Research On The Economic Transformation Of The Resource-exhausted City

The resource city is the one rising or developed due to the development of natural resources and taking the exploitation and processing of natural resources in the area as the dominant and pillar industry. For long time, the resource cities, as the main supply bases of the fundamental energy and important materials, play the important roles in the national economy and social development. However, under the effect of the continuous reduction and even exhaustion of resources and the industrial and urban development laws, the resource cities must go through the process of rising---prosperity---decline---reform and revitalization or death. The resource-exhausted city is a special stage in the process of development of the resource city. According to the statistics of the National Development and Reform Commission, there are 118 resource cities taking coal and nonferrous metal, etc. as the main part in our country, of which there are 44 resource-exhausted cities, distributed in 19 provinces of our country, covering the total area of 1.41 million km2 and accounting for more than 14.7% of the territorial area of our country, with the population of about 40.35 million.The economic transformation of the resource-exhausted cities has always been one of the difficulties in the world. The problems faced by the resource-exhausted cities are common and serious, mainly represented in some aspects such as more unemployed population, local financial department in difficulties, imbalanced industrial structure and serious destruction of the ecological environment, etc. The economic transformation is the essential measure for various problems in the process of development of the resource-exhausted cities. The economic transformation of the resource-exhausted cities of our country is general and particular, which our government has attached great importance to and the academic sector has paid much attention to. The problems of the economic transformation of the resource-exhausted cities have been discussed and emphasized in many important national conferences and documents since the 16th National People's Congress. The first pilot city of the economic transformation of the resource-exhausted cities was determined in 2001. The major project of helping the resource-exhaused regions realize the economic transformation has been presented in the Program of the National 11th Five-Year Plan and the Report of the 17th National People's Congress. Some Opinions on Promoting the Sustainable Development of the Resource Cities of the State Council (GF [2007] No. 38 Document) was promulgated at the end of 2007. 44 resource-exhausted cities were publicized in two batches in March, 2008 and March 2009, respectively, which aims at strengthening the support for the sustainable development of the resource-exhausted cities and building the mechanism and system favorable to the sustainable development of the resource-exhausted cities as soon as possible. In recent years, some aspects such as reasons for the economic decline of the resource cities, strategies for the economic transformation of the resource-exhausted cities and reference to the experience of economic transformation of the resource-exhausted cities at home and abroad, etc. have been studied in the academic sector and the relevant strategies have been presented from some perspectives such as building of the complementary mechanism of resource development, assistance mechanism of the declined industry, realization of the industrial reform and resolution to the poverty problems, etc.Liaoyuan City is a typical resource-exhausted city built, developed and declined due to coal. In 1950s, its coal output is 1/29 of that of the whole country. The accumulative coal output of 0.22 billion tons has been made and the tax of 1.5 billion yuan from the founding of the mine (1947) to 2007, which has made the important contribution to the economic construction and social development of our country. The resource industry of Liaoyuan City, having gone through the starting stage, stage of rapid development and stage of relatively stable development, enters the stage of occurrence of stagnancy and resource exhaustion. With the reduction and gradual exhaustion of the coal resource of Liaoyuan City, it is very difficult for the social and economic development of Liaoyuan City having taken the mining industry as the dominant industry for long time. The local financial department of Liaoyuan City has been in difficulties due to the irrational industrial structure and small total economic magnitude. Because Liaoyuan Mining Bureau is a coal enterprise in the uniform distribution and carries out the mode of"first production and then life", there exists a large area of shanty town in the mining area and the coal mining for long time not only seriously destroys the ecological environment but also makes the living environment of the citizens in the mining area increasingly deteriorated. With the resource exhaustion and closing and bankruptcy of the mining enterprises, most of the ground enterprises related to the mining industry and industrial enterprises under the city have been successively closed, the laid-offs have been increased and the unemployment problem have been prominent. In addition, compared to the other resource-exhausted cities, Liaoyuan City has some particularities, that is, Liaoyuan Mining Bureau is located in Liaoyuan City and the social and economic burdens become heavier because the resource is exhausted, the mining of the new coal resources is made in other provinces and cities and the tax is paid in other places, but the social functions are separated and the employees and family members stay in Liaoyuan City.A series of deep-seated contradictions and problems caused by the coal resource exhaustion makes the economic transformation of Liaoyuan City necessary in the situation. Liaoyuan City was listed as the pilot city in the resource-exhausted cities developing the continued industry by Jilin Provincial Government in April, 2003. Liaoyuan City was determined as the pilot of the reform of the coal resource cities by the State Council in May, 2005. Some Opinions on Promoting the Sustainable Development of the Resource Cities of the State Council (GF [2007] No. 38 Document) was promulgated by the country in 2007. Liaoyuan City was determined as one of the first 12 resource-exhausted cities in the whole country by the State Council in 2008. Under the support of a series of policies, Liaoyuan City has taken a series of measures for the economic transformation such as supporting the continued substitute industries, promoting innovation of the mechanism and system and reform of the State-owned enterprises, supporting establishment of businesses and promoting employment, expanding the financing channels and improving the investment environment and perfecting the social security system, etc., supported the new material industry as the dominant industry, cultivated the new energy as the advantageous industry, reformed and upgraded some advantageous traditional industries such as healthy industry with medicine and deep processing of agricultural products as the representatives, equipment processing and manufacturing, metallurgical, building and light textile industries, etc. as the pillar industries, carried out the continuous and rapid economic growth, gradually optimized the industrial structure, gradually improved the ecological environment, improved the social security capability and developed the situation of employment. At the same time, some problems of Liaoyuan City such as weak comprehensive power of economic development, irrational economic structure, low foreign orientation, industrial relevance and centralization, incompatibility of the modern service industry and urban bearing functions with the rapid developing economy, low-level rapid expansion of the nongovernmental economy and poor management level, etc. are still very prominent.Faced with the double strategic opportunities of being listed as the pilot city of the economic transformation of the first resource-exhausted cities and national assurance of growth, expansion of the internal demand and structural adjustment, Liaoyuan City shall grasp the opportunities, strive for the policy support of the Central Government and the Provincial Government, enhance the planning and guiding strength, encourage the development of the continued substitute industrial assembly from some aspects such as support for development of the key enterprises, acceleration of construction of the industrial park and strengthening of the internal industrial relations, etc., make use of the key projects to promote investment, strengthen the promotion of investment, improve the capital operating level, activate the stock capital and industrial capital, promote the capitalization of assets, innovation of finance and financial tools and use of derived products, break through the bottleneck restriction having prevented the economic development for long time and realize the transformation from fund procurement to capital operation.