After the founding of New China, in order to break the economic blockade of western imperialist countries led by the United States, China signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union on 1950. Since then, large-scale economic aid from the Soviet Union has entered China, and China has started the "First Five-Year Plan". China's industrialization process began.
As the northeast region closest to the Soviet Union, it can be described as "the moon is the best near the water tower". During the "First Five-Year Plan" period, New China invested nearly one-sixth of its financial resources in Shenyang, and Shenyang No.1 Machine Tool Factory, Shenyang University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shenyang Pneumatic Tool Factory, Shenyang Cable Co., Ltd., Shenyang Aircraft Manufacturing Company and Shenyang Liming Hangfa Group were implemented in Shenyang. The first ordinary lathe, the first 1.25 million-ton extruder, the first jet plane and 100 new China firsts were born here, which are the pride of Shenyang and even Liaoning province.
According to the data released by Liaoning Provincial Bureau of Statistics, by 1957, the province's GDP will be 1 147 billion yuan, of which the total industrial output value will be 102 billion yuan, accounting for 14% of the whole country, ranking second in the country. The output value of heavy industry is 7.24 billion yuan, accounting for 22.7% of the whole country. Shenyang thus achieved the status of "* * and the eldest son of China industry". At the same time, Shandong province, as a traditional agricultural province, had a GDP of only 6.72 billion yuan that year. The gap with Liaoning is very large.
You can see the difference between the two from the data. At that time, almost everyone thought that such a lead would last forever.
In fact, is this really the case?
Time, in a blink of an eye, arrived in the 1980s. At that time, China initially implemented the "reform and opening up" policy. The household contract responsibility system and the reform of state-owned enterprises are slowly unfolding in this ancient land. From 65438 to 0978, the GDP of Liaoning and Shandong ranked third and fourth respectively.
1984, the state opened Shandong Peninsula and Liaodong Peninsula as coastal economic open zones. Two provinces, standing on the same starting line. With the gradual abolition of the planned economy system in China, the socialist market economy system has been gradually established. The two provinces have also started a new round of competition.
Shandong province is the first province to implement the household contract responsibility system. 1984, the work of withdrawing cooperatives and building townships (towns) in the whole province basically ended, and rural people's communes withdrew from the historical stage, which was a major reform of the rural economic system. Since 1985, the reform of rural circulation field has cancelled the system of unified purchase and distribution of agricultural products, and the rural commodity circulation market has become increasingly prosperous. 1986, the total output value of township enterprises in the province exceeded the total agricultural output value for the first time; From 65438 to 0992, the total output value of township enterprises accounted for half of the total industrial output value of the province, and a large number of rural laborers were liberated from the land.
Since then, Shandong has hitched a ride on the reform and opening up, and its economy has gradually taken off. From 1982 to 1985, the total GDP of Shandong Province ranks first in China. Urban reform has progressed steadily. Since 1985, the proportion of industry in the national economy has been higher than that of agriculture. After 2007, Shandong's total industrial output continuously surpassed Jiangsu and Guangdong, ranking first in the country. At the same time, Shandong Province is vigorously opening to the outside world. Over the past 40 years, Shandong has firmly grasped the geographical advantages adjacent to Japan and South Korea, and the scale of opening up has been expanding, making great contributions to regional and national economic development.
This fully proves that Shandong province dares to be the first, and the process of reform and opening up is ahead of the whole country.
Let's compare Liaoning Province in the same period. Unfortunately, due to the change of national policy, the economic center has gradually shifted to the south. At the end of 1990s, influenced by factors such as overcapacity, overstaffing and industrial restructuring, the restructuring of state-owned enterprises began one after another, that is, while streamlining personnel and saving expenses, some state-owned enterprises were turned into private operations or reorganized by auction and contracting. Liaoning province, which has super-large heavy industry state-owned enterprises such as Angang, has naturally become the main target of this layoff storm.
In the long run, the reorganization of state-owned enterprises is conducive to the healthy development of the economy, but behind a string of figures, it is inevitable that a generation of laid-off workers will feel frustrated. The sudden mass dismissal has changed many people's lives. Liaoning province, headed by state-owned enterprises, has tasted the bitter fruit. Liaoning province, which started with heavy industry, gradually lost its development momentum. With the gradual reform of state-owned enterprises, former employees have been laid off. Since the wave of laid-off workers, the population in Northeast China has fallen into negative growth.
