Covering almost half of the city's total area, the new district will be built along the Hunhe River in the south of the city.

"Focusing on high-tech industry, the new district will play a significant role in upgrading the city's traditional industries, so as to revitalize this heavy industrial city," said Zhang Jianhua, vice-mayor of Shenyang.

According to the blueprint, the district will encompass the high-tech, education, scientific research, finance and commerce, residence and tourism sectors.

It will become an incubation and industrialization base of the city's high-tech sectors and will serve as a demonstration base by improving traditional industries through high technologies.

The overall development of the new district will be completed in three phases. More than 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) will be infused into the first phase from 2001 to 2005 to develop a 35-square-kilometer area.

Shenyang, a key heavy industrial city in the country, boasts a large number of State-owned enterprises (SOEs)

However, the robust development of high-tech industries in the world has surpassed the technology, management and equipment of most of these traditional industries and enterprises.

Accelerating the development of high-tech industries is crucial for the readjustment of the city's industrial structure and revival of the economy.

Domestic and overseas planning companies have conducted four months of painstaking research and investigation to map out the development of the new district.

In addition to geographical advantages, Zhang said the new district also is home to a number of academic institutions and universities which will rapidly develop in the next five years.

The Shenyang High-tech Development Zone, which is located in the district, has realized an average 185 percent increase in industrial output during the past 10 years.

Liaoning Overseas Scholars Pioneering Park, in addition to another 118 high-tech enterprises, has also been established in the district.

According to the blueprint, by 2005, gross domestic product of the new district is expected to reach 22 billion yuan (US$2.65 billion). Sales income from high-tech companies will contribute to more than 70 percent of the district's total.

The construction of a sound ecological environment is also stressed in the guideline of the district development.

According to Song Tieyu, director of the New District Administration Committee, green land will cover about 30 square kilometers of land, some 25 percent of the district's total area. Lakes, swamps and rivers will also be built to attract red-crowned cranes, swans and other wild animals.

The city will also take advantage of the natural landscape along the Hunhe River to build a sightseeing belt, Song said.

(China Daily October 23, 2001)