China's State Council, the Cabinet, approved plans on Wednesday to develop the coastal economic belt in the northeastern Liaoning Province in effort to rejuvenate the traditional industrial base.

The economic belt, covering about 700 square km, will focus on shipbuilding, petroleum refining, advanced equipment manufacturing, raw materials, high-tech industries and agriculture processing, according to the plan.

The zone comprises ports of Dalian, Jinzhou, Yingkou, Huludao and Dandong, which opened navigation services to more than 140 countries and regions.

"The zone will become an important engine for the rejuvenation of the the northeast industrial base," said Lin Muxi, Economics School dean of Liaoning University.

"Since the Chinese government started to develop eastern coastal cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, the Pearl River delta and the Yangtze River delta have seen rapid growth," he said. "Now the government is paying closer attention to the underdeveloped regions like Liaoning and Guangxi."

Previously, China gave the green light to the coastal areas in east China's Jiangsu Province, the Beibu Bay in Guangxi and the economic zone on the western side of Taiwan Straits in Fujian Province.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2009)