7. Revitalization of the Economy of Northeast China

The economic stagnation in the Northeast China showed sharp contrast with the rapid economic growth of China as a whole. Revitalization of Northeast China is one of the important practices in regional development. Besides the long term influences of planned economy, the changes of population, especially aging and lower birth rates were also regarded as important factors. However, the decrease of the working-age population and total population are not necessarily to impact negatively on economic growth if labor productivity and capital stock increase. In addition, though Jilin province, Liaoning Province and Heilongjiang Province locate in the Northeast China and are the main parts of the old industrial base, there are still many differences from perspectives of aggregate demand and supply, and it is essential to consider the complementarities among these provinces when making strategic policies. So to revitalize the Northeast economies in the new era, making strategies and policies individually may not be the best method, building up the complementary relationship among the three provinces based on their characters and designing “hub-and-spoke” for different industries in detail are better choices. At the same time, the government should make decisions from demand-side perspective subject to demographic change, decarbonization and the trend of the fourth industrial revolution driven by cutting-edge technologies and digital transformation.