturing. Plan for northeast China The National Development and Reforms Commission — China’s top planning body — has already drawn a multibillion-dollar five-year plan for the revival of the northeast. In late September, Mr. Xi toured the region, hammering broad themes that could drive the northeast’s ‘Second Coming’. In his calculus, the region has a major food security role. Visiting a grain-producing farm base in Heilongjiang Province, Mr. Xi stressed: “China should always have control over its own food supply.” He added that farmers should adopt “smart agriculture”, based on an efficient utilisation of resources in large agricultural bases, companies and industries. During the visit, Mr. Xi advocated adoption of a hybrid model of economy where a strong public sector could coexist with the private sector. During a stopover at a local branch of the state-owned oil giant PetroChina, he highlighted that state-owned enterprises must reform and innovate. But he also stressed that they play a crucial and irreplaceable role in anchoring the national economy.