According to the results of the fifth and sixth population censuses, the net emigration population in Northeast China in the 1990s was 404,000, while the net emigration population in the first decade of this century was 2 19 1 10,000. A large number of young and middle-aged people flock to various provinces in China and even all over the world to become individual businessmen or migrant workers. As the leader of the three northeastern provinces, Liaoning Province has inevitably suffered the biggest impact.
Obviously, the continuous outflow of population has frustrated the economy of Liaoning and even Northeast China. The emergence of "laid-off tide" has, to a certain extent, become the foreshadowing for the revitalization of Northeast China today. The once brilliant northeast and brilliant Liaoning have long been a thing of the past.
Taking 199 1 as an example, the profits and taxes per 100 yuan of fixed assets in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang are 8.87, 8.67 and 9.24 yuan respectively, which are not as good as 1/2 in Shanghai and Zhejiang, or even close to 1/3, and lower than those in Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong and Heilongjiang. This situation has not improved in 1997. The profits and taxes per 100 yuan in Liaoning and Jilin have successively dropped to 5. 15 and 4.69 yuan, still ranking the last in all provinces in China. Although Heilongjiang suddenly rose to 13.37 yuan, this figure seems to be more related to the adjustment of local statistical methods and the delay in financial settlement.
During this period, the economic efficiency in Northeast China was low, which was regrettable, but it was also expected. The heavy industry base built under the traditional development mode inevitably has the industrial characteristics of high consumption, high energy consumption and high pollution. The extensive development and utilization of resources makes the structural contradictions in Northeast China more prominent than those in other regions.
At the same time, China's economic structure had entered a turning point, the demand for energy, raw materials and other products tended to decline, and the inventory of products of a number of heavy industrial enterprises rose, prices fell, and profits fell, which led to the economic benefit of the heavy-duty northeast region is not optimistic.
Economic benefits have declined, but the expenditure of state-owned enterprises in Northeast China is hard to fall. We should know that these enterprises undertook certain obligations of "running society" at that time and needed to operate public facilities such as hospitals, schools and cinemas, which was undoubtedly a heavy expense.
According to the data of China Industrial Economic Statistical Yearbook, the non-operating expenses of state-owned enterprises often account for about 40% of the total management expenses. When it is difficult for super-large state-owned enterprises to obtain the expected economic benefits, then these expenses become a burden. At that time, when employees in Northeast China enjoyed the high welfare that they thought was stable, it might be difficult to predict that their enterprises were already under pressure, which became a prelude to the emergence of "laid-off tide".
Jokes such as "investment is not as good as Shanhaiguan" reflect all kinds of ills in Northeast China at this time. Since then, the distance between Shandong Province and Liaoning Province has widened.
Liaoning and even the whole northeast, from the former "* * * and the eldest son of the country" to today's position, is embarrassing. But this, really no chance?
From June 5, 2003 to 10, the state issued "Several Opinions on Implementing the Revitalization Strategy of Old Industrial Bases in Northeast China". Northeast China has taken the lead in implementing the policy of exempting agricultural taxes and benefiting farmers, and the grain output has hit record highs, and the status of the national commodity grain and meat supply base has become increasingly prominent.
Significant progress has been made in institutional and institutional innovation focusing on the restructuring of state-owned enterprises. Most state-owned enterprises turned losses into profits, got rid of difficulties, increased profits substantially, and significantly improved the level of opening up. The technological progress of enterprises has achieved remarkable results, and the pace of structural adjustment has accelerated. Liaoning gradually improves the business environment and attracts more capital investment. Liaoning and even the whole northeast, under the guidance of the country's correct major policies and combined with its own reality, has gradually embarked on its own broad road.
Bohai Rim region is a vast economic region composed of the whole Bohai Sea and some coastal areas of the Yellow Sea. Regional economic cooperation, horizontal alliance and complementary advantages have opened up a broad development space for the Bohai Rim region.
Shandong Province and Liaoning Province, as important components, complement each other with Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, forming a new dynamic urban agglomeration. Although different from the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations. But I believe that in the near future, the Bohai Rim economy will also become a dazzling pearl on the whole land of China.
References:
GDP report of provinces in 2020. National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China (PRC); China Industrial Economic Statistics Yearbook. National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China (PRC); Some Opinions on Implementing the Strategy of Revitalizing the Old Industrial Base in Northeast China: the State Council's Reply on the Master Plan of Tianjin (Guo Han [2006] No.62)
* This article is provided by the author and does not represent the position of Geo Valley.