Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presided over a meeting of the State Council Leading Group for Revitalizing the Northeastern Region and Old Industrial Bases on August 23. At the meeting, Li Keqiang suggested: improving the business environment by cutting taxes and fees; developing a coastal economic belt to capitalize on foreign trade; and constructing national grain bases in the region. Xinhua said Li Keqiang called for“Deepening the reforms of state capital and state-owned enterprises.”

(Comment: Northeastern China, namely the provinces of Jilin, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang, was China’s main industrial hub during the Mao years. It has since become an economic backwater.)