HEBEI’S STEEL RESOLVE.docVIP

HEBEI’S STEEL RESOLVE 　　During his 16-year career as a steel worker in Handan， north Chinas Hebei Province， Yuan Haixin never imagined that he would later become a nanomaterial production inspector. After the steel mill where he was working was shut down due to poor performance， Yuan was given a chance to work on a production line for the Yinlong Group’s Wu’an New Energy Industrial Park（WNEIP）. Two thirds of WNEIPs 4，000 employees are laid-off workers from nearby closed steel mills. The industrial park has become a sign of Hebeis growing manufacturing industry. “Value-added output from equipment manufacturing―outpacing that of the steelmaking industry for the first time―became the No.1 pillar industry of Hebei in 2016，”said Zhao Kezhi， Secretary of the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC）. Zhao was speaking at a plenary meeting of Hebei deputies during the Fifth Session of the 12th National Peoples Congress （NPC）， Chinas top legislature， in Beijing on March 7. Hebei is exploring new economic drivers， including equipment manufacturing， new and green energy， information technology and tourism. “We aim to upgrade and change Hebeis economic engines through innovation and supply-side optimization，” Zhao said. Thriving new industries Therefore equipment manufacturing， an industry which consumes large quantities of steel， was a natural choice for Hebei， Chinas largest steel-producing province. As early as March 2015， Hebei released a plan to accelerate its equipment manufacturing development， which mainly focuses on cars and accessories， mega vehicles production and energy-generating equipment. According to the Hebei Provincial Bureau of Statistics， equipment manufacturers generated a total profit of 46.03 billion yuan（$6.65 billion） in the first eight months of 2016， up 10.4 percent year on year. The growth rate beats all other major industries in the province and is 9.1 percentage points higher than the figure calculated f