With excellent natural environment, Dalian is a pleasant place for both living and doing business. Photos provided to China Daily

The area surrounding the Zhongshan Square is the central business district of the city.

The Xinghai Square, stretching all the way to the seaside, is a renowned tourism destination.

Boasting the largest port in Northeast China, Dalian is also a shipping hub in the Northeast Asia region.

Coastal city shifting emphasis on improving people's living standard

After decades of development, the coastal city of Dalian on the southernmost tip of Liaoning province, is ready for a new and better stage of growth, with the emphasis on becoming a modern metropolis with a substantially improved standard of living, the Party committee has announced.

This news came from the 11th congress of the Dalian Party committee, on July 13, when Dalian authorities said they have development strategies for this purpose.

These involve continuing the reforms and opening up, changing the development model, giving priority to people's well being, and looking for ways to improve growth.

Dalian has been a pioneer in China's reforms and opening up, and has gone through three stages of development over the past three decades.

The first came in 1984 when it became one of China's first 14 coastal cities to open up to the world.

Because of its shipping advantages and its preferential investment policies, the city immediately became an important place to bring in capital, technologies and human resources from around the globe.

And, by playing a greater role in global business development, Dalian developed into an international metropolis over those years.

The second stage came in the late 1990s, when China began its strategy to revitalize the old industrial bases in the Northeast.

So, Dalian responded with a restructuring in keeping with the new economic globalization trends. This in turn made it a good place for advanced industries relocating from developed economies.

The restructuring called for the old plants to move out of the city center to facilitate the urbanization process in accordance with environmental protection needs.

The third stage came in the mid-2000s when Dalian became a pilot in Liaoning province's coastal economic zone development. So, Dalian was positioned as an international shipping and logistics hub as well as a regional financial center.

Further reforms

In the years to come, local authorities have said they want an even greater opening up effort, so Dalian is set to lead the economic growth of the region.

For this, it will use all its capital, technology, human resources, and logistics advantages for the economic revitalization of Liaoning and the whole of Northeast China.

Emphasis will be placed on building a global service industry, especially in trade, shipping, logistics, finance, information, and R&D.

The city will change its economic development pattern from resource consumption to a growth model backed by advanced technologies, human resources and management innovations.

But, equal emphasis will be given to improving people's standard of living because, thanks to economic growth and increased government revenues, the city is better placed to distribute its wealth in a just, rational manner.

The government is also in a better position to increase spending on the public services and welfare, as well as education, healthcare, pensions, culture, and public safety.

The authorities have said they will try to balance all of this development by considering both the economy and the environment, the urban and rural.

The government expects its reforms and development initiatives to benefit as many people as possible, and to lead a harmonious and happy Dalian.