Changchun, adjacent to such countries as Mongolia, Russia and Korea and so on, is in the central position of the Northeast Asia Economic Circle, a region surrounding the Sea of Japan, and is the inner end for the development of the economic passage from Hunchun, the golden triangle in Tumen River region, to Changchun. It is the best place to scientifically collocate such factors of production as natural resources, labor forces and technologies and so on in its surrounding areas. In the middle part of Northeast Plain, a northeast-to-southwest urban strip has been formed. What makes the trip exceptional is a city group which has Dalian, Shenyang, Changchun and Harbin as the center, and governs more than 100 towns. Changchun is located in between Shenyang and Harbin, and thus in the central position of Northeast China, making it a collecting and distributing center of great importance for south-to-north logistics and labor flows. With strong economic strength, Changchun ranks atop the list of Top 50 Cities with Comprehensive Strength in China.

Changchun Economic & Technological Development Zone (CETDZ) is located in the eastern part of Changchun, facing Yitong River, a river running through the city in southeast. CETDZ is connected with Changchun Jingyue Lake, the largest man-made forest park in Asia. From CETDZ, it is about 26 kilometers to Changchun Longjia International Airport and a six-hour drive to Dalian Port. Such expressways as Changda, Hada and Changji also run through the zone. All these have offered CETDZ superb advantages for development.

Under the condition that CETDZ was developed eight or nine years later than some coastal development zones, however, it has already caught up with them after 13 years of construction and development. So far, 26 square kilometers have been developed for use. The old far-flung village, with RMB 0.21 million in financial revenue and RMB 200 million in gross social product years ago, has been replaced by a modern industrial zone. By the end of 2005, CETDZ has accumulatively realized RMB 80.6 billion in gross regional products (GRP) and RMB 12.2 billion in financial revenue, with USD 1.6 billion foreign direct investments and RMB 16.6 domestic investment utilized respectively, and RMB 27.5 billion invested in the fixed assets at the same time. Investors from 229 countries and regions have settled here, and 4,036 enterprises have been approved for establishment, of which 495 are foreign-funded enterprises and the rest are funded by domestic investors. This has become an important force to promote the rapid development of the economy in Changchun and even in Jilin province.

It was a piece of far-flung land, but now it’s become a new modern city zone. After 13 years of development, CETDZ has in total collected RMB 8.34 billion for infrastructure constructions of all kinds, having made making the “nine supplying and one leveling” a reality here. Traffic network extending in all directions, picturesque landscapes, improved systems for drainage and supply of water, power, heating and natural gas can better serve the big modern industrial zone. Inside the CETDZ, service facilities for life and production such as office buildings, customs, schools, hospitals, Changchun International Conference and Exhibition Center, stadium and tennis arena and so on can fully meet the domestic or foreign investors, which has also laid a solid foundation for them to start businesses for the second round. In 2002, CETDZ passed ISO14001 certification, and was awarded by China Certification Center Inc (CCCI) with EMS certificate and also certified by United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). It marked that CETDZ’s environment management had met the international requirements and it had created an investment environment in line with the international operating rules, and thus a comprehensive industrial zone and modern city zone of great dynamism would come into existence.

The CETDZ is also doing the best to develop social causes and constantly improve residents’ life quality, while carrying out large-scale construction for economic development. By the end of 2005, 14,834 labor forces left in countryside had got employed, 1,328 people employed in the second industry and 7,430 in the tertiary industry. The per capita income for farmers here was increased to RMB 4,244 in 2005 from RMB 1,782 in 1994. Remarkable achievements have made in education here in CETDZ. Since it was established, RMB 300 million has been invested in education, of which RMB 150 million was used form campus construction, with 7 primary or secondary schools built or reconstructed, and residences for teachers totaling 157,000 square meters built as well. Among the 17 schools under the jurisdiction of CETDZ, 11 are approved as the garden-like schools in Changchun. In addition, approximately 20 colleges and universities as well as other institutions for education have settled here, making the educational structure further improved. In addition, rapid development has been made in such aspects as culture, sport, health, family planning and environment protection and so on. Walking on the streets and lanes, you can feel how prosperous the modern CETDZ is.

The overall action plans for the “11th Five-Year Plan” are as follows:

Efforts will be made to implement the scientific outlook on development, take construction of projects as the center, give high priority to investment promotion, get motivated by reform and innovation, build up a firm operating mentality, and actively explore new ways for development and new modes for management. Perseverance will be given to both construction and management to speed up urbanization. Efforts will be made to build up a harmonious society, make the rural and urban economies and the social causes of all kinds develop in harmony and make a comprehensive industrial zone and modern city zone. The goals for socioeconomic development during the “11th Five-Year Plan” are: By 2010, the GRP will reach RMB 50 billion, accounting for 15% of the city, and RMB 165.3 billion will be realized in total in the period, with an average growth rate of over 25%. The government revenue will amount to RMB 2.45 billion, 9% of city’s total amount, and RMB 8.5 billion will be made for the whole period at a yearly growth rate of 22%. Investments in the fixed-assets will be made up to RMB 26.9 billion, accounting for 18% of city’s total amount, and for the whole Five-year Plan period RMB 80.6 billion will be made at a year increase rate of 35%. RMB 24 billion foreign direct investments will be put in place, accounting for 29% of the city’s total amount, and RMB 76 billion of such funds will be put in use accumulatively in the period, with a yearly growth rate of 30%. The per capita income for farmers will reach RMB 8,000 at an average growth rate of 14.3%. The employment rate for the farmers who are under land acquisition will be up to 90%. The level of urbanization will reach 87%, with a proportion for primary, secondary and tertiary industry standing at 0.5:70:29.5.