Recently, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released a plan regarding 137 key tasks and 127 major projects to bolster northeast rust belt. Soon after the plan was published, NDRC was forced to clarify a common misinterpretation: that the Chinese government planned to directly distribute 1.6 trillion yuan to the northeastern provinces.

An executive officer of NDRC explained that the 1.6 trillion does not come entirely from the central government's budget. The investment includes enterprise self-funding, local government matching funds and national assistance funds. For projects related to the construction of public infrastructure, the state government will provide allowances.

Of the 127 projects listed in the specialized plan, some have been brought to the state level during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. These projects were not newly proposed, however.

The 127 projects span transportation, energy, water conservancy, agriculture, rural construction and health. Concentrating on these major topics, the projects aim to cultivate economic momentum, supporting infrastructure and enhancing transportation in northeastern provinces. NDRC will centralize and coordinate the operations of the projects to ensure that everything moves forward as scheduled.

In the past few years, the downward pressure of the economy in northeastern provinces has increased. Thus, reenergizing China's traditional industrial base in the Northeast is a task currently taking up a significant place on China's list of economic and social priorities.